Well, I wish I could say that my Tuesday night picks were the result of a
complete mastery of the art of prognostication, coupled with a few psychic
vibes... but I suspect we'll find out after this weekend that they were nothing
more than luck. Still, I'll wade back into the fray with some thoughts on the
ECAC quarterfinal round:
#10 Yale at #1 Clarkson
This season: Series tied 1-1
11/9 Yale 5, at Clarkson 2
2/15 Clarkson 2, at Yale 0
ECAC playoff meetings: Clarkson leads series, 2-0
1991 Quarterfinal at Clarkson #1 Clarkson 4, #9 Yale 0
Clarkson 6, Yale 3
ECAC tournament records:
Clarkson 51-41-5 (0.552), three championships (1966, 1991, 1993)
Yale 6-17-3 (0.288)
Quarterfinal round records (games played):
Clarkson 34-11-4 (0.735), 25-3-2 (0.867) at home
Yale 3-14-2 (0.211), 0-13-1 (0.036) on the road
Quarterfinal round records (series won-lost):
Clarkson 25-9 (0.735), 19-3 (0.864) at home
Yale 2-9 (0.182), 0-8 (0.000) on the road
Thoughts:
You don't want to meet Yale in the preliminary round. Thanks to Alex Westlund's
magnificent 46-save performance against Colgate on Tuesday, the Elis now stand
at 3-0 in preliminary games, with all their wins coming on the road. The flip
side of this, however, is that Yale hasn't won a quarterfinal game, let alone a
series, since 1987. Clarkson, on the other hand, is working on a string of
seven straight ECAC semifinal appearances, the longest current streak.
Clarkson knows first-hand how dangerous a team Yale can be; back in November,
the Golden Knights made the mistake of taking the Elis lightly and wound up on
the wrong end of a 5-2 score in their own building. A few weeks ago, Yale kept
the strong Clarkson offense off the board until late in the third, losing 2-0.
Coach Mark Morris and his charges won't be looking past this team, and that
focus will serve the Knights well. Clarkson in two.
#8 Harvard at #2 Cornell
This season: Cornell won series, 2-0
11/9 Cornell 3, at Harvard 2
2/14 at Cornell 2, Harvard 1
ECAC playoff meetings: Cornell leads series, 6-4
1996 Championship #4 Cornell 2, #6 Harvard 1
1994 Quarterfinal at Harvard #1 Harvard 5, #8 Cornell 4
Harvard 5, Cornell 3
1990 Quarterfinal at Cornell #3 Cornell 6, #6 Harvard 2
Cornell 4, Harvard 2
1989 Consolation #1 Harvard 6, #5 Cornell 3
1976 Consolation #5 Cornell 7, #7 Harvard 6
1975 Semifinal #1 Harvard 6, #4 Cornell 4
1970 Semifinal #1 Cornell 6, #5 Harvard 5
1969 Championship #1 Cornell 4, #2 Harvard 2
ECAC tournament records:
Cornell 54-25-2 (0.679), eight championships (1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973,
1980, 1986, 1996)
Harvard 51-28-3 (0.640), five championships (1963, 1971, 1983, 1987, 1994)
Quarterfinal round records (games played):
Cornell 27-8-2 (0.757), 23-3-1 (0.870) at home
Harvard 29-10-3 (0.726), 4-5 (0.444) on the road
Quarterfinal round records (series won-lost):
Cornell 22-5 (0.815), 18-2 (0.900) at home
Harvard 20-8 (0.714), 3-3 (0.500) on the road
Thoughts:
Cornell fans eagerly await the chance to dump Harvard four times in the same
season (thus returning the favor from three years ago), but the Crimson are
probably the most difficult of the three teams the Big Red could have drawn in
the quarterfinals. Their defensive-perhaps-to-a-fault style of play tends to
give Cornell fits; although the Big Red is 5-0 against the Crimson in the Mike
Schafer era, most of those games have been struggles, especially the last three
(2-1, 3-2, 2-1). Neither team will take your breath away on offense, though
Harvard has shown the occasional flash (three goals in two minutes Tuesday
night) and Cornell's offense is mostly healthy for the first time in what seems
like eons. Expect a goaltending clinic to be put on by Prestifilippo and
Elliott.
Harvard will play Cornell tough in hostile (what an understatement) Lynah Rink,
maybe even earning a tie one night, but in the end, the Big Red should prevail
in two.
#6 Princeton at #3 Vermont
This season: Series tied 1-1
1/10 Vermont 3, at Princeton 2
2/22 Princeton 2, at Vermont 0
ECAC playoff meetings: Princeton leads series, 1-0
1993 Preliminary at Vermont #10 Princeton 3, #7 Vermont 1
ECAC tournament records:
Vermont 11-19-3 (0.379)
Princeton 6-14 (0.300)
Quarterfinal round records (games played):
Vermont 8-11-3 (0.432), 4-1-1 (0.750) at home
Princeton 2-9 (0.182), all on the road
Quarterfinal round records (series won-lost):
Vermont 4-7 (0.364), 3-1 (0.750) at home
Princeton 1-5 (0.167), all on the road
Thoughts:
Princeton, coming off their highest regular-season finish ever, has to feel good
about this series; two weeks ago, they journeyed up to Gutterson and shut out
the Catamounts 2-0. Vermont has been inconsistent for about a month and a half,
mixing some strong performances (the first half of the Cornell game, third-
period comebacks at Harvard and Rensselaer) in with head-shaking ones (being
shut out by Union as well as Princeton, going into OT against Yale). Last
weekend's sweep at Brown and Harvard might be a sign that the Cats are ready to
put it all together and play the way they did during last year's surge to the
NCAA Phinal Phour. They'll need that kind of effort to get by a good and
determined Princeton squad.
Oddly enough, Princeton's best bet might be to lose game 1 of this series, then
smother an overconfident Vermont squad in games 2 and 3. I think the reverse is
going to happen: the Tigers take the first game, giving the Catamounts a wakeup
call. Vermont in three.
#5 Union at #4 Rensselaer
This season: Series tied 1-1-1
11/16 Union 2, vs. Rensselaer 0 at Knickerbocker Arena (Albany, NY)
1/18 at Rensselaer 5, Union 2
1/25 Rensselaer 3, at Union 3 (OT)
ECAC playoff meetings: Rensselaer leads series, 2-1
1994 Quarterfinal at Rensselaer #6 Union 4, #3 Rensselaer 3
Rensselaer 5, Union 1
Rensselaer 8, Union 3
ECAC tournament records:
Rensselaer 27-31-3 (0.467), three championships (1984, 1985, 1995)
Union 1-3 (0.250)
Quarterfinal round records (games played):
Rensselaer 16-22-2 (0.425), 10-5 (0.667) at home
Union 1-2 (0.333), all on the road
Quarterfinal round records (series won-lost):
Rensselaer 10-14 (0.417), 5-2 (0.714) at home
Union 0-1 (0.000), on the road
Thoughts:
With no seniors and only five juniors, Rensselaer has the youngest squad in the
ECAC, and yet they were able to post a fourth-place finish, the highest in the
Dan Fridgen era. Now as a reward for their regular-season performance, they get
to face the Human Puck Magnet in Union's Trevor Koenig, the top goalie in the
NCAA in terms of both GAA and save percentage. With that fellow between the
pipes and a suffocating defense to help him out, Union remains the one squad
nobody in their right mind would want to face... even with the Dutchmen
possessing the second-worst offense in the league.
Rensselaer has had a tough time recently, going winless in four games before
finally edging Princeton for the final home-ice spot last Saturday. It's
difficult to know what to make of this team, which has shown a lot of offensive
prowess against Brown and Mass Amherst (nine goals), St. Lawrence (seven), and
Yale (seven) but also suffered three consecutive shutouts in November (Mass
Lowell, Union, and Clarkson) and has had some shaky third-period performances to
cope with. Union may have some concerns of its own after last Saturday's game
at Yale, which saw Koenig and the defense give up the unseemly total of five
goals. Then again, seeing the offense score six might have offset any worries.
Tough call, prompting one to ask... which team wants it more? In Union's only
other quarterfinal appearance three years ago, they took game 1 against
Rensselaer only to see their season end with a pair of blowout losses. The
Dutchmen seniors who were with that 93-94 team would like nothing better than to
return the favor against the Engineers this year. Look for them to do it in
three.
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
strictly those of:
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95
LET'S GO RED!! DJF 5/27/94
"I believe Marcel Marceau said it best."
-- Madeline Kahn, "Cosby"
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