After Colgate's recent flame-out against Cornell and discussion of the last
quarterfinal series between the clubs (another Cornell rout in '91), I
thought it would be interesting to take a look at the recent Colgate
playoff history. The columns represent year, postseason record (in
games, not series), ECAC seed and highest round reached.
 
95-65 0-2 #5 Quarters
94-95 2-3 #4 Semifinals (inc consolation loss)
93-94 0-2 #7 Quarters
92-93 1-3 #8 Quarters
91-92 0-1 #8 Prelim
90-91 1-2 #7 Quarters
89-90 6-2 #1 NCAA Final, ECAC champs
88-89 0-2 #2 Quarters
87-88 0-2 #5 Quarters
86-87 1-2 #2 Quarters
85-86 0-2 #8 Quarters
84-85 0-2 #7 Quarters
83-84 0-2 #8 Quarters
82-83 ---------------
81-82 0-1 #8 Quarters
80-81 1-4 #3 NCAA Quarters, ECAC semifinals (inc consolation loss)
 
I thought that Colgate's 3-11 record in ECAC quarterfinal series (not
games) looked pretty bad, so I compared it to the rest of the league
in the same span:
 
ECAC team records in Quarterfinals, since 80-81
(note: record by series, not by games)
 
Brown:     2-5
Clarkson: 13-3
Colgate:   3-11
Cornell:   8-3
Dartmouth: 0-0
Harvard:  11-4
Princeton: 1-4
RPI:       7-6
SLU:       6-6
Vermont:   3-5
Yale:      2-7
 
I'm not sure what this all means. My impression of Colgate over the last
10 years is that the Red Raiders have generally disappointed - with the
exception of '89, when Dave Gagnon turned red hot and carried the team to
the NCAA final. As an occasional visitor, I find that Starr Rink is the
least imposing place to play in the ECAC - maybe that has something to do
with it. Colgate is 3-2 at home in the ECAC quarters (by series), however,
so Starr may not be the problem. The fact that the Red Raiders don't
give athletic scholarships (although as Luiz once mentioned, I believe it
is not strictly need-based aid) certainly doesn't help. Yet I can't help
but think of past Colgate teams (this year's most obviously) as
underacheivers. Any thoughts?
 
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
 
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