At the end of this early round of non-conference play, we can pause and take stock of the non-league records of the ECAC squads. Preseason favorites Vermont performed well, going 3-1 and only losing to defending National Champs Boston University. St. Lawrence at 2-2 held the next best record, followed by Clarkson at 1-3. Colgate were also 1-3, but one win and one loss were against Canadian schools and won't count towards their NCAA ratings. Also posting their only victory against a north-of-the-border squad were 1-2-1 Union who should nonetheless be pleased with their strong showings in defeats to Hockey East powers Maine and New Hampshire. Defending champions Rensselaer on the other hand have nothing to be proud of in their 0-4 start, which included a loss to Division I independent and former ECAC doormat Army.
The early performances of the six Ivy League squads are a bit harder to gauge since most of them have only played one official game and one exhibition. Yale's official numbers are best with two victories over Air Force; Harvard are also undefeated at 1-0. Dartmouth went 0-1-1 after winning their exhibition, and Princeton and Cornell are both 0-1 since the games started counting. Brown, the only Ivy to lose their exhibition, are 0-1 in the NCAA, the ECAC and the Ivy League race after their loss to Harvard.
Next week it's time to stop the speculation as the twelve ECAC squads face off in a full slate of conference games. Harvard and Brown travel to Central New York to face Cornell and Colgate. I, Joe P------k, will be going on location to Ithaca to cover the Brown-Cornell and Harvard-Cornell games for Mr. Squishy Sports. Meanwhile, Clarkson and St. Lawrence visit Princeton and Yale, and Vermont and Dartmouth are in the Capital District to take on RPI and Union.
With the ECAC hockey report, this is Joe P------k, Mr. Squishy sports.