Men's Hockey Playoff Picture Begins To Takes Shape
2/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
The once cloudy ECAC Hockey playoff picture has begun to clear
up as the top eight spots in the upcoming ECAC Hockey tournament
have been clinched. Clarkson, Princeton, Harvard, Quinnipiac,
Cornell, Union, Yale and Colgate will host first or second round
games while Rensselaer, Dartmouth, Brown and St. Lawrence will be
traveling. Quinnipiac (17-10-4, 9-6-4 ECAC Hockey) must win their
final three games against Colgate, St. Lawrence and Clarkson in
order to capture one of the top four spots and earn a first round
bye.
Clarkson (18-10-4, 13-4-3 ECAC Hockey) can finish no lower than
second place in the league standings, and needs three points out of
their next three games in order to win the ECAC Hockey regular
season title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament. A win
against Princeton on Friday night will also clinch the top seed for
Clarkson. Princeton (17-10-0, 14-6-0 ECAC Hockey) has also clinched
a bye in the first round as they can finish no lower than fourth
place in the league standings. Princeton can win the league with
four points out of their next three games while one point will
clinch the No. 2 seed.
If Harvard (13-11-3, 11-7-2 ECAC Hockey) collects three points over
their final three games, they can clinch a top four seed and the
first round bye while the Bobcats would need six points to do the
same. Cornell (13-11-3, 11-8-1) and Union (14-11-6, 9-6-5 ECAC
Hockey) can not clinch first round byes without losses by Harvard
and Quinnipiac. Yale (12-11-4, 8-8-4 ECAC Hockey) and Colgate
(13-13-5, 7-8-4 ECAC Hockey) can not finish higher than fourth
place while Yale needs three points and Colgate needs six plus
losses by Harvard, Quinnipiac, Cornell and Union in order to move
into the top four.
Rensselaer (10-20-4, 5-12-3 ECAC Hockey), Brown (5-18-4, 5-12-3
ECAC Hockey), Dartmouth (10-13-4, 5-12-3) and St. Lawrence
(10-18-4, 5-13-2 ECAC Hockey) will fill out the field and will be
traveling for the first round of the league tournament.
The current information was compiled following the completion of
games played on Saturday, Feb. 23. Quinnipiac's game on Sunday,
Feb. 24 may affect the seeding. Please refer to
quinnipiacbobcats.com after tomorrow night's game for updated
information.
The first round of the ECAC Hockey league tournament will be on
March 7-9 at the site of the highest seed while the quarterfinals
are set to run on Mar. 14-16, also at the site of the highest seed.
The semifinals, scheduled for Mar. 21, and the championship game,
scheduled for Mar. 22, will be played at the Times Union Center in
Albany, N.Y.
