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Quinnipiac Selected First in ECAC Preseason Coaches' Poll; Groenewold, Wyttenbach Tabbed Preseason All-League
9/16/2026 11:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
HAMDEN, Conn. — The Quinnipiac men's ice hockey program was picked to retain the Cleary Cup as the ECAC preseason favorites, the league announced in its annual coaches' poll on Wednesday afternoon. Ethan Wyttenbach and Elliott Groenewold, both First Team All-ECAC selections a year ago, were also named to the Preseason All-League team.
The Bobcats secured 10 of the 12 first place votes and secured a 10-point advantage over projected second place Dartmouth, who also earned a pair of top finish nods. Cornell (102 points), Clarkson (86 points) and Harvard (73 points) rounded out the top five of a poll ranked by the league's head coaches.
A pair of Quinnipiac skaters were selected to the all-league team, as Wyttenbach and Groenewold secured nods.
Wyttenbach, the 2026 Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year and ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year, tied the program record with 59 points a season ago, scoring 25 goals and adding 34 assists. He was also selected as a 2026 AHCA First Team East All-American and recorded a point in 34 different games in 2025-26, the most of anyone in the country.
Groenewold earned ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman accolades as well as the First Team All-League selection in 2026, starting 40 contests with 20 points from the blue line. He also finished the year with a plus-39 rating, the highest mark by any skater since the 2015-16 season and best by any defenseman since at least 2002-03.
The Bobcats have won seven consecutive Cleary Cups as the ECAC's regular season champion and have gone to the NCAA Tournament each of its last seven editions, dating back to the 2018-19 season. They have advanced to the Regional Final in five of those.
Quinnipiac opens the schedule on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m., against New Hampshire and will follow that up with a 4 p.m., puck drop on Saturday against Merrimack, as part of the Bobcat Weekend festivities at Quinnipiac University.
For an inside look at the Quinnipiac men's ice hockey program, be sure to follow it on social media @QU_MIH or go to gobobcats.com/mih.
The Bobcats secured 10 of the 12 first place votes and secured a 10-point advantage over projected second place Dartmouth, who also earned a pair of top finish nods. Cornell (102 points), Clarkson (86 points) and Harvard (73 points) rounded out the top five of a poll ranked by the league's head coaches.
A pair of Quinnipiac skaters were selected to the all-league team, as Wyttenbach and Groenewold secured nods.
Wyttenbach, the 2026 Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year and ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year, tied the program record with 59 points a season ago, scoring 25 goals and adding 34 assists. He was also selected as a 2026 AHCA First Team East All-American and recorded a point in 34 different games in 2025-26, the most of anyone in the country.
Groenewold earned ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman accolades as well as the First Team All-League selection in 2026, starting 40 contests with 20 points from the blue line. He also finished the year with a plus-39 rating, the highest mark by any skater since the 2015-16 season and best by any defenseman since at least 2002-03.
The Bobcats have won seven consecutive Cleary Cups as the ECAC's regular season champion and have gone to the NCAA Tournament each of its last seven editions, dating back to the 2018-19 season. They have advanced to the Regional Final in five of those.
Quinnipiac opens the schedule on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m., against New Hampshire and will follow that up with a 4 p.m., puck drop on Saturday against Merrimack, as part of the Bobcat Weekend festivities at Quinnipiac University.
For an inside look at the Quinnipiac men's ice hockey program, be sure to follow it on social media @QU_MIH or go to gobobcats.com/mih.
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