Cornell has been picked to win ECAC Hockey in a vote of league coaches and league media, as announced Wednesday morning. The Big Red, the defending regular season champion, earned eight of 12 first-place votes in the coaches poll and 16 of 20 in the media poll. Head coach Mike Schafer’s team returns top goaltender...
Cornell has been picked to win ECAC Hockey in a vote of league coaches and league media, as announced Wednesday morning.
The Big Red, the defending regular season champion, earned eight of 12 first-place votes in the coaches poll and 16 of 20 in the media poll. Head coach Mike Schafer’s team returns top goaltender Matthew Galajda and key defensemen Alex Green, Yanni Kaldis, Alec McCrea and Matt Cairns.
Princeton, the surprise winner of the Whitelaw Cup in 2018 as winner of the ECAC Hockey Tournament, was picked second in both polls. The Tigers were the seventh seed entering the tournament, but pulled off upsets over Union, Cornell and Clarkson en route to the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Ron Fogarty’s team returns a good nucleus, including senior forwards Max Verroneau and Ryan Kuffner and senior defenseman Josh Teves. All three will be highly-coveted NHL free agents following the completion of the season.
As for the local contingent, the Ivies – Brown, Dartmouth, Yale and Harvard – were picked anywhere from fifth to dead last. New England's other ECAC team, Quinnipiac, was selected seventh, despite winning the national title as recently as 2016.
In the Preseason All-ECAC team, two players at local programs earned nods.
Yale senior forward Joe Snively, with 103 career points in 96 games, was one of the three forwards selected. Harvard junior defenseman Adam Fox, a draft pick of the Calgary Flames, also placed. He's played on the last two U.S. teams at World Juniors and has 68 career points in 64 games.
ECAC Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Cornell
2. Princeton
3. Union
4. Clarkson
5. Harvard
6. Yale
7. Quinnipiac
8. Dartmouth
9. Colgate
T-10. RPI
T-10. St. Lawrence
12. Brown
ECAC Hockey Preseason Media Poll
1. Cornell
2. Princeton
3. Clarkson
4. Union
5. Harvard
6. Dartmouth
7. Yale
8. Quinnipiac
9. Colgate
10. RPI
11. Brown
12. St. Lawrence
Preseason All-ECAC Hockey Team
Forwards:
- Max Verroneau, Sr., Princeton
- Ryan Kuffner, Sr., Princeton
- Joe Snively, Sr., Yale
Defensemen:
- Adam Fox, Jr., Harvard
- Josh Teves, Sr., Princeton
Goaltender:
- Matthew Galajda, Soph., Cornell
