The ECAC Hockey men’s league experienced the ultimate high of Quinnipiac’s national championship in 2022 and seeks a spot back on the Frozen Four stage as the 2024-25 season unfolds.
Quinnipiac and Cornell, last season’s top two teams, return with rosters in different situations. Still, both always find ways to compete among the upper echelon in the league and nationally. Dartmouth also emerged as a major player in the standings.
Here are five storylines to watch this season:
New looks behind N.Y. and N.J. benches
The new season begins with two programs welcoming in new head coaches.
Former Cornell and Quinnipiac associate head coach Ben Syer has taken over at Princeton, while Clarkson’s J.F. Houle returns to his alma mater following a three-year run leading the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket.
Syer will aim to return Princeton — which has been under .500 for five straight seasons — to winning ways after helping Mike Schafer’s Cornell teams to seven NCAA tournaments in 13 seasons and, previously, working with Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.) to elevate Quinnipiac to Division 1.
The latter opening was created in June after it was announced that former Cornell captain and assistant coach Casey Jones was departing Clarkson to return to the Big Red. Jones will serve as Cornell’s associate head coach and a head coach-in-waiting this season, as Schafer is set to retire at the conclusion following a four-decade run as a player and coach in the program.
Can Big Red stay on top?
Cornell is starting the season as the defending ECAC Hockey champion for the first time since 2010.
The Big Red won its first five postseason games before falling just short of the Frozen Four last March, losing to eventual national champion Denver in the regional final.
Cornell looks to have all the tools to make another deep run, as its only graduate from last year’s lineup — albeit a big one — is leading scorer Gabriel Seger. Aside from Seger and now-senior winger Kyle Penney, the team’s other three double-digit goal scorers were underclassmen. Boston Bruins prospect Ryan Walsh will figure prominently up front following a 12-goal freshman campaign.
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Returning for their senior seasons are defensive leader Tim Rego (Mansfield, Mass.) and reigning ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year Ian Shane, a former All-New England standout at Westminster who is coming off leading the nation with his 1.69 GAA.
Building Big Green
The biggest surprise climber in the league last season was Dartmouth, which reached fourth place in the regular season and advanced to ECAC Championship Weekend for the first time since 2016 in only Reid Cashman’s third season at the helm.That success resulted in Cashman winning ECAC Coach of the Year.
What’s next?
The Big Green will look much like it did a season ago, returning its seven top scorers, including the 33-goal duo of now-juniors Luke Haymes and Cooper Flinton (Auburn, N.H.). Former Thayer standout CJ Foley (Hanover, Mass.) earned ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year honors as a top blueliner, finishing behind only the aforementioned forward pair on the team in scoring.
The biggest question mark lies in goal after two-year starter Cooper Black signed with the Florida Panthers in the offseason, but 6-foot-4 Clarkson transfer Emmett Crouteau enters the fold as a sophomore. The former sixth-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens will join two returnees in net.
Who’s new?
These days, evaluating transfer movement is just as important as freshman classes. However, Quinnipiac’s first-year class includes a pair of Bruins draftees in forward Chris Pelosi and \defenseman Elliott Groenewold (Springfield, Vt.) and touted goaltender Dylan Silverstein, who briefly started his career at Boston College.
As for transfers, the Bobcats welcome in the 71-point duo of Jeremy Wilmer and Jack Ricketts from Boston University and Holy Cross, respectively. Defenseman Aaron Bohlinger, a former captain and national champion at UMass, also enters Pecknold’s lineup.
Joining a club that returns stalwart senior defenseman Ian Moore (Concord, Mass.) and talented junior scorer Joe Miller, Harvard welcomes former Dexter Southfield standout blueliner and Buffalo Sabres draft pick Sean Keohane (Milton, Mass.), and fellow local Will McDonough (Duxbury, Mass.) and Mick Thompson up front among its freshman class.
Dartmouth added first-year defenseman Tim Busconi (Milton, Mass.) to its defense corps. Brown acquired forward Tanner Hartman, who was a 20-goal, 45-point scorer and Division 3 All-American for two-time national champion Hobart.
Same old, or another surprise?
While Cornell emerged with the trophy in Lake Placid, it was no surprise seeing Quinnipiac — the four-time ECAC Hockey regular-season champions — standing in March as one of two league teams coming within one game of a Frozen Four berth.
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The Bobcats’ lineup has undergone change as only rising sophomore Mason Marcellus returns among the team’s top five scorers. In terms of points, Marcellus’ 36 (including 14 goals) are tied with Haymes for the most among returning ECAC Hockey players.
Last March’s Lake Placid field featured a surprise run by seventh-seeded St. Lawrence, which beat No. 3 Colgate and Quinnipiac en route to the title game. The Saints have a strong veteran cast, including junior Felikss Gavars, who was the team’s top scorer with 25 points last season, as well as senior defensemen Drake Burgin and Mason Waite, and forward Tomas Mazura.
Union has a major piece to build around in junior John Prokop, whose 0.97 points per game (eight goals, 35 points) were tops among league defensemen. Daniel Panetta netted 13 goals and 29 points as a sophomore at Colgate, while RPI’s Tyler Hotson equaled that goal total during his rookie campaign.
