M. Hockey Second in ECAC Polls

Two shades of carmine stood atop the ECAC Men’s Hockey Preseason polls, released at Media Day yesterday. Unfortunately, the wrong shade was ranked number one.

The Crimson, the defending ECAC champion, came in second in both the Coaches’ and Media polls, slotted behind its arch-rival, the Big Red of Cornell.

The rest of the Coaches’ poll tabbed Clarkson for third place, followed by Brown, St. Lawrence, Yale, Colgate, RPI, Dartmouth, Union, Princeton and Vermont.

In the Coaches’ poll, Harvard finished one point behind Cornell, the narrowest margin in the poll’s history. The Media poll had Cornell in front by a wider margin, leading Harvard by 12 first-place votes.

Last season, Harvard and Cornell split the regular season series, with each club winning at its home rink. On the neutral ice of Lake Placid, the Crimson defeated the Big Red 4-3 in double overtime.

In the NCAA Tournament, however, Harvard was bounced out in the first round, losing 4-3 in overtime to Maine, the eventual national runner-up. Cornell managed to advance to the second round, defeating Quinnipiac before losing to New Hampshire.

Harvard and Cornell also shared honors on the pre-season All-Conference team. The Crimson had the most players selected, with senior forwards Dominic Moore and Brett Nowak earning the honor. The other forward was Yale sophomore Chris Higgins.

Cornell’s outstanding Swedish defenseman Doug Murray was named to the team, alongside fellow blue-liner Trevor Byrne of Dartmouth. The All-Conference goaltender was junior Yann Danis of Brown, who turned in a stellar performance last year in the ECAC tournament against Harvard, stopping 66 shots before Moore’s double overtime-double loop goal ended the affair.

Despite the lofty pre-season ranking, the Crimson knows that its No. 2 position means nothing when the regular season rolls around.

“It’s great to be recognized along with Cornell,” junior forward Tyler Kolarik said. “They’re a great team, but the polls really don’t matter. We haven’t proven ourselves in the regular season yet.”

Last year, Harvard was ranked No. 1 heading into the season but trailed Cornell and Clarkson in the standings for most of the season. The Crimson only began to play up to that preseason prediction when tournament play began.

“We really stepped up for the playoffs last year, but this year I think we could run the table in the ECAC,” Kolarik said.