Hockey Weekend Outlook

Last week, I predicted that Cornell would lose to Yale, 5-2, and then rebound to beat Brown, 3-0. I was somewhat right. Yale beat Cornell, 4-2. Cornell was leading Brown 3-0 with 3 minutes left. (Final was 6-0.)

In the strong ECAC of 2009-2010, there aren't many easy weekends. Just a couple of years ago, we would have looked at this coming weekend with a sigh of relief. Quinnipiac has never beaten Cornell, except that one time we don't talk about. And Princeton was awful (like 3-26-2 awful) until Kalemba, Jubinville, etc., came along. Colgate, meanwhile, has traditionally been the definition of mediocrity in the ECAC.

Things are different this year.

No. 19 Princeton is only 3-2-1, but they remain a dangerous team. If last year's games are any indication, tomorrow night's game will go down to the final minute. Cornell pulled off a 1-0 road win on the first night of the season last year, then Princeton stole a 2-1 victory at Lynah by scoring twice in the final 36 seconds as the Red imploded. In the ECAC semifinal game, Cornell came back to tie the game late in the 3rd before winning in double overtime. Cornell had trouble getting the puck past Kalemba last year; expect a low-scoring affair.

No. 13 Quinnipiac, at 8-1-0, currently holds the best record in all of college hockey. They opened the season with an impressive sweep of Ohio State in Columbus, and have won all four ECAC games so far (albeit against weak teams). Their lone loss was an 8-5 scorefest at lowly Robert Morris, but they still outshot RMU 63-33 that night. Just had some bad goaltending. Q is second in the nation in goals per game, just behind Cornell.

No. 23 Colgate comes to town on Tuesday, part of an arrangement worked out between the two schools so Cornell can host North Dakota for a weekend in January. Colgate is 5-2-4, but hasn't lost in almost a month. They sit in second place in the ECAC, having managed a 3-3 tie against Yale on Saturday. Perhaps Yale had a mental letdown after the excitement of playing Cornell the night before, or maybe Colgate is a better team at this point in the season than Cornell. We'll find out.

So, here are some predictions. Cornell plays a tight game with Princeton and ties, 2-2. The Quinnipiac offense runs all over Cornell's slow defensemen and wins, 5-3. Panic sets in at Lynah. The team recovers on Tuesday with a 2-0 victory over the Red Raiders. Cornell goes 1-1-1 over the long weekend and now sits at a respectable 5-2-1 heading into next Saturday's game against BU at Madison Square Garden.