Albany, NY (Sept. 20, 2005) –Union has been picked to finish eighth by both the coaches and media in this year's ECAC Hockey League men's preseason polls. The Dutchmen are alone in the No. 8 spot in the coaches poll with 51 points and tied for eighth in the media poll with Rensselaer at 89 points. Cornell was chosen as the unanimous No. 1 pick in both the coaches and media polls. Both polls were released today as part of the league's annual media day event held at the Pepsi Arena.
Head coach Nate Leaman, who enters his third season at the helm of the Dutchmen hockey program, knows the polls don't mean much in this tightly contested league. “I feel like Cornell is the leader of the pack right now and it will be a fight. The ECAC Hockey League is known for being a tight race every year though and the second half of the season will reveal who the top teams will be. We are just going to take things one game at a time and our potential can put us anywhere in the league.”
The Big Red received 11 first-place votes and 121 points in the coaches poll. The next four positions were tight, with just eight points separating second through fifth. Dartmouth sits just one point ahead of Harvard to earn second place with 94 points. The Crimson picked up 93 points and was followed by St. Lawrence with 89 and Colgate with 86. Brown wrapped up the top half of the poll with 80 points. Clarkson, who battled the Dutchmen in last season's historical three-game overtime playoff series, was chosen ahead of Union with 64 points. Below Union were Rensselaer with 39, Princeton with 32, Yale with 28, and ECACHL newcomer Quinnipiac with 15.
In the media poll, Cornell garnered all 21 first-place votes, scoring 252 points. Polling was close in the media poll for the next few spots as well. Just 10 points separate second-place Colgate (197) and fourth-place Harvard (187) with Dartmouth settled between the two, at third, with 191 points. St. Lawrence (167) was picked fifth by the media, followed by Brown (159) and Clarkson (134). Princeton (73) was chosen 10th followed by Yale (60) and Quinnipiac (36).
Union opens up the 2005-06 campaign on October 7th against Colorado College at the Ice Breaker Invitational in Colorado Springs. The march toward the ECACHL Championships in Albany begins on the road November 4th against St. Lawrence.