With no clear-cut favorite and extreme balance throughout the league, any number of teams could rise to the top of the ECAC this season.

“The quality of talent with each of the teams in the ECAC continues to improve with each passing year,” said Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni. “Any number of teams are capable of obtaining home ice for the play-offs and winning the regular season championship.”

Here is an in-depthlook around the ECAC, beginning with the six teams already in action this season.

Clarkson

The Golden Knights have been one of the most successful teams in recent ECAC memory, placing no lower than fourth in every season since 1988-89

and winning five league titles over that span, including two in the past three years. As defending champion, Clarkson is the team to beat until someone proves otherwise.

But it’s not as if the Golden Knights will have to rely on past success, as Coach Mark Morris returns several key contributors from last season’s team, including forwards Matt Poapst (17 goals, 18 assists for 35 points last season), David Evans (12-19-31), Rob McFeeters and Kevin O’Flaherty.

Even with the loss of First Team All-ECAC defenseman Kent Huskins, the Golden Knight blue line should be solid, with all-league netminder Mike Walsh—and his microscopic 1.86 goals against average last season— returning between the pipes. Clarkson is already 1-2-1 this season and hosted archrival St. Lawrence on Saturday to begin ECAC play.

Colgate

After an NCAA tournament appearance in 1999, narrowly missing the playoffs last season was a bitter pill to swallow for the Colgate faithful. Coach Don Vaughan hopes to see his team playing at a top level again this winter, though, and the Raiders’ performance in two close losses to nationally-ranked Nebraska-Omaha had some thinking that was a reasonable expectation.

However, Colgate (0-4-0) endured a rough trip to the University of Minnesota the very next weekend, dropping 8-0 and 9-0 decisions to the Golden Gophers at Mariucci Arena. A question mark looms large for the Raiders in net, where junior Jason Lefevre, sophomore Dave Cann, and freshman Steve Silverthorn are competing for playing time. Lefevre and Cann split time against UNO, each starting a game and allowing five goals. The duo then struggled through the team’s stint in Minnesota, which led to appearances by Silverthorn in both games.

At this point, Silverthorn has the best GAA among the goaltending corps at 6.00 goals per game. Junior Scooter Smith, Colgate’s leading returning scorer, currently leads the team in scoring with two goals and an assist.

The Raiders hosted Iona of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in a non-conference tilt on Saturday.

Rensselaer

While it has become somewhat of a cliché in the sports world to say that a given team is “returning everybody,” that statement can very nearly be applied in a literal sense to the Engineers.

Only three players on last year’s team won’t be back in cherry and white this winter, and that trio only accounted for three points in 2000-01. This certainly bodes well for a group that finished 17-15-2 last season.

And the Engineers have already established themselves as a force this season, particularly on the offensive end, averaging 4.75 goals per game thus far. Currently, four of the league’s top five scorers skate for RPI: Marc Cavosie (5-6-11), Matt Murley (5-1-6), Nolan Graham (2-3-5), and Andrew McPherson (0-5-5).

Rensselaer certainly raised some eyebrows by defeating perennial Hockey East power New Hampshire and nearly coming back from a 6-1 deficit against Boston University on the strength of a Cavosie hat trick before losing, 6-5. RPI also looked very sharp on the road at Minnesota-Duluth in a pair of one-goal losses.

The Engineers (1-3-0) will open their ECAC slate on Nov. 9 at Colgate.

St. Lawrence

It is rare for a team that has graduated many key players to enter the season wearing a bullseye on its sweater, but that’s what happens when you’re the defending ECAC tournament champions.

Make no mistake about it, legendary Saints coach Joe Marsh will see a very competitive team on the ice this season. For a man who won his 300th game last season, that’s almost a given. And he will certainly have some weapons at his disposal, most notably senior Russ Bartlett, who was third on the team in scoring last season with a very impressive 18-25-43 stat line.

Bartlett is off to a good start already this season, leading the Saints in scoring through their first four games with two goals and two assists.

One area of concern for the Saints (1-3-0) going into the season—goaltending—seems to be in good hands. Freshmen Kevin Ackley and Mike McKenna split time during St. Lawrence’s early-season trips to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to face Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State. Both played very well and are actually “one-two” among ECAC goaltenders in save percentage, Ackley at .941 and McKenna at .920.

Union

Union’s October road sweep of Notre Dame can certainly be termed a “fast start.”

However, Coach Kevin Sneddon ’92 might be a little wary of jumping to optimistic conclusions too quickly.

Last season, the Skating Dutchmen stormed out of the gates to a 6-1-1 record (3-0-0 in ECAC play) before going 1-11-2 during the months of December and January. In those games with the Irish, however, Union showed that they are a very different team from last season. They demonstrated a scoring touch (potting nine goals in two games), killed penalties efficiently (14-of-15), and received solid play in goal from senior Brandon Snee. What’s more, the Dutchmen showed that they could win on the road, something that was problematic for them last season (2-13-1 away from Achilles Rink).

The Dutchmen didn’t see that same success in their third game of the year, though, in dropping a 3-0 decision at Merrimack. The game was tight all the way, however, as the Warriors held a ten- uous 1-0 advantage until there were less than two minutes to play in the game.

The Dutchmen (2-1-0) are set to host Bemidji State (Minn.) on Nov. 2-3.

Vermont

With their first-round upset of top-seeded Clarkson in last year’s playoffs, the Catamounts showed that they can play with anyone in the ECAC.

UVM has a lot of young talent on its roster and returns six of its top eight scorers from last season. Sophomores Jeff Miles and Patrick Sharp were two of the ECAC’s top newcomers in 2000-01, and the emergence of junior Shawn Conschafter between the pipes during last year’s playoffs bodes well for Coach Mike Gilligan’s team.

However, the Cats have had a rough go of things early on this season. They were outscored 18-5 in three early losses to Boston College, New Hampshire, and Boston University, and Conschafter’s GAA has ballooned to 6.12 goals per game.

One bright spot for Vermont (0-3-0) thus far has been freshman Brady Leisenring. The Vermont Native leads the team in scoring with one goal and two assists.

UVM’s next action will be in its ECAC opener against Harvard on Friday.

Because of the Ivy League-imposed 29-game limit, its member schools have yet to start their respective slates. Here is a glance at the Ancient Eight programs:

Brown

What can you say about a last-place team that loses three of its top four scorers?

It could be another long winter for Coach Roger Grillo.

After all, it’s never a good sign when your leading scorer among returning forwards notched ten points the year before.

And while they did show promise at times last season—wins over Hockey East powers Providence and UMass-Lowell, back-to-back ties against Clarkson and St. Lawrence—the Bears lack the firepower to be a serious scare in the ECAC.

That said, Brown does have experienced goaltending in senior Brian Eklund (.901 save percentage, 3.43 GAA last season) and sophomore Yann Danis (3.21 GAA in ECAC play). A solid performance from Eklund or Danis coupled with some well-timed offense could make the Bears a formidable opponent on any given night.

The Bears opened at Harvard on Saturday.

Cornell

The Big Red has always been strong on defense, and that’s certainly not going to change this year.

Juniors Mark McRae (8-11-19) and Doug Murray (5-12-17) lead a stingy and experienced defensive corps that will make the Cornell zone virtually impassable. Beyond that, putting the puck past honorable mention all-ECAC goaltender Matt Underhill (1.88 GAA) is a daunting task for would-be scorers.

Given that intimidating defensive unit, if Coach Mike Schafer’s team can improve considerably upon its anemic offensive production last year (2.00 goals per league game), the Big Red will have a legitimate shot at making the NCAA tournament. That may not be unrealistic, with Cornell’s top ten scorers from last season coming back, including Stephen Baby and Ryan Vesce, both of whom racked up 27 points last year.

The Big Red hosted Alabama-Huntsville of College Hockey America this weekend to begin its season.

Dartmouth

With Coach Bob Gaudet now entering his fifth season in Hanover, N.H., many around the league are anticipating his rebuilding plan to reach its fruition this winter.

The Big Green’s top nine scorers from last season will be skating in Thompson Arena again this winter, including forwards Mike Maturo (18-15-33), Kent Gillings (11-18-29), and Chris Baldwin (14-10-24).

Dartmouth is just as strong on the blue line, with ECAC Player of the Year candidate Trevor Byrne (5-21-26) and partner Jamie Herrington (7-16-23). The Big Green also boast a very experienced netminder in junior Nick Boucher, who has played in 57 of Dartmouth’s 64 games since the start of his freshman season and posted an impressive 2.56 GAA in 2000-01.

The Dartmouth power play, which was lethal last season at 24.7% efficiency in ECAC play, could make the difference in key games.

The Big Green opened at Harvard on Sunday.

Princeton

Princeton’s tight-checking play made the Tigers very competitive last season, and their strength on the blue line this year could make that the case this winter as well.

Coach Lee Quesnelle returns nearly all of his defensive corps, including senior David Schneider (8-6-14), an honorable mention all-Ivy selection last year, and sophomore Matthew Maglione, a June draft pick of the Washington Capitals.

And with a solid defense in front of him, senior netminder Dave Stathos could return to the form of his sophomore year when he set school records for both save percentage (.912) and goals-against-average (2.82). Last year, his numbers dipped a bit, to .901 and 3.06, respectively.

The Tigers also return a few key forwards, most notably Brad Parsons (14-10-24), an honorable mention all-Ivy pick one year ago, and junior winger George Parros, who—at 6-5, 218 pounds—is one of the most imposing players in the ECAC.

Princeton traveled to Niagara for a non-conference series this past weekend.

Yale

Yale was one of the ECAC’s top offensive teams last season. Unfortunately for Coach Tim Taylor ’63, it doesn’t look like that will be the case this winter.

Gone are Jeff Hamilton—whose 55 points represented more than half of Yale’s goals last season—and his 1.77 points per game average, and longtime linemate Ben Stafford (14-28-42).

However, the Bulldogs certainly have the tools to compete in the ECAC, as junior Nick Deschenes and senior Luke Earl return to the fold up front. Sophomore Jeff Dwyer, a 20-point man and co-Ivy Rookie of the Year last season along with Harvard’s Tim Pettit, is one of the top blue-liners in the league.

In order for the Elis to be successful this season, though, senior Dan Lombard has to be on top of his game every night. In the past, any inconsistency in his play was masked by the stellar offensive output of Hamilton and Stafford. This year, Lombard will not be afforded that luxury if Yale hopes to win.

Yale will jump right into their ECAC slate Saturday against St. Lawrence.