Weekend Preview

At the halfway point of the league schedule the Golden Knights have to be pleased with the results. Clarkson has taken at least one point from seven of the eleven other teams in the league and has swept the season series with St. Lawrence At 7-3-2 in the conference and in third place the Knights are just one point out of second and three points out of first. Third place is not where this teams wants to be, and the time is now to make a move to the top of the league and send a message to the rest of the ECAC and the country that the Golden Knights are worthy of the ranking and hype. Harvard and Dartmouth make the long North Country trip to take on what should be a very determined Clarkson squad, and that should make for some great hockey.

Dartmouth comes to Cheel on the heels of a three game winning streak. Granted, these three wins were against Atlantic Hockey teams, but they should not be discounted as we have seen what Sacred Heart and Holy Cross can do to teams who are not prepared. Clarkson, however, is not Sacred Heart and the Big Green can not expect to surrender three goals in a period and get out with a win in Potsdam.

The last time these two teams met up there were 31 penalties and 24 powerplays. The officials in the league have seem to taken their foot off the pedal a bit in calling every penalty so I doubt we will see the parade to the box like we did in November. Clarkson's powerplay has cooled off since December but the Knights are still clicking at 22% on the man advantage. Dartmouth has a solid penalty kill but a dismal powerplay, expect the Knights to try and sneak a shorty past the Big Green as the did in November.

I expect Clarkson to come out fast this game and look to get a quick lead. If Dartmouth can hang on for the first period they should be able to keep it close for the rest of the game. If things start bad for the Big Green, they will end bad. In the end Clarkson is just too much for Dartmouth to contain.

Clarkson 4 - Dartmouth 1

Harvard has not played a game in nearly a month. Any guesses at what to expect would really not be educated. Some might say this blog is not educated, but that is a debate for the summer. The strongest advantage for Clarkson is the fact that Harvard is playing SLU first, and the Saints are going to come out mad. Mad at a mid week loss and mad at a Harvard team that has not been kind to the Saints in the past year. My estimation is that SLU is going to get physical with the Crimson in what will be a close game. Harvard will need all of their conditioning training to pay off against Clarkson but I just can not see Harvard lasting to the third.

Clarkson 5 - Harvard 2