ECAC Breakdown

After five months of hockey it all comes down to one game to see who will snag the ECAC regular season title, and who will get the four bye weeks in the first round of the playoffs. What we know going in is that Yale and Union have byes clinched, and Dartmouth has a virtual lock on one. The last bye will go to one of Cornell, Princeton, or possibly RPI.

First, concerning the title: All Union has to do is win and they are the champs. They play Princeton, whom they defeated 7-4 at Hobey Rink nearly a month ago, but it still will be a tough game. Should they tie, Yale has to defeat Cornell at home and then they are the champions. If Union loses to Princeton, then Yale needs only a tie vs. the Big Red to remain ECAC Champs. (though, more accurately speaking, Union and Yale would share the title in those scenarios, but Yale would get the #1 seed via the tiebreaker, which is record vs. the top 4 ECAC teams.)

Meanwhile, Dartmouth, as I said, virtually has a bye locked up. A point vs. Clarkson would do it, but if they do lose and Cornell wins, then Cornell has the tiebreaker over the Big Green. There of course is a (very unlikely) possibility where Dartmouth loses, and Cornell and Princeton both win, causing a three way tie. In this case, Dartmouth has the tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, RPI is in 6th and on the outside looking in, but if they can down Quinnipiac and get to 25 points, they would get in (obviously) if both Cornell and Princeton lose, but the Engineers hold the tiebreaker over Princeton as well, so a Princeton tie and Cornell loss also gets it done.

No matter what happens, it looks like there is going to be some major scoreboard watching on the east coast tonight, as Yale and Union fight for a league crown, and no less than 6 teams are hunting for a bye.