Frozen Four participant St. Lawrence was chosen as the preseason favorite in both the ECAC coaches and media polls, released Monday.
In the annual polling of the 12 head coaches in the ECAC, the Saints garnered nine first-place votes and a total of 117 points after a season in which they captured both the regular-season and tournament crowns in the ECAC. The Saints lost in the NCAA national semifinal to Boston College to close out their season.
The Saints return Erik Anderson and Matt Desrosiers, but also lost ECAC Rookie of the Year Derek Gustafson, ECAC First Team All-Star Brandon Dietrich and ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year Justin Harney.
The Big Red of Cornell, an ECAC tournament semifinalist, were given the other three first-place votes and finished second in the polling with 102 points.
In third place were the Crimson of Harvard with 99 points, followed by Clarkson with 83 and then ECAC tournament runner-up Rensselaer with 75 points.
NCAA participant Colgate finished sixth with 74 points. Dartmouth’s 66 points put the Big Green in seventh place while Yale was in eighth with 60.
Vermont was picked ninth with 46 points, and the coaches predict that the final playoff spot will go to Princeton (28 points). Union (22 points) and Brown (14 points) were 11th and 12th.
The Saints also were picked first in the ECAC media poll, gathering seven of the 17 first-place votes and 183 points. Cornell and its five first-place votes (175 points) finished in second place in the media poll.
Three members of the media selected Colgate as their preseason favorite, giving the the Red Raiders a total of 163 points, good for third place.
Rensselaer got one first-place vote and 136 points to be voted fourth, while Harvard’s 132 points were good for fifth.
The media selected Clarkson sixth with 129 points and Dartmouth got the remaining first-place vote and 103 points to place seventh.
Vermont was voted eighth with 82 points, followed by Yale’s 75 points and Princeton’s 62.
Union (55 points) and Brown (25 points) were selected 11th and 12th, respectively.
The first ECAC contest is on Friday, November 3, when Brown will host Harvard.
ECAC Coaches Preseason Poll
1. St. Lawrence (9) 117
2. Cornell (3) 102
3. Harvard 99
4. Clarkson 83
5. Rensselaer 75
6. Colgate 74
7. Dartmouth 66
8. Yale 60
9. Vermont 46
10. Princeton 28
11. Union 22
12. Brown 14
ECAC Media Preseason Poll
1. St. Lawrence (7) 183
2. Cornell (5) 175
3. Colgate (3) 163
4. Rensselaer (1) 136
5. Harvard 132
6. Clarkson 129
7. Dartmouth (1) 103
8. Vermont 82
9. Yale 75
10. Princeton 62
11. Union 55
12. Brown 25
