{"id":23038,"date":"2000-10-12T17:43:17","date_gmt":"2000-10-12T22:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2000\/10\/12\/ecac-column-oct-12-2000\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:53:59","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:53:59","slug":"ecac-column-oct-12-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2000\/10\/12\/ecac-column-oct-12-2000\/","title":{"rendered":"ECAC Column: Oct. 12, 2000"},"content":{"rendered":"
The ECAC is all set to go, as this weekend four more teams take to the ice for the first time this season.<\/p>\n
The defending ECAC champion St. Lawrence Saints<\/b> visit enemy ice, something that they will do a lot this season. The Vermont Catamounts<\/b> return to the ice for the first time since January in front of a sold-out Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Clarkson Golden Knights<\/b> travel to Ohio to start their season, the Rensselaer Engineers<\/b> are guests of traditional rival Boston University. Finally, the Ice Breaker runner-up Colgate<\/b> opens up at Starr Rink.<\/p>\nRoad Weary<\/h4>\n
This season, the St. Lawrence Saints<\/b> will spend a lot of time travelling. The Saints have a 32-game schedule, as is the norm in the ECAC (aside from the Ivy League schools) and of those 32 games, the Saints only play one<\/i> nonconference home game. That comes the first weekend of November, when the Saints host Quinnipiac. In total, the Saints have 12 home games this season and will play 20 on the road.<\/p>\n
Saint road contests include a pair at North Dakota, a pair at Michigan, a potential matchup with Maine in the Black Bear Classic, and a first-round meeting with Notre Dame in the Rensselaer\/HSBC Holiday Hockey Tournament after opening the season this Friday at Northeastern.<\/p>\n
“Some people thought I lost my mind a little bit,” joked head coach Joe Marsh. “We don’t have a lot of home games — maybe that’s a good thing, especially if we’re not playing well.”<\/p>\n
But in all seriousness…<\/p>\n
“It’s going to be tough and looking back at last year, that Wisconsin series was the better series in terms of what it did to our team — and we didn’t win a game,” Marsh added about the series. “It was a confidence-builder; the tie on that second night felt like a win, and it started our run.”<\/p>\n
And what a run, as the Saints went 18-1-0 after that series until falling to Boston College in the national semifinal.<\/p>\n