{"id":32548,"date":"2010-10-29T01:22:49","date_gmt":"2010-10-29T06:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=32548"},"modified":"2010-10-29T01:23:21","modified_gmt":"2010-10-29T06:23:21","slug":"32548","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/10\/29\/32548\/","title":{"rendered":"Curry the early favorite in competitive ECAC Northeast"},"content":{"rendered":"

In and of itself, it’s not surprising that Curry took home the 2009-10 ECAC Northeast Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA.<\/p>\n

The Colonels have been a force in the conference, and last season was no exception, as they took Wentworth Institute of Technology down the wire for the regular season championship before a 4-2 loss to the Leopards on the last Sunday of the season gave Wentworth the regular season crown.<\/p>\n

However, it’s fair to say their opponent, sixth-seeded Johnson & Wales, could be qualified as a surprise. Or maybe not, as the Wildcats run to the championship game was microcosm of a incredibly competitive conference that figures to be even tighter this year, as the playoff format switches from eight to six teams.<\/p>\n

“I think this is going to be a very interesting year for a lot of teams in the league,” Johnson & Wales coach Erik Noack said. “It is \u00a0going to be much tighter than last year, and every game could be the game that gets you home ice or eliminates you from the playoffs altogether. I think it will probably come down to the last week of the regular season to see how things will shake out.”<\/p>\n

The Wildcats run to the conference championship was fitting, giving what transpired in the season’s final month of play. Seventh and eighth place finishers Western New England College and Salve Regina gave several of the league’s top teams a run for their money, and Johnson & Wales offered a preview of their playoff prowess with a 5-3 win over Curry in the teams’ final regular season meeting.<\/p>\n

“I think our league only continues to get stronger,” Western New England coach Greg Heffernan said. “I also think that anyone is capable of beating anyone on any given night. As last year’s playoff proved…its going to be exciting.”<\/p>\n

Added Curry coach Rob Davies, “The importance of each game can’t be affirmed enough. Home ice is going to be more important. Most teams aren’t going to be 100 percent healthy throughout the season, so there’s more emphasis on having depth.”<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here is a more detailed breakdown of the conference, team by team. The teams are listed in order of predicted finish, although as last season proved, standings can mean little.<\/p>\n

Click each team name for a detailed preview.<\/p>\n

Curry <\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 19-9-1
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 10-3-1
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> Second
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> First<\/p>\n

After winning the championship last year, look for Curry to continue at the top.<\/p>\n

Suffolk<\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 12-11-3
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 8-4-2
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> Third
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> Second<\/p>\n

Youth should propel Suffolk to another strong finish.<\/p>\n

Wentworth<\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 20-5-1
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 11-4
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> First
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> Third<\/p>\n

Loss of goalie could hurt defending regular season champs.<\/p>\n

Nichols<\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 13-10-3
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 7-6-1
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> Sixth
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> Fourth<\/p>\n

Becker<\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 13-12-1
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 8-6
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> Fourth
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> Fifth<\/p>\n

Becker improves each year, and in its fifth season, the program continues to gain on the upper echelon.<\/p>\n

Johnson and Wales<\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 12-15
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 7-6-1
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> Fifth
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> Sixth<\/p>\n

Johnson and Wales looks to start strong out of the gate, as poor start hurt team last year.<\/p>\n

Western New England College<\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 3-21-1
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 2-12
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> Seventh
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> Seventh<\/p>\n

With many new players, Western New England hopes to get over 10 wins.<\/p>\n

Salve Regina<\/strong><\/a>
\n2009-2010 Record:<\/strong> 1-24-1
\n2009-2010 ECAC Northeast Record:<\/strong> 0-13-1
\n2009-2010 Finish:<\/strong> Eighth
\n2010-2011 Season:<\/strong> Eighth<\/p>\n

Large senior class could help Salve Regina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In and of itself, it’s not surprising that Curry took home the 2009-10 ECAC Northeast Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA. The Colonels have been a force in the conference, and last season was no exception, as they took Wentworth Institute of Technology down the wire for the regular season championship before a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCurry the early favorite in competitive ECAC Northeast - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In and of itself, it's not surprising that Curry took home the 2009-10 ECAC Northeast Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA. 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