March 16, 2023
by Joshua Seguin/Staff Writer (@JoshSeguin24)
Quinnipiac forward Collin Graf transferred from Union and became a Hobey Baker Award finalist this season. (photo: Rob Rasmussen/Quinnipiac Athletics)
Quinnipiac has been the prohibitive front-runner in the ECAC from the opening puck drop of the season.
But despite the regular-season success, teams are ultimately judged on their postseason success. In the past, Quinnipiac has struggled to win the ECAC Tournament title, despite largely dominating the league for the past decade and a half. The Bobcats have seven regular-season Cleary Cups, but have won just one Whitelaw Cup, given to the tournament champion.
The lack of tournament championships may raise questions, but ultimately the success of the program cannot be questioned. After all, Quinnipiac has also made two national championship games in that span, and no other league team that can say that. Also in that span, Harvard has won three postseason championships, but only one in the regular season.
Obviously, trends are trends that are meant to be broken. This QU team has a lot riding on this weekend and the next few weeks, but so do others. Cornell wants to get back to the high level it was at before the pandemic struck it down a peg, while Don Vaughan and Colgate look to provide a big shock.
No. 1 Quinnipiac (30-3-3) vs No. 5 Colgate (17-15-5)
The last time Quinnipiac played Colgate, the Raiders came up with the upset on home ice. Since then, Colgate has dropped off a bit, but also had an injury bug on defense. Now that the Raiders are once again healthy, this could be anyone’s game. Along with a close 3-2 win for Colgate in January, in November the Raiders also kept it close in a 3-2 win for the Bobcats.
Quinnipiac comes off a sweep of Yale, where it was hardly tested. In the Game 1 win, Yale was held to five shots, a 20-year low in college hockey.
“Obviously the games mean more, but we got where we are because of our process,” QU defenseman Zach Metsa said to the QU Chronicle over the weekend. “The coaching staff will do a great job scouting them and making sure we know what to do and figuring out the game plan. Our job is to stick to it.”
It will be tough for Colgate to defeat Quinnipiac twice in a row, but Colgate has played better against the best in the ECAC than the bottom half. As well as defeating…
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