Saints Hockey: ECAC Tournament Preview

By Mathew Taylor Last updated Mar 9, 2023

SLU Hockey will play Colgate in the ECAC Tournament quarterfinals. PHOTO CREDIT: SAINTS ATHLETICS

The St. Lawrence University Saints Men’s Hockey team takes on the Colgate University Raiders on Friday, March 10, at 7:00 pm in Appleton Arena for their first game of the 2023 edition of the ECAC Tournament. This will be a best-of-three quarterfinal series, with the first team to win two games advancing to the ECAC semifinals.

St. Lawrence had a very successful season, especially in ECAC play, going 17-17-0 overall with a 12-10 conference record. This 12-10 conference record earned them the number four seed in the 12 team ECAC tournament, which gave the Saints a first round bye and home ice advantage for the quarterfinals. This marks a significant improvement from last season, when the Saints went 7-10-5 in the ECAC and had the eight seed in the conference tournament.

This season, St. Lawrence has scored 83 goals with a .091 shooting percentage—they put up 149 assists and had 806 saves. They have won 970 faceoffs and lost 945 for a .507 faceoff win percentage, and have scored 20 goals on 123 power play opportunities for a .163 conversion percentage.

Individually, Luc Salem led the team in points, putting up ten goals and 16 assists for a total of 26 points, while Cameron Buhl was second on the team in points, scoring nine goals and adding seven assists for 16 total points. In goal, Emil Zetterquist has saved 775 shots and only given up 86 goals, which gives him a save percentage of .900 going into the postseason.

In the quarterfinals, the Saints will match up against a Colgate team that finished one spot below them in the standings as the number five seed. The Raiders finished the season with a 15-5-5 overall record and were 11-8-3 in conference play. They are 2-0 against the Saints this season, defeating them 4-1 in Canton on Nov. 12, and winning 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 17 in Hamilton, NY. The fifth seeded Raiders faced off against the twelfth seeded Dartmouth Big Green, winning 5-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the other ECAC quarterfinals, top seeded Quinnipiac takes on tenth seeded Yale. Number two seeded Harvard takes on ninth seeded Princeton, while third seeded Cornell takes on sixth seeded Clarkson. The top seeded teams in the ECAC are not just the best teams in the conference, they are also some of the top teams in the entire NCAA. In the national rankings, Quinnipiac is ranked second overall, Harvard is ranked sixth, and Cornell is ranked twelfth. Harvard is looking to win their twelfth ECAC title and repeat as ECAC champions, as they won the 2022 tournament, while Quinnipiac is looking to win their third ECAC title and first since 2016. The Bobcats have lost in two straight ECAC championship games as the number one seed, losing to Harvard in 2022 and St. Lawrence in 2021, so they will be looking to change this and win the tourney as the number one seed this year.

For St. Lawrence, they are only two years removed from their most recent ECAC championship triumph, and I am sure they are looking to add to their seven ECAC tournament titles by winning number eight in 2023. While all St. Lawrence hockey is exciting, St. Lawrence playoff hockey is a can’t miss event on campus, so be sure to come support the Saints at Appleton Arena this Friday at 7:00 pm for game one, Saturday at 7:00 pm for game two, and potentially Sunday at 4:00 pm for game three, if the series goes to a third game.