Photo Courtesy: Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Kyle Levasseur
When the 2015-2016 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team started its season with an 18-game undefeated streak, it was clear that this was a magical season in the making for the Bobcats.
Quinnipiac solidified itself as the best team in the ECAC, claiming both the Cleary Cup (ECAC regular season champions) and the program’s first ever Whitelaw Cup (ECAC tournament champions).
Head Coach Rand Pecknold and his squad dominated in the East Regional, advancing to the program’s second ever Frozen Four. But, Quinnipiac for the second time in four years lost in the National Championship. The Bobcats were crushed by the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, 5-1. Another successful season on paper, but no National title bearing their name. Quinnipiac looks to make it back to the big dance this season, but end the season with a different result.
The first step for Quinnipiac in its’ 2016-2017 campaign starts at home, when McGill University will travel from Montreal, Canada to Hamden, Conn. Seven more non-conference games will follow Mcgill, most notably Boston University on Oct. 22. The Terriers were the first team to beat the Bobcats last season, winning 4-1. This season should prove to be yet another great matchup between ECAC and Hockey East powerhouses.
Conference play starts soon after, with Quinnipiac traveling to upstate New York to take on Clarkson on Nov. 4, and St. Lawrence on Nov. 5. Both teams fared well against Quinnipiac last year. Clarkson handed Quinnipiac it’s first tie of the season, while St. Lawrence was one of only four teams all year to defeat Quinnipiac.
The following weekend, Nov. 11-12, will be the first conference series at home for Quinnipiac. It’s opponents being the two teams Quinnipiac defeated in the ECAC Playoffs, Dartmouth and Harvard.
Two of the most anticipated tournaments in the Bobcats season come in late November and December. First, comes the 2016 Friendship Four. Quinnipiac will play for its first time ever in another continent, as they travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland from Nov. 25-26. The three other teams comprising the tournament are St. Lawrence, UMass Lowell, and Vermont.
The other tournament the Bobcats will partake in, is the Three Rivers Classic, in Pittsburgh, Penn. The other schools comprising the tournament include, Ferris State, Robert Morris, and the team Quinnipiac defeated in last year’s Frozen Four, Boston College.
Pecknold and company will finish the regular season with a home series against Yale on Feb. 24, and Brown on February 25.
