Back to Class: Is the ECAC actually strong this year?

We’re taking you “Back To Class” for our roundup of the weekend’s action in college hockey. Look for more college hockey on NBCSN this Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. ET as No. 11 Dartmouth takes on Vermont. 

When it comes to picking out potential NCAA tournament teams, most eyes go right to the WCHA, CCHA, and Hockey East. The early part of this season has made some eyes start taking a look at the ECAC.

Last week’s poll saw four teams in the USA Hockey/USA Today Top 15: Union (7), Dartmouth (11), Cornell (12), and Yale (13). The USCHO.com Top 20 also had Quinnipiac and Harvard in the mix. Is the conference sometimes referred to as the “EZAC” actually underrated this year? USCHO.com’s Brian Sullivan thinks so.

Sullivan points out the number of NHL-drafted players at the top of the goal scoring leaderboard as well as the current (and very, very, very early Pairwise Rankings) would place all six teams in the field of 16 with two No. 1 seeds.

It’s way too early to start dusting off the Pairwise crystal ball, but things are off to a good start for the ECAC. Then again, it’s a conference known for tearing each other down through the year and dashing each other’s NCAA hopes in the conference tournament.

Like Sullivan says, however, if the league can land four teams in the NCAA’s, call it a win for a conference that has sent just two teams to the Frozen Four since 2003.

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Jerry York watch: Kudos to Boston College coach Jerry York for taking one out of two against BU this weekend and tying Ron Mason’s NCAA coaching wins record. They’ll go to Providence to take on the Friars on Friday night to possibly break the record then. USCHO has a nice look back on York through the years.

Frozen Fenway coming back?: It looks like another outdoor college hockey festival at Fenway Park in Boston will be back in 2014. CHN says they’re looking for final approval and a BC vs. Notre Dame match-up seems likely.

Kerdiles back: Nic Kerdiles’ first two games back for Wisconsin went well. He finished the weekend against Denver with two assists and missed out on a goal thanks to a shot being tipped in. More importantly? Two upset wins for the Badgers over the soon-to-be former No. 5 Pioneers.

Hockey Humanitarian Award: Nominations are out for the Hockey Humanitarian Award and you can put your favorite college hockey player worthy of recognition in for consideration until December 14. Get on that.