Last year, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference came to be known as the little kid on the block.. Not one team from the ECAC advanced past its first-round games in the NCAA finals, and that didn't surprise anyone.

This year, the conference's two top teams--Harvard and Clarkson--should give the ECAC a measure of respectability more than it had in 1991-92. Harvard looks poised to repeat as the regular-season champion. With its talented sophomores and the addition of superstar Ted Drury, Harvard should stay atop the division.

The rest of the league should look something like this:

2. CLARKSON

Clarkson is looking strongest where its competitors are weak this season. Losing only four players to graduation last spring, the Golden Knights bring back the experience of 17 lettermen who have earned the team an overall record of 22-10-1.

This season, Clarkson has been picked to win the ECAC by a poll of league coaches and ranked in the top five by almost every hockey poll in the country.

With three solid lines that can score, a good checking line, six returning defenders and two goalies rated as best in the country, Clarkson should light up many a scoreboard from Potsdam to Lake Placid.

The Knights have started the season with a 2-1 record, outscoring their opponents 21-6 in their first three games.

But their loss to Lowell on Saturday (November 7) points out that the team's biggest problem this season--as with last season--will be consistency.

Co-Captain Steve Dubinsky says that the team's deep experience should keep it going all the way to the national championships.

"We have [seven seniors] who have been here four years and have been to NCAA three times. They have a lot of experience and that will hopefully be our backbone," says Co-Captain Steve Dubinsky.

A player to watch this season is the team's top scorer, left wing Hugo Belanger, who is the ECAC's leading scorer out of currently active players. With a career record of 68-105-173 in 111 career games and a 4-4-8 record this season, Belanger is a serious candidate for Hoby Baker and for All American. He is the Knight's fifth alltime leading scorer.

3. YALE

Two years from now, Yale's Tim Taylor will be in Norway dreaming of Olympic gold.

But for now, the newly-appointed coach of the USA hockey squad is stuck in New Haven, dodging bullets and hoping to bring his team into the top of the ECAC ranks.