Norwich University has been chosen by the coaches of the ECAC Men's East Hockey League as the top team in the 2008-09 preseason poll, earning eight first place and 95 overall votes. The Cadets are coming off a 2007-08 campaign where they posted a 15-4-0 conference mark good enough to win the ECAC Men's East regular season title. Norwich skated to an overall record of 23-7-0, advancing to the 2008 NCAA Frozen Four where they lost to eventual National Champions St. Norbert College.

Norwich University returns Second Team All-Conference goalie David Thompson (Wainwright, Alberta/Camrose Kodiaks) and forward Nikita Kashirsky (Moscow, Russia/Walpole Jr. Stars) looking to improve upon his 42 points (20-22-42) from a year ago. The 2007-08 ECAC Men's East Coach of the Year, Mike McShane, will enter his 13th season behind the bench of the Cadets.

The Beavers of Babson College earn the second place spot in the coaches' poll with one first place and 85 total votes.  The Beavers finished the 2007-08 season with a 17-6-3 mark (13-4-2 league).  Casey Fazekas (Montreal, Que./Westminster School) will return for Babson, coming off a year where he earned First Team All-ECAC East honors.

Castleton State College finished in third place with one first place and 73 total votes.  The Spartans finished last season with an 11-6-2 conference record (13-11-2 overall).  The Spartans top offensive player Brandon Heck (Forrestburg, Alb./Winkler Flyers) will be back and looking to improve upon his 34 points (16-18-34) from a year ago.

The fourth spot belongs to New England College.  The Pilgrims ended last season with a 10-6-3 conference mark (16-8-3 overall) advancing to the ECAC East Semifinals game where they lost to Salem State.  The Pilgrims will return a key part of their scoring offense from a year ago, Mark Ehl (North Vancouver, BC/Powell River Kings).  Ehl led the Pilgrims with 41 points (23-18-41). 

Coming in at number five is Salem State College who posted a 9-9-1 record in the ECAC East (16-11-1 overall) during the 2007-08 season.  The Huskies of Southern Maine, ended last season 8-8-3 against league opponents, and 14-9-3 overall, and were voted into sixth place.

UMass Boston claims the seventh spot in the poll after a season where they skated to a 5-12-2 league record (11-14-2 overall).  Skidmore College ended last season 4-14-1 in league play (7-17-2 overall) and were voted into the eighth spot.

Rounding out the top ten are Saint Anselm College ninth and Saint Michael's College tenth.

The ECAC East League will be settled on the ice beginning Friday, November 21 with a full weekend of games on tap.