Team Notes: Brown Embarks on Final Regular-Season Road Trip

This Weekend: With the non-league portion of the schedule now complete, Brown is  in the midst of 16 straight ECAC Hockey contests (5 to go), having posted a 4-7-0 record in the first 11. The Bears travel to Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend to close out the regular season series with the Tigers and Bobcats, while also playing in their final two regular season away games of the year. This weekend will be critical for all teams involved, as Quinnipiac currently sits in the 8th and final spot for home ice, three points ahead of Brown entering Friday night's games. Princeton currently occupies the sixth spot, two points shy of the fourth and final bye position.

Last Time Out: The Bears posted a weekend split in the North Country, falling to Clarkson, 4-1, on Friday night, before rebounding with a dominating, 5-1, win on Saturday at St. Lawrence. Junior Bobby Farnham scored the lone goal against the Golden Knights and also had an assist on Brown's first goal against the Saints. In that game, Brown got off to a 2-0 start with goals by senior David Brownschidle  and sophomore Chris Zaires and then extended the lead to 4-0 with a pair of goals early in the 2nd period scored by freshmen Mark Hourihan and Garnet Hathaway. After St. Lawrence got on the board, junior Jeff Buvinow capped the scoring with Hourihan and Hathaway earning assists. Junior Mike Clemente stopped 58 shots in the two games, including 33 of 34 against St. Lawrence.

These Dates Historically Speaking: All-time, Brown is 10-11-2 in games played on February 18th, and 9-12-1 in games played on February 19th. The Bears are 2-0-0 against Princeton in games played on February 18th, winning 7-1 at home in 1970 and 4-3 (ot) at Princeton in 1975.  Brown and Quinnipiac have never faced each other on February 19th. Brown is 5-4-2 in away games on the 18th and 3-10-1 in away games on the 19th.

Brown vs. Princeton: The Bears have already faced the Tigers twice this season, winning a non-league game, 2-1, as part of the Ivy Showcase and then dropping a 4-3 decision in Providence a week later. Brown holds an 80-63-8 advantage over Princeton in the all-time series, which dates back to a 4-4 tie during the 1899-1900 season. The two teams played six straight overtime games, with Brown posting a 1-2-3 record in those contests, before Princeton earned a victory in regulation, 4-3, in the final meeting between the two schools during the 2006-2007 season to clinch that year's ECAC First Round series. Following that win, Princeton won six straight games to stretch its winning streak over Brown to seven contests. The Bears snapped the Tigers' winning streak at eight games with a 3-1 victory in Providence on December 4, 2009 and are 2-2-0 against the Tigers under head coach Brendan Whittet. Junior Jack Maclellan is Brown's statistical leader against the Tigers with seven points (4g, 3a) in eight career games, while five other players have all tallied three career points against Princeton.

Scouting Princeton: The Tigers are 0-3-1 in their last four games, dropping a pair of contests at home to Union (7-4) and RPI (5-2) and posting a tie at Harvard (4-4) and a loss at Dartmouth (4-1) last weekend. Princeton's last victory was a 4-3 overtime win at Clarkson on January 29th, a win that stretched the Tigers' winning streak to four games and was in the midst of a 9-1-1 stretch dating back to December 4th. Princeton is led by freshman Andrew Calof, who has 26 points (5g, 21a) in 25 games, while senior Mike Kramer adds 25 points (12g, 13a) in 24 games. Kramer also leads the team with four game-winning goals, while sophomore Eric Meland, who has 16 points (7g, 9a) leads the team with six power play goals. Freshman Sean Bonar and sophomore Mike Condon have more-or-less split time in net this season with Bonar posting a 2.17 GAA and .915 save percentage in 11 games (6-4-1) and Condon earning a 2.70 GAA and .907 save percentage in 10 games (6-3-1).

Brown vs. Quinnipiac: Brown and Quinnipiac split the season last year, marking the second straight season the teams have split in the regular season, with each team winning at home and then played to a 3-3 tie earlier this season in Providence, the first tie in the all-time series. Quinnipiac leads the all-time series with Brown by an 8-4-1 margin. The Bears and the Bobcats met for the first time at Quinnipiac in January of 2006 with Quinnipiac claiming a 3-2 win in overtime. Brown earned the season split with the Bobcats in 2006, with a 5-3 win in Providence to close out the regular season. The two teams split the season series again in 2006-07, with each team winning in its home rink for the second straight year, before the Bobcats would win four straight games, two of which were in the ECAC playoffs, during the 2007-08 season. Senior David Brownschidle (3g, 1a) leads all Brown players against Quinnipiac with four points in seven career games, while three others have tallied three career points.

Scouting Quinnipiac: The Bobcats have lost two straight entering Friday's game with Yale and are 0-2-2 in their last four games with a pair of ties at St. Lawrence (2-2) and against RPI (3-3) and losses to Union (3-2) and at Dartmouth (3-1). Quinnipiac is led by sophomore Jeremy Langlois, who has 20 points (15g, 5a) in 30 games, while junior Scott Zurevinski (11g, 8a) and freshman Connor Jones (9g, 10a) both have 19 points in 30 games. Langlois and Jones share the team lead with six power play goals, while Zurevinski is tied with three other players with two game-winning goals.  Sophomore Eric Hartzell has seen the majority of time in net this year and has posted a 2.28 GAA and a .926 save percentage in 22 games (10-5-4), while junior Dan Clarke has a 3.48 GAA and a .871 save percentage in 11 games (3-7-1).

Maclellan for Hobey: Junior assistant captain Jack Maclellan, who leads the Bears in scoring with 31 points (14g, 17a) in 24 games, is among the nominees for the 2011 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Maclellan, who has posted at least one point in 19 of Brown's 24 games, enters the Princeton-Quinnipiac games ranked 13th in the nation with 1.29 points per game, 17th nationally with 0.58 goals per game, 38th nationally with 0.71 assists per game, and 5th in the nation with two short-handed goals. An assistant captain this year, Maclellan has 71 career points (31g, 40a) in 90 games. Fans can vote for their choice once every 24 hours and as many times as they like at www.hobeybakeraward.com. When online voting closes, the votes are tabulated and the results carry a weight in the final selection process of the Hobey finalists and winner.

Multimedia: Brown is in its fourth year of a partnership with America One (previously B2 Networks) to handle all video and audio streaming needs. Video and audio, called by Mike Rubin '00, for all 12 of Brown's home games will be streamed live over the internet. In addition, five regular season away games will be shown live via America One. Free audio for all home games and select away games will also be available. In addition to Brown's normal audio broadcasts on Brownbears.com, six other games will also be broadcast on WPRV AM-790, possibly including the February 22nd game against Harvard. Video for single games can be purchased for $7, or fans can purchase a season-long hockey pass (all men's & women's games) for $75. Fans can also follow all Brown home games on livestats, available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/brown/

Brendan Whittet '94: Brown alum Brendan Whittet, class of 1994, returns for his second season as Brown's bench boss. A 15-year veteran of the college coaching ranks, Whittet guided the Bears to one of their most successful seasons in recent history in his first season at the helm. Under Whittet's guidance, Brown won 13 games, the most since winning 16 during the 2004-05 season. The Bears improved in nearly every facet of their game offensively, while advancing to the ECAC Hockey Championship Tournament for the first time since 2003. A former defenseman for the Bears, Whittet is the 15th head coach in the 111-year history of the Brown men's hockey program and the 4th Brown hockey alum to coach the team, joining Wescott E.S. Moulton '31 (1948-52), Donald F. Whiston '51 (1953-55), and J. Allan Soares '60 (1971-74).

Mike Clemente Named ECAC Hockey/MLX Skates Goalie of the Week: In Brown's weekend sweep at Colgate and Cornell, Clemente posted 48 saves, a .923 save percentage, and a 2.00 GAA, while allowing only one even-strength goal. Clemente helped lead Brown to its first road sweep over the central-New York duo since 2/93, its first win over Cornell since 1/07, and its first  regular season road sweep since 1/05. He recorded 28 saves on Friday against the Raiders with 20 the next night against the Big Red.

Jack Maclellan and Matt Wahl Earn All-Tournament Honors: Following Brown's second place finish at Notre Dame's Shillelagh Tournament (6-1 win over #10 Boston University; 7-3 loss to Minnesota State), junior Jack Maclellan (2g, 1a) and freshman Matt Wahl (2a) were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

Harry Zolnierczyk Named ECAC Hockey/MLX Skates Player of the Week: Following Brown's split with #1 Yale (L, 5-2; W, 3-2), which snapped Yale's winning streak at 10 games and handed the Bulldogs their first ECAC loss of the season, senior Harry Zolnierczyk was named ECAC Player of the Week. The Bears' second leading scorer had 4 points (2g, 2a) in the pair of games, including a short-handed goal that in the first game, that tied the score at 2-2, and the game-winning goal with 46 seconds left in regulation in the come-from-behind win in the second game. He also had the primary assist on both goals in the victory, and was +3 for the weekend.

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