Team Notes: Going West for Test
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale
men's hockey team (4-0, 2-0 ECAC) has enjoyed the friendly confines
of Ingalls Rink this season, taking its first four games at its
home venue. The No. 3/4 Elis hit the road for the first time with a
trip to the Centennial State to face Colorado College and Air Force
on Saturday and Sunday nights. Both Saturday's 9 p.m. ET faceoff at
Colorado Springs World Arena and Sunday's 8 p.m. ET puck drop at
Cadet Ice Arena can be seen live on americaone.com.
SERIES
The Bulldogs and Tigers first met during the 1940-41 season as
Yale earned a sweep at Colorado Springs. CC won six of the next 13
meetings and now leads the series 8-7. All but three of the games
have been played out West with CC holding a 7-5 lead in those
contests. The last meeting was a 6-5 OT decision in 1985 for the
Elis in New Haven. Yale and USAF have met 12 times since 1989-90,
the year the Blue hosted the Falcons in the Yale Hockey Classic and
took an 8-5 win. The last meeting was a 3-2 Yale win at Ingalls in
January of 2009. The Elis have a 9-3 advantage heading into the
13th meeting.
YALE 5, QUINNIPIAC 1 (Nov. 6)
The fans who packed sold-out Ingalls Rink anticipated an offensive
flurry from the home team at some point. They just didn't figure to
wait so long. The flurry came with abundance as Yale erased an
early 1-0 deficit with five straight goals over the last two
periods to beat Quinnipiac 5-1 in an ECAC Hockey contest. The
Bulldogs scored late in the second to take the lead and then broke
it open with three in the third while slightly outshooting the
visitors, 33-30. Brian
O'Neill hit the net twice while the Elis also got goals
from Jeff
Anderson and Denny
Kearney, who had two points. Chris
Cahill added two assists in Yale's second straight home
win over the Bobcats. Senior Yale goalie Ryan
Rondeau was as impressive as his team's offensive
outburst. He stopped 29 of 30 shots and four out of five
man-advantages to earn his third win of the year.
YALE 5, PRINCETON 3 (Nov. 5)
The conference season began with a bang for the two-time defending
regular season champions. Senior F Chris Cahill scored twice and
added an assist and senior G Ryan Rondeau stopped 27 shots as No. 5
Yale beat Princeton 5-3 on the first night of ECAC Hockey action at
Ingalls Rink. The Bulldogs, who outshot the 0-3 Tigers 46-30, had a
real battle from the visitors. Rondeau made six saves in the first,
nine in the second and finished with a dozen big saves in the final
frame. The Elis, who killed off six of seven Princeton advantages,
had multiple 5-on-3s to wipe away as their senior netminder reeled
off big save after big save.
RONDEAU NETS WEEKEND
Senior goalie Ryan Rondeau (Carvel, AB) stopped 56 of 60 shots to
earn two wins in net against Princeton and Quinnipiac. The senior
allowed two power-play goals combined. He made 12 saves on 13 shots
in the third period against the Tigers in a 5-3 win on Nov. 5.
Rondeau (2.34, .919, 3-0) stopped 13 of 14 shots in the first
period against the Bobcats and allowed his team to score five
straight in a 5-1 win. He has been in net for four wins over ranked
teams including a 3-2 decision with North Dakota at the 2010 NCAA
Northeast Regional semifinal.
KEARNEY HITS 100
Denny Kearney (Hanover, NH), who is tied for the team lead with
five goals and 10 points, notched eight of those points over the
first two games and was ECAC Hockey's Player of the Week. That
included his first collegiate hat trick (natural) and a game-winner
during the best weekend of his collegiate career. In addition, all
four assists were primary ones. Kearney (106 gp, 34-66-100) is
Yale's active career assist leader but may not be the best athlete
in his family. His sister, Hannah Kearney, won an Olympic gold
medal in mogul skiing at the 2010 Games and is the top ranked
American in that event.
LITTLE 100
Yale senior forward Broc
Little (Rindge, N.H.), whose next game is the 100th of
his career, shares the team lead with five goals and 10 points
after four outings. He is the only Bulldog with three (PP, SH, GW)
different types of goals this season. Little was named one of the
20 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in hockey, which
honors student-athletes who excel both on and off the ice. To be
eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an
NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas
of excellence – community, classroom, character and
competition. Little (99 gp, 58-51-109), who has 10 more points than
games played, led the 2009-10 Bulldogs with 27 goals, a Yale record
for juniors, while leading all of Division I in goals per game
(.79). He was second on the team with 41 points and garnered
numerous post-season honors. Little was named RBK Second-Team
All-America and first-team All-ECAC, All-Ivy and All-New England.
He was also named ECAC Hockey Player of the Year by the New England
Hockey Journal. Little, a political science major, has shown the
same dedication in the classroom. He owns a 3.1 GPA and has been a
three-time ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team pick.
BENCH LEADER
Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey, is
76-49-12 as a head coach, including 9-7 in the post season. Only
four other Yale hockey head coaches have more wins, and none have
reached the 70-win mark faster than Allain. The former Yale goalie
has led the Blue to three Ivy League titles, two ECAC regular
season championships and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
Allain, who played and worked for Tim Taylor at Yale, earned the
2008-09 Tim Taylor Award as the ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year by
leading the Elis to the best season in the program's history. A
school-record 24 wins, Yale's first ECAC Tournament Championship
and a school-best No. 5 national ranking in late March were a few
reasons why he was selected. College Hockey News named him 2008-09
national coach of the year. This is Allain's 12th overall year at
Yale; he spent four as a student-athlete goalie and three as an
assistant coach in the 1980s.
ALLAIN SAYS
"We are excited about making the trip West and playing some new
teams in new venues. Colorado College and Air Force are perennial
powers that will provide a great test for our hockey team."
CAPTAIN MARTIN
He's the team leader but the team does not rely on him for
offense. Captain Jimmy
Martin (St. Louis, Mo.) is a defensive defenseman who
happened to get very involved at the other end last year. Martin,
who has four goals and 36 career points, notched a pair of goals
and 17 assists last winter. He has one assist in 2010-11.
IN THE POLLS
Yale took the No. 3 spot in this week's uscho.com Division I poll,
the best Bulldogs' ranking ever. The Elis are No. 4 in the latest
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll.
TIGER TALES
The Tigers (4-5-1, 2-4 WCHA), who play at Air Force Friday night,
have made 19 NCAA Tournament appearances with a pair (1950, 1957)
of national titles. Colorado College, coming off a home-and-home
series split with No. 15 Denver, dropped the first game 4-1 but
rebounded to win the next night at home, 9-2, behind a five-point
game from senior winger Stephen Schultz. The Tigers, who had six
goals in the third period, outshot Denver 44-17 and got 15 saves
from Joe Howe. CC is led offensively by brothers Jaden and Rylan
Schwartz, whose sister, Mandi Schwartz, is a Yale hockey player.
Jaden Schwartz (8-6-14), a freshman, was drafted 14th overall by
the St. Louis Blues in the 2010 NHL draft, while Rylan (2-9-11), a
sophomore, leads the team in assists and is second in points.
FRAMING FALCONS
Air Force (2-5, 2-3 Atlantic Hockey), which has been to three NCAA
Tournaments in the last four years, is tied for fifth place in its
league standings after last weekend's home split. The Falcons fell
6-2 to Mercyhurst before beating 2010 Frozen Four participant RIT,
4-3, with three third-period goals. Senior F Jaques Lamoureux
(3-6-9), who has 58 career goals and 104 points, leads USAF in
scoring. Air Force graduated its career goaltending leader, Andrew
Volkening, and has used three different players this season with a
combined career total of 13 games in net. Each has started three
games this season.
MILLER TIME
Sophomore F Andrew
Miller (38 gp, 5-34-39) picked up where he left off his
rookie campaign by dishing out five assists in the first four
games. Miller (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) registered the most (34)
points by a Yale rookie since Tom Walsh set the bar with 41 in
1984-85. Miller, the 2008-09 USA Junior Player of the Year and 2007
Michigan High School Mr. Hockey, was second among conference
rookies with one point per game, which also put him fourth in the
country for newcomers. He ranked eighth in Division I with .85
assists per outing.
BACKSTOP BACKDROP
A pair of experienced sophomores joins Rondeau in the net mix. Jeff
Malcolm (11 gp, 3.16, .869, 6-3-0) made 16 saves in the
7-4 win over Brown on Oct. 29. All four Bear goals came on the
power play, two with a 5-on-3 advantage. Nick
Maricic (14 gp, 2.95, .888, 7-4-2) is the other returnee
between the pipes.
NO. 9
Junior F Brian O'Neill (71 gp, 33-47-80) had two goals and four
points last weekend. The junior handed out two helpers in the 5-3
win over Princeton before notching two goals in the 5-1 win over
Quinnipiac. All four points were even strength. He began 2010-11
with 3-2-5 in the two wins including a career-best 2-1-3 and the
GWG against Dartmouth on Oct. 30. Last winter he led the Elis with
29 assists and 45 points while ranking seventh in the country with
1.32 PPG. One of his best plays of 2009-10 was a pass he put on
Sean Backman's stick in OT that set up the winner at Cornell. He
also had the tying goal in the OT draw at the Badger Showdown title
game against Wisconsin. O'Neill made the 2008-09 CHN (national) and
ECAC Hockey All-Rookie teams after going 12-14-26 in 2008-09.
FROSH
The class of 2014 includes four forwards and one defenseman. All
five competed in the Northeast during 2009-10. Three of the new
Elis played in the juniors (Eastern, North Atlantic) last winter
while two came to Yale from New England prep schools. F Clinton
Bourbonais (Colchester, Conn.) is the only rookie to hit
the net, but D Gus
Young (Dedham, Mass.), F Kenny
Agostino (Flanders, N.J.) and F Jesse
Root (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also saw action. F Brad
Peltz (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) is the other freshman.
RED LIGHT DISTRICT
It is only four games into the season, but the Bulldogs have 24
goals and have picked up where they left off as the nation's leader
with better than four goals per game in 2009-10.
GEOGRAPHIC BALANCE
The Yale roster includes players from 12 different states and
three provinces. Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania are represented twice each on the
roster while six hail from Alberta, including a Calgary pair.
SHOOTERS
The Bulldogs outshot all four opponents (combined 158-106) this
year after having the advantage in 26 of the 34 games last
year.
SHORTY
Yale's first goal of 2010-11 was shorthanded by Broc Little, the
school's career leader with six. The Elis had four SHG last
winter.
BULLDOG BITES
The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 24-11, including 8-1 in the
second and 9-3 in the final frame… Yale is 6-for-25 (24.0)
on the power play but has just a 74.0 success rate on its penalty
kill… Nine different Elis have scored goals… Sixteen
different Bulldogs have a point… Colorado College's World
Arena seats over 7,000 and has been the site of NCAA Regionals and
other college tournaments. The Tigers have a .709 winning
percentage in their 12-year-old home.
BULLDOGS IN THE PROS
Fourteen former Yale players are skating professionally this
winter, including Brad Mills '07 (in photo), who recently joined
the New Jersey Devils. Here are the details on each. Sean Backman
'10 (Texas Stars, AHL), Ryan Donald '10 (Reading Royals, ECHL),
Mark Acrobello '10 (Stockton Thunder, ECHL), Alec Richards '09
(Rockford Icehogs, AHL), Brennan Turner '09 (Elmira Jackals, ECHL),
David Meckler '09 (Manchester Monarchs, AHL), Matt Cohen '07
(Hamburg Freezers, DEL), Brad Mills '07 (New Jersey Devils, NHL),
Chris Brooks '06 (Bakersfield Condors, ECHL), Chris Higgins '05
(Florida Panthers, NHL), Joe Callahan '05 (Rochester Americans,
AHL), Stacey Bauman '03 (Tulsa Oilers, CHL), Jeff Hamilton '01
(HIFK Helsinki, FNL), Ray Giroux '98 (Chelyabinsk Traktor,
KHL).
YALE HOCKEY BROADCASTS
The pay-per-view Yale home hockey broadcasts on yalebulldogs.com
are a Yale Athletic Department production that employs students to
produce, shoot and broadcast the action. Sam Dorward '13 is the
producer and Joel Oblizalo '12 does the camera work. Evan Ellis '11
handles most of the play-by-play for the Elis.
INGALLS RENOVATIONS
The Yale hockey program celebrated the re-dedication of Ingalls
Rink (3,500 capacity) on Jan. 16, 2010, with ceremonies on and off
the ice. The rink built in 1958 has been modernized in many ways
while adding 13,000 square feet of varsity operational space. The
additions include locker rooms and space for strength &
conditioning (including skating treadmill), student-athlete study
area, medical & training, officials, video, coaches, equipment,
reception (Schley Room) and more. There are new historical displays
and concession stands and bathrooms for the building nicknamed the
Yale Whale because of its humpback-shaped roof.
NCAAS BACK AT HARBOR YARD
Yale co-hosted the 2009 East Regional at The Arena at Harbor Yard
in Bridgeport, and the Bulldogs were one of the four teams to
participate. The 2011 and 2012 East Regional Tournaments will also
be at The Arena co-hosted by the Elis and Fairfield. This coming
NCAA tourney is March 25-26. Game times on the 25th are 4 and 7:30
with a 7 p.m. championship contest on the 26th.
filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
