Team Notes: Yale Takes to Road
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's hockey
team (5-1-0, 2-0 ECAC) heads out on its first ECAC Hockey road trip
this weekend with games at Cornell and Colgate this Friday and
Saturday nights. The Bulldogs and Big Red square off at Lynah Rink
at 7:30 in a game televised live by CBS College Sports TV (DirecTV
613). Yale and Colgate drop the puck at 7 at Starr Rink and there
is live coverage on Times Warner Cable (for New York viewers) and
on gocolgateraiders.com.
LAST WEEKEND
Yale outscored last weekend's opponents 8-5 and outshot them 77-54
while gaining a split of the long trip West. The Elis beat Colorado
College 5-1 before dropping a 4-3 game to Air Force in Colorado
Springs. The Blue managed just one power-play goal on seven chances
while giving up a pair. The Bulldogs were hurt by 21 of their own
penalties.
THE SERIES
The Raiders hold a 45-37-4 advantage in a series with Yale that
began in 1916-17. The Elis are 4-1-1 in the last six games after a
6-3 win at Colgate last February. The Big Red and Elis have played
since the turn of the 20th century and Cornell has a 75-55-5 lead.
Yale won last February's meeting at Cornell and has taken the last
five straight.
LAST MEETINGS
The Elis got wins on the road against Colgate and Cornell last
winter. Against the Raiders, Broc
Little and Sean Backman tallied two goals each,
while Brian
O'Neill and Andrew
Miller each added one en route to a 6-3 win. Yale outshot
the Raiders 39-26. Billy Blase made 23 stops on the night for the
Bulldogs who converted three of seven man advantages. In a
matchup of top 10 teams the next night, Yale took a 2-1 OT win
against the Big Red. Sean Backman converted a perfect feed from
Brian O'Neill 3:17 into the OT. He got it past Big Red goalie Ben
Scrivens, who stopped 52 of 54 shots, while Billy Blase made 19
saves for the Elis.
STREAKS
Three Bulldogs extended their point streaks to all six games this
year: Broc Little, Andrew Miller and Brian O'Neill. Chad
Ziegler had his streak end at five at USAFA.
RONDEAU
Senior goalie Ryan
Rondeau (Carvel, AB) made 24 saves in the win over
Colorado College and did not allow a goal on four man advantages.
He did not play against Air Force. The week before, Rondeau stopped
56 of 60 shots to earn wins against Princeton and Quinnipiac.
Rondeau (2.00, .928, 4-0) has been in net for four wins (two in
2008-09) over ranked teams including a 3-2 decision with North
Dakota at the 2010 NCAA Northeast Regional semifinal.
GOLD STANDARD
Denny
Kearney (Hanover, NH), who is tied for the team lead with
six goals and 12 points, notched eight of those points over the
first two games (Brown, Dartmouth) 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 (108 gp,
35-67-102) 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.
LOTS OF LITTLE
Yale senior forward Broc Little (Rindge, N.H.), who just went over
the 100-game mark, shares the team lead with 12 points. 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 (101 gp,
58-53-111), 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
77-50-12 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.
WORLD JUNIORS
Keith Allain will serve as head coach of the 2011 U.S. National
Junior Team, which will not have any Yale players. The U.S. takes
part in the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior
Championship this winter from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Buffalo, N.Y.
The U.S. is aiming for its second consecutive title, having won the
gold medal last year at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship in
Regina and Saskatoon, Sask. Allain owns a 9-3-2 overall record as a
head coach in the event, giving him the top winning percentage
(.714) of any U.S. head coach to have served on multiple teams.
Former Yale mentor Tim Taylor, who coached Allain in New Haven and
brought him back as an assistant coach, will join his
protégé as Team USA's director of player personnel.
Allain and Taylor are featured in a documentary that will air on
CBS College Sports TV this Friday night during the telecast of the
Yale-Cornell game.
ALLAIN SAYS
"We are excited to head to Northern New York for a big conference
weekend in two great hockey towns. Both Cornell and Colgate are
playing well and we expect tough competition on both nights."
CAPTAIN MARTIN
Captain Jimmy
Martin (St. Louis, Mo.) is a defensive defenseman who has
turned himself into a player with offensive potential. He notched
his first goal of 2010-11 at Air Force with a nasty shot from the
point that went off the crossbar. He now has five goals and 37
career points, including a career-best two goals and 17 assists
last winter.
IN THE POLLS
Yale, No. 3/4 last week, is now No. 5 in both uscho.com Division I
poll and the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll.
MILLER TIME
Sophomore F Andrew Miller (40 gp, 6-36-42) picked up where he left
off his rookie campaign by dishing out seven 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 last year
with .85 assists per outing.
BACKSTOP BACKDROP
A pair of experienced sophomores joins Rondeau in the net
mix. Jeff
Malcolm (12 gp, 4.02, .837, 6-4-0) made 16 saves in the
7-4 win over Brown on Oct. 29 before stopping 25 shots in a 4-3
loss at Air Force. Six of the eight goals he has allowed came on
the power play, two with a 5-on-3 advantage. Nick
Maricic (14 gp, 2.95, .888, 7-4-2), who has not seen
action this season, is the other returnee between the pipes.
NO. 9
Junior F Brian O'Neill (73 gp, 34-48-82) is tied for the team lead
with six goals. 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
The Bulldogs have 32 goals and are No. 1 in the nation with a 5.33
average after finishing first last winter with just over four.
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 235-160) 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 32-16, including 10-2 in the
second… Yale is 7-for-32 (21.9) on the power play but has
just a 78.0 success rate on its penalty kill… The Blue leads
the nation with 2.42 penalty minutes per game… Twelve
different Elis have scored goals… Eighteen different
Bulldogs have a point… Denny Kearny and Brian O'Neill's goal
per game average is tops in Division I… Broc Little's 2.0
points per game rank No. 2 in the country.
UP NEXT
After a four-game road trip, the Elis return to Ingalls on Nov. 23
to host Sacred Heart in a 7 pm faceoff.
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.
report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
