Team Notes: Bulldogs Hosting Friday, Sunday Set
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 2 Yale
men's hockey team (8-1-0, 4-0 ECAC), after a weekend off, is back
at the Whale for an ECAC set this Friday and Sunday featuring three
nationally ranked squads. No. 15/16 Rensselaer (7-3-3, 2-2-0) comes
to town Friday at 7 p.m. before the Bulldogs and No. 13Union
(7-2-3, 2-1-1) drop the puck at 3 p.m. Sunday. The first game can
be seen live on yalebulldogs.com (All Access), while the Sunday
matinee is slated for ESPNU.
TICKETS
A limited number of tickets are available for both games and can
be purchased through yalebulldogs.com or by calling 203.432.1400.
Sellouts are expected for both games at the Whale (3,500).
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Engineers first played in 1908-09 and RPI has a
49-37-6 lead including a 4-0 win at Ingalls last winter. The
Elis have a 20-14-3 lead in a series that began in 1991-92, the
year Union replaced Army in ECAC Hockey. The Dutchmen have taken
two of the last three at Ingalls.
LAST TIME OUT
Yale beat Sacred Heart 5-1 on Nov. 23 at the Whale with a power
play (3 goals) that was clicking on the way to a third straight
win. Chad
Ziegler had a career-high two goals while Broc
Little and Denny
Kearney each had a goal and two assists in Yale's first
home game in five contests. Jimmy
Martinhad the other goal as the Bulldogs outshot SHU
44-23. Ryan
Rondeau, the Elis' senior goalie, made 22 saves to earn his
seventh win of the year. He stopped all 10 of the Pioneers' shots
in the third period and allowed just a power-play tally. Sacred
Heart's Steven Legatto, who made 39 saves, was the reason the game
was not a blowout. He had 18 stops in the first with 10 in the
second and 11 in the final frame.
LAST MEETINGS
RPI at Yale, Feb. 2010:
Allen York stopped all 22 shots he faced and Chase Polacek and
Jerry D'Amigo both had a goal and two assists as Rensselaer shut
out No. 6 Yale, 4-0, last January at New Haven. Nick
Maricic made 22 saves for the Bulldogs.
Union at Yale, Feb. 2010:
Brendan
Mason's two goals were the difference as the No. 6 Bulldogs
took a 4-3 contest before a sold-out crowd. Mason notched his first
collegiate multiple-goal outing and the game-winner as the Elis
outshot the Dutchmen 40-25. Nick Maricic had 22 saves and stopped
all five Union man-advantages while Keith Kinkaid made 36 saves for
Union.
ENGINEERS
RPI is also on a three-game win streak that included winning
(Connecticut, Bowling Green) its own holiday tournament at Troy
last week. Senior F Chace Polacek (7-9-16), the 2009-10 ECAC Hockey
Player of the Year, leads the Engineers in goals and points, while
classmate Allen York (1.80, .930, 6-3-3), seventh in Division I
goals against average, has been outstanding between the pipes. York
has helped RPI rank fourth nationally in scoring defense.
DUTCHMEN
Union, which has not played since a 4-3 loss to RPI on Nov. 13, is
at Brown Friday night before heading down to New Haven. The
Dutchmen own the nation's top-ranked defense (1.92) while ranking
fourth among Division I teams with 3.92 goals per game and a power
play operating at 37 percent efficiency. Sophomore F Jeremy Welsh
(7-9-16) leads the squad in goals and senior F Adam Presizniuk
(5-12-17) is the points leader. Second-year goalie Keith Kinkaid
(1.59, .936, 7-2-2) is third in the nation in goals against average
and fourth in save percentage.
NET GAIN
Goalie Ryan Rondeau (Carvel, AB), who owns all but two of the
decisions this season, has been a consistent force. He currently
ranks 13th in GAA (2.15) and 22nd in SP (.918) in Division I. Eight
of the 15 goals he has allowed this year came on the man-advantage.
The senior 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) is second on the team with seven goals
and 17 points. Among Division I players, he currently ranks third
in points per game and fourth in goals. He notched eight of his
points over the first two games (Brown, Dartmouth on Oct. 29-30)
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 (111 gp, 36-71-107) 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.), the only Bulldog
with a point in every game, leads the team with eight goals and 18
points. He is also 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. Little
(104 gp, 61-56-117), who has 13more 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. 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
80-50-12 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 80-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, a former NHL (17 years) and
Olympics (1992, 2006) assistant, was named the 11th head coach of
the Yale men's ice hockey program on April 15, 2006. Allain is the
second Yale graduate to take the position and the first since
Holcomb York '17 led the Bulldogs from 1930 to 1938 (Lawrence M.
Noble '27 coached the Elis from 1928 to 1930). The starting goalie
on four Bulldog squads, Allain recorded the second-most (31) wins
for a Yale netminder and ranks third at the school with 2,337
career saves. He owns four of the top 10 Yale single-game save
totals, including 55 stops in a 7-3 loss at Minnesota on Dec. 28,
1978.
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, joins his
protégé as Team USA's director of player personnel.
Allain and Taylor were featured in a documentary that aired on CBS
College Sports TV during the Nov. 19 Yale-Cornell broadcast.
ALLAIN SAYS
"RPI and Union are two talented teams that will be a big test for
us in our building this weekend. We are excited about the
opportunity to play them on our last conference weekend before the
break."
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. Martin is a political science major who was a
member of the Des Moines Buccaneers' 2007 USHL final four squad.
MILLER TIME
Sophomore F Andrew
Miller (43 gp, 7-38-45) picked up where he left off his
rookie campaign by dishing out nine assists in the first nine
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. The speedy forward was the 2008-09 USA Junior Player of
the Year and 2007 Michigan High School Mr. Hockey. Last winter, he
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 Ryan 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. The Lethbridge, AB, native has allowed eight
goals, including six on the power play and two with a 5-on-3
advantage. Alta Loma, Calif., resident Nick Maricic (14 gp, 2.95,
.888, 7-4-2), who has not seen action this season, is the other
returnee between the pipes.
ENGINE NO. 9
Junior F Brian
O'Neill (76 gp, 34-49-83) is second on the team with six
goals. He began 2010-11 with a 3-2-5 weekend 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.), F Kenny
Agostino (Flanders, N.J.) and F Jesse
Root (Pittsburgh, Pa.) have all found the net this season.
D Gus
Young (Dedham, Mass.) has an assist in two games played,
while F Brad
Peltz(Mount Kisco, N.Y.) is looking for his first action.
RED LIGHT DISTRICT
The Bulldogs have 47 goals and are No. 1 in the nation with a 5.22
average after finishing first last winter with just over
four. They have scored seven goals twice, six once and five
on four occasions this year.
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 while
six hail from Alberta, including a Calgary pair.
SHOOTERS
The Bulldogs have outshot all opponents (by 110 combined) this
year after having the advantage in 26 of the 34 games last
year.
SCORING
Eight members of the senior class have accounted for 23 goals and
61 points. The juniors (6) have hit the net 17 times with 34
points. Yale sophomores (3) have 3-16-19 while the freshman (4)
have 4-4-8. Bulldog defensemen have four goals and 20 points.
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
Yale had 21 shots on goal in the first period the last two
(Colgate, SHU) games... The current seniors are the only Yale class
to have won all four games at Lynah Rink… The Bulldogs have
outscored opponents 47-33, including 17-6 in the second…
Yale is averaging 2,971 over five home games at Ingalls Rink
(3,500)… The Bulldogs have an exhibition game against a
Russian national team on Dec. 29 at Ingalls. The Russian roster has
yet to be determined… Former Yale skater Jeff Dwyer '04 is
the director of education and recruitment for College Hockey, Inc.,
which was formed by the commissioners of the six Division I men's
leagues to raise college hockey's profile… Twenty-one
Bulldogs have points this year, 16 have goals.
UP NEXT
The Elis host Vermont from Hockey East on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. The
Catamounts edged the Bulldogs last season at Burlington 1-0 on a
controversial goal.
BULLDOGS IN THE PROS
Fourteen former Yale players are skating professionally this
winter: 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; Albany Devils, AHL), 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 "TV" broadcasts on
yalebulldogs.com are a Yale Athletic Department production that
employs students to produce, shoot and broadcast most of 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 as well as an interview with Coach Allain.
ON 'TV'
Sunday's game airs live on ESPNU with Barry Melrose and E.J.
Hradek calling the action. This is the first of two Yale games on
ESPNU this season. The Feb. 20 game at Princeton is also on
ESPNU. The Union game is Yale's third on the tube this
season. The first was Nov. 19 at Cornell on CBS College Sports
followed by a Nov. 20 game at Colgate on Time Warner Cable.
WYBC
The Yale student radio station formerly found on AM-1340 and on
wybc.com, is only availabe via internet this season. WYBC does all
home contests and a pre-game interview with Coach Allain.
INGALLS RENOVATIONS
Yale hockey 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.
IN THE POLLS
The two Division I men's college hockey polls had Yale at No. 2,
the best ranking ever for a Bulldog hockey team. The uscho.com poll
had the Elis tied with Boston University (7-1-5) while the USA
Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings slated Yale alone at the second
spot. The Bulldogs, who did not receive any first-place votes,
moved up a spot from No. 3 (previous best) in both of last week's
polls after beating Sacred Heart 5-1 on Nov. 23 and having last
weekend off. Minnesota-Duluth (11-1-2) received all but one of the
first-place votes between the two polls, while Boston University
grabbed one of those top votes. The Elis were 66 points behind UMD
in the USA Today poll, while the Terriers and Bulldogs trailed by
98 points on the uscho.com list. No. 15/16 Rensselaer and No. 13/13
Union., who happen to be in town this weekend, are the only other
ranked ECAC teams.
filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
