Team Notes: Bulldogs at Dartmouth, Harvard this Weekend
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's
hockey team (12-1-0, 6-0 ECAC), ranked No. 1 in the country by both
polls for the fifth straight week, returned from break with an
exhibition victory over the Russian Red Stars before blasting Holy
Cross 10-3 on Jan. 2. The ECAC stretch run begins this weekend when
the Bulldogs, a point behind first-place Princeton and a point
ahead of Dartmouth, go to Hanover to face the Big Green (7-4-2,
5-2-1), before taking on Harvard (3-8, 2-7) Saturday night in
Boston with the nation's longest (7) active win streak on the line.
Both games are 7:00.
SERIES
Yale and Dartmouth have met 195 times since 1907 with Yale having
a 100-84-12 lead. The Bulldogs swept the series last year and have
taken the last four straight. The Elis and Cantabs split last year
with the home team taking each contest. Harvard leads 135-75-18 and
has dominated (36-4-3) at the Bright Center.
LAST MEETINGS
Broc
Little and Kevin
Limbert (Fruitvale, BC) each had two goals as the Blue
beat the Big Green 7-3 in a non-conference game at Ingalls the
second game this season. Ryan
Rondeau made 23 saves and stopped five of six Dartmouth
man-advantages… Six different players scored goals -
including three on the power play -- and Billy Blase '10 stopped 20
shots as the Elis raced past Harvard 6-3 last February at New
Haven. Sean Backman had a goal and two assists and helped the
Bulldogs outshot the Crimson 47-23.
LAST TIME OUT
The 25-day layoff for exams and the holidays did nothing to slow
down the Bulldogs' offensive output. Yale, led by Broc Little and
Kenny
Agostino hat tricks, pumped out a season-high for goals
in a 10-3 non-league win over Holy Cross before a packed house at
Ingalls Rink on Jan. 2. Agostino (Flanders, N.J.) a freshman
forward, entered the game with a goal and three assists and
produced three goals and five points against the Crusaders. Denny
Kearney and Josh
Balch (Wilmette, Ill.) each had a goal and two assists
while Brian
O'Neill and Mike
Matczak (Sewell, N.J.) also lit the lamp in Yale's last
non-league game of the year. Senior Yale goalie Ryan Rondeau played
the first two periods and stopped 14 of 16 shots to earn his 11th
victory of the year. Sophomore Nick
Maricic (5 saves) played the final period, his first
action of the season. The Blue outshot the Crusaders 40-22 and
converted two of four power plays while blanking the visitors on
three man-advantages.
GREEN, CRIMSON
Dartmouth is 4-1-1 over its last six outings and is giving up
under three goals per game with junior James Mello (1.93) getting
most of the action in net. Junior Nick Walsh has a team-best seven
goals. The Crimson are coming off a win over Army and a loss to
Vermont at the Catamount Cup. Junior Alex Killorn, a Tampa Bay
Lightning draft pick, leads the squad with six goals while senior
Kyle Richter (2.49) has had most of the work between the pipes.
HISTORIC RUN
Yale's 2010-11 start is unique. This is the first time the Elis
have won their first six conference games, while this is the best
(12-1) start of the season since Yale was perfect in 1929-30 on the
way to 16 straight wins and a 17-1-1 mark. The Elis' best ECAC
start was 8-1 in 1997-98.
FROSH FEAT Kenny Agostino tied a team record and became the first Yale newcomer in 30 years to record five points in one game. He notched three goals and two assists against Holy Cross and became the school's first freshman to tally five points since former Olympian and NHL star Bob Brooke '83 established the mark against Dartmouth in 1980.
MILLER TIME
Sophomore F Andrew
Miller (47 gp, 9-46-55), voted "best passer" by his
teammates, is No. 1 in the nation with 1.23 assists per game.
What's more impressive is that 12 of his 17 assists are primary
ones. He is also hitting the net when it counts this season; three
of his four goals have been winners, which ranks third in Division
I. Miller (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), who is fifth in the nation
with 1.62 points per contest, 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.
NET GAIN
Goalie Ryan Rondeau (Carvel, AB), who played two periods against
Holy Cross and stopped 14 of 16 shots, had his scoreless streak end
at 141 minutes and 29 seconds early in the first period. The senior
was coming off consecutive shutouts (Union, Vermont), the first
Bulldog netminder to do that since Alex Westlund blanked Cornell
(11-0) and Colgate (2-0) at the Whale on Feb. 6-7, 1998. Rondeau
was ECAC Goalie of the Week on Dec. 6 (30 saves, Union; 15, RPI)
and now owns all but two of Yale's decisions this season. He
currently ranks third in GAA (1.78) and fourth in SP (.932) in
Division I. Eight of the 19 goals he has allowed this year came on
the man-advantage. The senior, who owns a 17-4-1 career record, has
been in net for six wins 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 eight goals
and 21 points. The most significant aspect of his assist total (13)
is that 11 of them were primary helpers, while he ranks fourth in
the country with a 1.0 average. Kearney is fifth in Division I with
1.62 points per game. He notched eight of those 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 (115 gp,
37-74-111), who was voted by his teammates as the "best dresser"
and "most talkative" among the Bulldogs, 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.) leads the team with
12 goals and 23 points. He leads the nation with .92 goals per game
and is third with 1.77 points. Little, the only Bulldog with three
(PP, SH, GW) different types of goals this season, had his third
career hat trick (3-1-4) against Holy Cross. Six of his 11 assists
have been primary ones. He 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 (108 gp,
65-57-122), who has 14 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. 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
84-50-12 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 is serving as head coach of the 2010-11 U.S. Junior
National Team at the International Ice Hockey Federation World
Junior Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. The U.S., 3-1 under Allain,
lost to Canada in the semifinals on Jan. 3 and takes on Sweden in a
Jan. 5 bronze medal contest. Allain owns a 12-4-2 overall
record as a head coach in the event, giving him the top winning
percentage (.722) 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.
WALLACK RUNS TEAM
Kyle Wallack, in his first year as Yale's associate head coach, is
working his fifth campaign with the Bulldogs. He served as Yale's
head coach for the games against the Red Stars and Crusaders while
Keith Allain was out of town with the U.S. Junior National
Team.
CAPTAIN MARTIN
Captain Jimmy
Martin (St. Louis, Mo.) is a defensive defenseman who
has turned himself into a player with offensive potential. He has
three assists over his last two games. He now has six goals and 42
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.
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 (15 gp, 2.96,
.887, 7-4-2) played the last period against Holy Cross (5 saves)
but has not had a start this winter.
ENGINE NO. 9
Junior F Brian O'Neill (80gp, 36-55-91) is third on the team with
eight goals and ranks seventh nationally in points per game (1.54).
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. O'Neill
is 14th in the nation with .92 assists and 17th with .62 goals.
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
(Yardley, Pa.), who was voted "most humorous" by his teammates,
made the 2008-09 CHN (national) and ECAC Hockey All-Rookie teams
after going 12-14-26 in 2008-09.
CAHILL
Chris
Cahill (North Andover, Mass.) entered the season with 16
goals in three collegiate seasons. He already has half (8) that
total this winter, including three different two-goal games and a
pair of three-point outings. Cahill, 17th in Division I with .62
goals per game and 20th with 1.31 points, was named ECAC Hockey
Player of the Week on Dec. 6 after leading (3-1-4) Yale to a pair
of wins over nationally ranked teams with three goals and four
points. The senior forward is second on the team in goals with
career numbers of 24 goals and 58 points.
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. Agostino (2), Root and Peltz combined for four of Yale's
five goals in the win over the Red Stars. Agostino had the best
night for a Bulldog rookie this season when he went 3-2-5 against
Holy Cross.
RED LIGHT DISTRICT
The Bulldogs have 69 goals and are No. 1 in the nation with a 5.31
average. They scored 10 against the Crusaders and had seven goals
twice, six once and five on five occasions this year. Yale led the
nation in scoring 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 while
six hail from Alberta, including a Calgary pair.
FROM WHENCE THEY CAME
Northeast prep schools and the United States Hockey League each
contributed nine players to the Bulldog roster. Six former British
Columbia Junion Hockey League skaters are at Yale while the
Atlantic Junior Hockey League has a pair. One Eli played in the
Eastern Junior Hockey League and another came from a private
school.
SHOOTERS
The Bulldogs have outshot 12 of 13 opponents (by 143 combined)
this year after having the advantage in 26 of the 34 games last
year. Vermont (32-30) was the only squad to outshoot the Blue this
season.
A CLASS OF ITS OWN
The Class of 2011 became the winningest in Yale men's hockey
history after beating Holy Cross on Jan. 2. The current seniors
have amassed 73 victories, surpassing the total reached by the
Class of 2010. In addition, the Class of 2011, which is the first
from this school to be undefeated (3-0-1) at Cornell, could be the
first at Yale to have four winning seasons since the Class of
1954.
SCORING SPREAD
Eight members of the senior class have accounted for 34 goals. The
juniors (6) have hit the net 21 times. Yale sophomores (3) have six
tallies while the freshmen (4) have seven goals. The newcomers
accounted for four goals in the exhibition game against the Red
Stars, but the stats from that contest do not count. Bulldog
defensemen have hit the net five times.
SHORTY
Yale's first goal of 2010-11 was shorthanded by Broc Little, the
school's career leader with six, but the team has not done that
since. The Elis had four SHG last winter.
BULLDOG BITES
Junior Dan
Otto (Lake Zurich, Ill.) waited two and a half seasons
to get the medical clearance to skate in his first collegiate game.
He played forward and saw regular ice time against the Red Stars,
nearly scoring a goal on a shot that glanced off the pipe…
Yale has 18 goals in its last three games… Ryan Rondeau's
11-0 record this season is the best in Division I... The Blue is
9-0 at home; RPI and Union are also unbeaten at home and nationally
ranked... Junior Chad
Ziegler (Spruce Grove, AB) has a career-best 5-3-8
already this season.
UP NEXT
Yale has a home-and-home series with its ECAC travel partner next
week. The Elis are at Brown on the 14th and the Bears come to
Ingalls for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday the 15th. Brown beat Boston
University 6-1 on Jan. 1 at a tournament in Illinois.
BULLDOGS IN THE PROS
Thirteen former Yale players are skating professionally this
winter: Sean Backman '10 (Texas Stars, AHL, 26 GP, 5-7-12 ), Ryan
Donald '10 (Providence Bruins, AHL), Mark Arcobello '10 (Stockton
Thunder, ECHL, 27 GP, 6-8-14), 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
Higgins '05 (Florida Panthers, NHL, 32 GP, 7-7-14), Joe Callahan
'05 (Rochester Americans, AHL), Stacey Bauman '03 (Tulsa Oilers,
CHL), Jeff Hamilton '01 (HIFK Helsinki, FNL), Ray Giroux '98
(Chelyabinsk Traktor, KHL).
TEAM VOTE
A survey of the 2010-11 Bulldogs produced the following results
about the student-athletes.
Who on the team…
Is the strongest (pound-for-pound):
Peel
Is the fastest on skates:
Balch
Has the hardest shot:
Matczak
Is the best fore-checker:
Jaskowiak
Is the best passer:
Miller
Which teammate is…
The best singer:
Anderson
Has the most unique hobby (what is it):
O'Neill (community theater)
Has best sense of humor:
O'Neill
Has the biggest appetite:
Peel
Most soft spoken:
Dueck
Most talkative:
Kearney
Want your sister to date:
Dueck
Best dresser:
Kearney
Likely to become a head hockey coach:
Rondeau
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.
YALE ON YES
The Feb. 5 Dartmouth game airs live on the YES Network as part of
the winter Yale on YES package. This is the first time the Yale
hockey team will appear on YES, the network available in New York,
Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania on cable, DirecTV,
AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS. The home of the New York Yankees
and New Jersey Nets is also available nationally on DirecTV,
AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS and select cable operators.
ON 'TV'
The Dec. 5 game against Union aired live on ESPNU with Barry
Melrose and E.J. Hradek calling the action. It was the first of two
Yale games on ESPNU this season. The Feb. 20 game at Princeton is
also on ESPNU. The Union game was 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 most
of the 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 3 and 6:30
with a 6:30 p.m. championship contest on the 26th.
IN THE POLLS
For the fifth straight week, Yale has the nation's top ranked
men's college hockey team. The Bulldogs received all 34 first-place
votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and 45 of 50 in the
uscho.com poll. North Dakota, Boston College, New Hampshire,
Minnesota-Duluth and Denver round out the top six on both lists.
The Fighting Sioux and Eagles were the other schools to earn
first-place tallies in the uscho.com poll.
filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
