Team Notes: Bulldogs Embark on First League Road Trip

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale men's hockey team (2-1-1, 1-1-0 ECAC), coming off a home, conference weekend split, embarks on its first ECAC road trip of the season against a pair of teams playing their 10th contest of 2011-12. The No. 10/13 Bulldogs take on Rensselaer (1-8) and No. 9/9 Union (5-1-3) in the Capitol District this Friday and Saturday. Both games air live on Time Warner Cable TV and can also be seen on the home school's website.

RPI SERIES
RPI has a 52-39-6 lead in the series with Yale but the Bulldogs are 6-3-1 over the last 10 meetings. The Engineers are 31-17-3 against the Blue at Houston Field House including 5-2 decisions the last two.

UNION SERIES
Yale and Union have been playing for 10 years and the Elis own a 22-16-4 advantage. One of the Bulldog victories was the March 4, 2006, five OT playoff game, the second longest (149:35) game in NCAA men's history.

YALE GETS TWO POINTS
Junior Jeff Malcolm (Lethbridge, AB) registered his first career shutout while stopping 39 shots and sophomore F Clinton Bourbonais (Colchester, Conn.) had a goal and an assist as Yale beat No. 18 Colgate 2-0 before packed house at Ingalls Rink on Nov. 5. Junior F Antoine Laganiere (Ile Cadieux, Que) had the other Yale tally. The Bulldogs were outshot 39-22, but Malcolm stopped 13 in the first, 15 in the second and 11 in the third to get his squad two ECAC Hockey points and split the conference weekend. Senior F Chad Ziegler (Spruce Grove, AB) and freshman D Tommy Fallen(Plymouth, Minn.) hit the net the night before in a 6-2 loss to Cornell. Malcolm made 27 saves as the Big Red outshot the Blue 32-31 and ended an eight-game skid in the series.

THE ENGINEERS
RPI began the season with a split against Minnesota State University but has lost its last seven. Its scoring has been spread among many with junior D Nick Bailen (1-2-3) and freshman F Ryan Haggerty (1-2-3) among the leaders. Junior goalie Bryce Merriam (2.32, .919, 1-6-0) has most of the work in net.

DUTCHMEN
Union, 1-0-2 at home this year, has outscored opponents 32-14 over nine games. Senior F Kelly Zajac (2-12-14) leads the offense while sophomore Troy Grosenick (1.24 GAA), the latest ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week pick, has most of the work between the pipes.


LAST YEAR WITH RPI
12/03/10: Yale 4, RPI 2; SOG: 23-17 Y: Y - Andrew Miller 1 G 1 A,
01/29/11: Yale 2, RPI 5; SOG: 40-17 Y: Y - Kevin Peel 1 G
Series: Yale 63 Shots, RPI 35 Shots

LAST YEAR WITH UNION
12/05/10: Yale 5, Union 0; SOG: 40-35 Y: Y - Andrew Miller 4 A, Brian O'Neill 1 G 2 A
01/28/11: Yale 2, Union 3; SOG: 30-34 U: Y - Kenny Agostino 1 G
Series: Yale 70 Shots, Union 69 Shots

NEW BLUE
The class of 2015 includes four forwards, three defensemen and a goalie. Four of them suited up for both games in the Ivy Shootout and three were in the lineup last weekend. Here are some quick facts on each newcomer: D Bennett Carroccio was an EJHL All-Star for the Boston Jr. Bruins… F Anthony Day scored 30 goals St. Francis High School... D Tommy Fallen played on the U.S. Team that captured gold at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge... D Matt Killian notched 30 career goals at Delbarton School... F Trent Ruffolo scored 129 points over 89 games for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs… F Alex Ward was a three-sport star at Deerfield Academy… F Nicholas Weberg played high school hockey in Minnesota while skating for Team Norway U20s at the 2011 World Junior Championships… G Connor Wilson, a goalie for Chicago in the USHL, was a three-sport standout at the Berkshire School.

FIRSTS ON ROSTER
For the first time in the history of Yale hockey, an Eli roster includes a Floridian (F Trent Ruffolo), a North Carolinian (G Connor Wilson) and a skater from Norway (F Nicholas Weberg).

PERSPECTIVE ON LAST YEAR
Yale's 28 wins last year were a school record, four better than the 2008-09 Elis. Yale's 17 ECAC wins equaled the record reached by the 1997-98 team with an identical 17-4-1 mark. Yale's 35 ECAC points tie the school record established by the 1997-98 Bulldogs.

LITTLE JOINS SELECT TEAM
Former Bulldog All-American Broc Little '11 has been named to the 2011 U.S. Men's National Select Team. Little, currently in his first season with VIK Vasteras of Hockey Allsvenskan in Sweden, posted 72 goals and 142 points for Yale through four seasons. The U.S. Men's National Select Team will compete at the Deutschland Cup from Nov. 11-13, in Munich, Germany. Team USA opens play against Slovakia on Nov. 11 at 10:15 a.m. EST.

LEAGUE WITHIN A CONFERENCE
Six members of ECAC Hockey compete for the Ivy League's Hobey Baker Trophy, which is all that is on the line in this race. Yale won its third straight (4th in 5 years) Ivy title by going 9-1 last winter and having 18 points. Dartmouth was second with 13 points. The Elis are 0-1 this season.
 
MILLER TIME
A 2010-11 first-team All-ECAC pick, junior F Andrew Miller (74 gp, 17-64-81) had another outstanding season last year. Miller, voted "best passer" by his teammates, had 12-33-45. He was No. 4 in the nation with .97 assists per game (tops in ECAC). More impressive is that 22 of his 33 assists were primary ones. His team-high 33 helpers (2nd best at Yale and five behind Mark Kaufmann '93) were a sophomore school record while 45 points were second on the team. He probably had his best offensive weekend as a collegian on Feb. 25-26 when he hit the net three times against Colgate/Cornell combined. Miller (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), was 12th in the nation with 1.29 points per contest and registered the most (34 as a freshman) 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. In 2009-10 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 that year with .85 assists per outing.

WHALE OF A TIME
The Whale (Ingalls Rink) has been a tough place for visitors in recent years. Yale, which enjoyed its first undefeated (15-0-1, only Division I team to do that) regular season at Ingalls last winter, finished 17-1-1 at home. That is the most wins ever in New Haven for a Yale team (The Blue went unbeaten at New Haven in 1928-29). The Bulldogs are 41-10-3 over the last three-plus seasons at the Whale and 12-10-3 in home ECAC playoff games all time.

SOLD OUT
Ingalls Rink was sold out for the last 12 games of the 2010-11 regular season and the first two games this season. The Nov. 26 Boston College game is already sold out, while only G.A. and S.R.O. tickets remain for contests with Harvard and Dartmouth.

CAPTAIN
2010-11 first-team All-ECAC selection Brian O'Neill (107gp, 49-70-119) was named captain of the Bulldogs last April. He has led the team in scoring the last two seasons which included a career-high three goals at Clarkson on Feb. 12. He ranked 15th nationally with 1.29 points per game. He began 2010-11 with a 3-2-5 weekend in the two wins including 2-1-3 and the GWG against Dartmouth on Oct. 30. The year before, he led the Elis with 29 assists and 45 points while ranking seventh in the country with 1.32 PPG. O'Neill (Yardley, Pa.) made the 2008-09 CHN (national) and ECAC Hockey All-Rookie teams after going 12-14-26 in 2008-09.

MALCOLM    
Junior Jeff Malcolm (1.98, .938, 2-1-1) has been in the Yale goal all four games, including his first career shutout on Nov. 5 against No. 18 Colgate with 39 saves. His career record is 8-5-1 with a 2.88 GAA.
 
NET MIX
The Bulldogs also have junior Nick Maricic (Alta Loma, Calif.) and freshman Connor Wilson (Cary, NC) competing for playing time. Maricic (2.29, .890) last played in the third period of the 2011 NCAA East Regional final.

BLUE LINE
There are seven defensemen on the Yale roster: two seniors, a junior, a sophomore and three freshmen. Three of the seven have a depth of experience. Seniors Kevin Peel (Onoway, Alb.) and Nick Jaskowiak (Bloomington, Minn.) have been regulars since arriving in New Haven. Junior Colin Dueck (Calgary, Alb.) became a mainstay last winter and sophomore Gus Young (Dedham, Mass.) has seen action in every game this season.   

AGOSTINO
Yale sophomore forward Kenny Agostino was Yale's rookie of the year last winter after scoring 11 goals and 25 points. Agostino, the HCA National Rookie of the Month for January (8-4-12), was the first Bulldog to receive that award. He was ECAC Hockey MLX Skates Rookie of the Week on Jan. 23 (3 goals vs. Clarkson/SLU), becoming the only Bulldog to earn conference rookie honors in 2010-11. The former Delbarton School star had a goal and three assists before the holiday break, and 10 goals and 11 assists after. He ranked 11th nationally among rookies with .86 points per game.  Agostino became the first Yale newcomer in 30 years to record five points in one game on Jan. 2. 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 school rookie record against Dartmouth in 1980.

OTTO
Senior F Dan Otto (Lake Zurich, Ill.) has played in every game this year, the first four games of his collegiate career. Battling injuries before he came to Yale, Otto has not been able to participate completely until this fall.

GEOGRAPHIC BALANCE
The Yale roster includes players from 13 different states and three provinces. New York and Minnesota are represented by three players from each state while Alberta brings in four players.


FROM WHENCE THEY CAME
The United States Hockey League contributed 10 players to the Bulldog roster. There are four from the British Columbia Hockey League, one from the Atlantic Junior Hockey League and another from the Eastern Junior Hockey League. Ten Yale student-athletes came directly from prep schools.

BULLDOG BITES
Chad Ziegler and Antoine Laganiere each lead the team with two goals… The Bulldogs have one goal in four first periods but five in middle frames and two in final stanzas… The Elis have converted four of 17 (23%) power-play chances… Yale outshot Princeton in the season opener but has been outshot in three straight since.
 
CODE RED
There is one new face on the Yale bench this season, Dennis "Red" Gendron, who replaced Kyle Wallack as the Bulldogs' associate head coach. Dennis "Red" Gendron, an assistant at the University of Massachusetts the last six seasons and a former University of Maine coach from 1990 to 1993. He helped the Black Bears win a 1993 NCAA Championship before working in the New Jersey Devils organization.

YALE'S LAST 3
The Yale men have left a mark on Division I over the last three seasons under Keith Allain '80, the Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey. The combined statistics from 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 make the last three years the best in the history of the sport in New Haven and among the best in the nation over that span.

The Numbers From 2008-11

Overall Record:        73-25-6 (.729)    
ECAC Record:        47-14-5 (.749)    
Scoring:        405 goals, 104 games (3.89)
All-Americans:        4
All-ECAC:        8
All-Ivy League:        10

Accomplishments
    Top Winning Percentage in Division I
    Two-time Division I Scoring Leader (2009-10, 2010-11)
    Led nation in scoring defense 2010-11
    2 ECAC Hockey Tournament Championships (2009, 2011)
    2 ECAC Hockey Regular Season Titles (2008-09, 2009-10)
    3 Ivy League Titles
    3 NCAA Tournament Appearances
    2 NCAA Regional Final Appearances (2010, 2011)
    School-record 28 wins (2010-11)
    10 All-Ivy League Selections
    8 All-ECAC Hockey Selections
    4 All-America Selections
    2 Hockey Commissioners Association Players of the Month

BULLDOGS IN THE PROS
There are 22 former Yale hockey players skating professionally, including eight from the class of 2011. Here are the Bulldog pros, youngest to oldest. Chris Cahill '11(AHL, Milwaukee Admirals), Denny Kearney '11(ECHL, Trenton Titans), Broc Little '11 (HockeyAllsvenskan in Sweden, VIK Västerås HK), Jimmy Martin '11(ECHL, Bakersfield Condors), Brendon Mason'11 (Division 1-series in Sweden, Nybro Vikings), Mike Matczak '11 (ECHL, Kalamazoo Wings), Ryan Rondeau '11 (CHL, Laredo Buck), Ken Trentowski '11 (SPHL, Augusta Riverhawks), Sean Backman '10 (AHL, Bridgeport Sound Tigers), Ryan Donald '10 (Charlotte Checkers, AHL), Mark Acrobello '10 (Oklahoma City Barons, AHL), Alec Richards '09 (Rockford Icehogs, AHL), Brennan Turner '09 (Dundee Stars, EIHL), David Meckler '09 (Manchester Monarchs, AHL), Matt Cohen '07 (Fife Flyers, EIHL), Brad Mills '07 (New Jersey Devils, NHL), Chris Brooks '06 (Bakersfield Condors, ECHL), Chris Higgins '05 (Vancouver Canucks, NHL), Joe Callahan '05 (Hamilton Bulldogs, AHL), Stacey Bauman '03 (Tulsa Oilers, CHL),  Jeff Hamilton '01 (HIFK Helsinki, FNL), Ray Giroux '98 (Chelyabinsk Traktor, KHL).

CURRENT NHL CONNECTIONS
Three players on the current Yale roster have been drafted by NHL teams: Gus Young (Colorado, 7th, 184, 2009); Kenny Agostino (Pittsburgh, 5th, 140, 2010);Brad Peltz (Ottawa, 7th, 190, 2009).

ON TV
Last Friday's game against Cornell at Ingalls on CBS Sports Network was the first of three TV games including Yale this month. Time Warner Cable is airing both the Nov. 11 and 12 games at RPI and Union. Other TV games planned are Jan. 27 at Harvard (NBC), Feb. 17 Dartmouth (NBC) and Feb. 25 at Quinnipiac (SNY).

YALE HOCKEY BROADCASTS
Pay-per-view broadcasts of Yale hockey regular season home games are available on yalebulldogs.com. The Yale Athletic Department production is almost entirely student run: Sam Dorward '13 is the producer; Tom Stokes  '12 and Patrick Ouziel '13 are the cameramen; Evan Ellis '12, the Voice of Yale Hockey, and Max Valenstein '13 are the broadcasters.

WYBCX.COM
The Yale student radio station formerly found on AM-1340 and on wybc.com, is only available via internet this season. WYBC does most of the home contests and a pre-game interview with Coach Allain.
 
INGALLS
Yale hockey celebrated the re-dedication of Ingalls Rink (3,500 capacity) on Jan. 16, 2010. 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.

HARBOR YARD
Yale and Fairfield hosted the 2009 and 2011 NCAA East Regional Tournaments in Bridgeport at Webster Bank's Arena at Harbor Yard, and the Bulldogs participated in both. The 2012 East Regional is also slated for the Yard, which has also hosted numerous NCAA post-season events.
 

filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director