Team Notes: Bulldogs Host Red Stars, Falcons at Ingalls
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A roller coaster first
segment of the 2011-12 campaign has been completed, and the Yale
men's hockey team has two contests to prepare itself for the
stretch run of conference play. The No. 19 Bulldogs host the
Russian Red Stars (7 p.m.) on Dec. 28 before Bentley comes to
Ingalls on New Year's Day for a 4 p.m. game. Both games can be seen
live on yalebulldogs.com.
SERIES
This is the second meeting of Yale and the Red Stars, the Blue
took last year's game, 5-3, at the Whale. Yale and Bentley meet for
the first time on Jan. 1.
LAST MEETING
The Red Stars outshot the Bulldogs 38-30, but the stat that
counted the most favored Yale 5-3 before a sellout crowd at New
Haven last December. The Elis used all three goals while Kenny
Agostino scored twice and three other (Brad
Peltz, Jesse
Root, Antoine
Laganiere) teammates found the net.
BEFORE BREAK
Branden Gracel broke a 1-1 tie midway through the third period
that sent Massachusetts to a 3-1 win over Yale before 2,473 at the
Mullins Center on Dec. 7. The Bulldogs had plenty of chances
to distance themselves from the Minutemen, but going 1-for-6 with
the advantage was just too much for Yale goalie Jeff
Malcolm (Lethbridge, AB) to overcome. He made 30 saves and
stopped all four power plays, including a number of grade-A
chances, and deserved a better fate than a second straight loss.
Sophomore defenseman Gus
Young (Dedham, Mass.) had the Yale tally, the first of his
collegiate career. UMass (5-7-4) outshot the Blue 33-27 and erased
a one-goal deficit with the game's last three tallies, while
freshman goalie Kevin Boyle made 26 saves. Ten of those saves came
with his team down a man, which ended up being the difference.
RED STARS
The Red Stars are an all-star team of 25 players, ages 19 to 21,
from the 51-team Junior Hockey League (MHL). The league is
the younger brother of the KHL, the professional hockey league in
Russia. Current players Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko have
been mentioned as potential early NHL draft selections. The Red
Stars will get tested on a grueling eight-game swing through the
U.S that includes North Dakota (12/17), Vermont (12/27), Northern
Michigan (12/30), Notre Dame (1/3), UMass-Lowell (1/5) and two NAHL
teams. The MHL, with more than 2,000 players, is in its third year
of existence and is the first junior hockey league that unites
Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
BENTLEY
Bentley College, located 10 miles outside of Boston in Waltham,
has a Division II athletic program except for hockey. The Falcons,
one of the original six of Atlantic Hockey, are 5-8-3 after beating
UConn 4-2 on Dec. 9 and are 1-2-2 over their last five outings.
Brett Hartung leads Bentley with five goals and nine points while
Justin Breton had a goal and seven points. Brandon Komm (2.24,
.934) has all but two decisions in net for the Falcons.
RANKS
Yale's combined special teams rank No. 1 in Division I at 60.6
percent. The Bulldog penalty-kill is second (93.9), while only two
teams have been penalized less than the Bulldogs. The Elis' power
play unit is second (28.0) and trails only Harvard (32.1), while
Yale's scoring defense is 30th (2.83) and scoring offense 23rd
(3.08). In the polls, the Blue is 19th in the uscho.com Division I
list (received one vote for the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine
Poll).
ECAC HOCKEY
Yale (8 points) is fourth in ECAC Hockey after playing six games.
First-place Cornell has 13 points in eight games, Colgate is second
with 12 points after eight contests and Quinnipiac as nine points
in 10. Yale's next league game is Jan. 6 at home against
Quinnipiac. The Blue finished second to Union in the standings last
winter.
LAGANIERE
Junior F Antoine Laganiere (Ile Cadieux, Que.) is the hottest
Bulldog over the last three games with three goals and six points.
His five goals share the team lead while the 10 points are a close
second. Laganiere, who leads the team with 41 shots taken, had a
career-high four points (2-2) at Brown on Dec. 3, matching his best
goal outing (at Princeton, 2009-10).
MALCOLM IN MIDDLE
Junior Jeff Malcolm has started every game this season and has all
six wins. He had a shutout streak of three (Colgate, RPI, Union)
games and 226:39 minutes (parts of 5 games) in November and was
named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week after stopping all 72 shots in
wins at No. 8 Union and RPI on Nov. 11-12. The three straight SHOs
tied the school record set by Ryan Rondeau '11 last winter. His
scoreless streak fell short of the 240:53 by Rondeau. His career
record is 12-9-1 with a 2.85 GAA and three shutouts. Malcolm has a
2.50 GAA (29th in Division I) with a .925 SP (15th) this year.
MILLER TIME
Junior F Andrew
Miller (81 gp, 19-69-88) is one of college hockey's
premier offensive catalysts. Not known for his goal scoring,
Miller, who leads the team with seven helpers and is 10th on the
school's career assist list, is best at creating space, setting up
teammates and winning draws. Miller, a 2010-11 first-team All-ECAC
pick, was voted "best passer" by his teammates last season while he
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.
CAPTAIN O'NEILL
Yale's captain, Brian
O'Neill (115 gp, 53-75-128), leads the squad with five
goals and 11 points and jumped over Sean Backman '10 into ninth
place on Yale's career points list with 128. O'Neill is 11th on the
career goals list (2nd among active ECAC players) and eighth in
assists. He was a 2010-11 first-team All-ECAC selection and has led
the team in scoring the last two seasons. His best night was a hat
trick at Clarkson on Feb. 12, 2011. He ranked 15th nationally with
1.29 points per game last year. 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 and ECAC
Hockey All-Rookie teams after going 12-14-26.
NET MIX
Junior Nick
Maricic (Alta Loma, Calif.) saw his first action of the
year at SHU but has not made a start this season. Maricic owns a
2.89 career GAA and an .885 SP. Freshman Connor
Wilson (Cary, NC) is looking for his first
opportunity.
BLUE LINE
There are seven defensemen on the Yale roster: two seniors, a
junior, a sophomore and three freshmen. They have combined to score
six goals while allowing 34 in 12 games. Two of the
newcomers, Tommy
Fallen (Plymouth, Minn.) and Matt
Killian (Basking Ridge, NJ) scored goals against SHU.
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 (Flanders, NJ) was named to
the 30-man U.S. National Junior Team's preliminary roster on Dec.
6. Agostino, one of three ECAC Hockey players on the list, is one
of 17 forwards selected. The final, 22-man roster will be announced
on Dec. 22. Agostino, who missed the last three games with an
injury, has goals in his last three games. His best game this year
was 2-2-4 vs. UConn. Agostino became the first Yale newcomer in 30
years to record five points in one game on Jan. 2, 2011. 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. Yale's rookie of the year last winter
after scoring 11 goals and 25 points, Agostino was the HCA National
Rookie of the Month for January (8-4-12), 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.
OTTO TIME
Senior F Dan
Otto (Lake Zurich, Ill.) notched his first two collegiate
goals at Union on Nov. 12 after battling injuries the last three
years that prevented him from playing a regular season contest.
Otto (2-0-2) has played in every game this year and has the top
shooting percentage (.333) with two goals on six shots.
BULLDOG BITES
Yale split the season series with Brown for the second straight
year… Brian O"Neill and Antoine Laganiere each scored four
of their five goals on the man-advantage... Andrew Miller had the
best day for a Bulldog in the faceoff circle when he won 17
of 25 draws on Nov. 5 in a 2-0 win over Colgate... There are four
Bulldogs with more than 100 career games played: Brian
O'Neill, Charles
Brockett, Kevin
Limbert and Kevin Peel.
BEHIND THE BENCH
Assistant coach Dan Muse is in his third season season under Keith
Allain. He joined the Bulldog staff when C.J. Marottolo left to
take the top job at Sacred Heart. Former University of New
Hampshire star Eric Lind has been with Allain every season at Yale.
There is one new face on the Yale bench this season, Dennis "Red"
Gendron, who replaced Kyle Wallack as the Bulldogs' associate head
coach. Gendron, an assistant at the University of Massachusetts the
last six seasons and a former University of Maine coach from 1990
to 1993, helped the Black Bears win a 1993 NCAA Championship.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Elis are back in ECAC play with Quinnipiac and Princeton
coming to Ingalls on Jan. 6 and 7.
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.
BULLDOGS IN THE PROS
There are 23 former Yale hockey players skating professionally,
including eight from the class of 2011. Here are the Bulldog pros,
youngest to oldest:
Chris Cahill '11 (Cincinnati Cyclones, ECHL)
Denny Kearney '11 (Trenton Titans, ECHL)
Broc Little '11 (HockeyAllsvenskan, VIK Västerås HK,
Sweden)
Jimmy Martin '11 (Florida Everblades, ECHL)
Brendon Mason '11 (Nybro Vikings, Sweden)
Mike Matczak '11 (Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL)
Ryan Rondeau '11 (Laredo Buck, CHL)
Ken Trentowski '11 (Brooklyn Aviators, FHL)
Sean Backman '10 (Bridgeport Sound Tigers, AHL)
Ryan Donald '10 (Florida Everblades, ECHL)
Mark Arcobello '10 (Oklahoma City Barons, AHL)
Billy Blase '10 (Neuilly-sur-Marne, France)
Tom Dignard (Belfast Giants, EIHL)
Alec Richards '09 (Rockford Icehogs, AHL)
Brennan Turner '09 (Dundee Stars, EIHL)
David Meckler '09 (Manchester Monarchs, AHL)
Blair Yaworski '08 (Utah Grizzlies, ECHL)
Jean-Francois Boucher (Saint-George COOL-FM, LNAH)
Matt Cohen '07 (Fife Flyers, EIHL)
Brad Mills '07 (New Jersey Devils, NHL)
Chris Higgins '05 (Vancouver Canucks, NHL)
Joe Callahan '05 (Hamilton Bulldogs, AHL)
Ray Giroux '98 (ChelyabinskTraktor, KL)
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).
9 GRADS
It's not fair to compare recent Yale teams to the 2011-12
Bulldogs, who lost nine standout class of 2011 players. Eight of
the graduates are skating professionally. The current squad isn't
lacking talent, but nobody re-loads with equal force after losing
nine seniors from a championship team. There are seven seniors
seeing regular duty, though one of them seeks his first varsity
letter. Four of the five sophomores and five of the six juniors
have been in almost every game while five freshmen have been needed
to fill the largest void.
ON TV
The Nov. 4 Cornell game at Ingalls was on CBS Sports Network, the
first of three TV games including Yale this month. Time Warner
Cable did both the Nov. 11 and 12 games at RPI and Union. Other TV
games planned are Jan. 27 at Harvard (NBC Sports Ntwk), Feb. 17
Dartmouth (NBC Sports Ntwk) 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.
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
slated for the Yard, which has hosted numerous NCAA events.
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 while adding 13,000 square feet of 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 and more. There are new historical displays,
concession stands and bathrooms for the building nicknamed the
"Whale" because of its humpback-shaped roof.
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 (2-2 this year). 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 42-11-3 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 three (Cornell, Colgate, BC) of the first five
games this season. There are tickets available for the rest of the
home campaign, but only G.A. and S.R.O. tickets remain for contests
with Harvard and Dartmouth.
ATTENTION MEDIA
Here are some important things to know if you are covering the
Bulldogs or just working a game at Ingalls.
Interviews: Yale head coach Keith Allain and select players are
available on a semi-regular basis each week at Ingalls Rink,
typically Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. If you would like to attend these
informal media sessions, please contact Sports Publicity Director
Steve Conn.
Post-game:interviews with Yale personnel are conducted in one of
the youth locker rooms at ice level on the home side of the
building. Let Steve Conn know who you would like to speak with
immediately after the game.
Media Gate List: Attendants stationed at the front and back of the
rink have a media gate list to check off your name.
Parking: The same list is used for PARKING in the garage (entrance
off Prospect Street) behind the rink.
filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
