Team Notes: Yale Hosts No. 12 Union, RPI

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale men's hockey team, 2-2-1 over the last five outings, hosts an important conference weekend set with the teams from the Capital District as they head down the home stretch of ECAC Hockey. The No. 12 Union Dutchmen (12-5-6, 6-2-3) come to the Whale on Jan. 20, while the Rensselaer Engineers (4-17-1, 1-8-1) are in town on the 21st. The pucks drop both nights at 7 in games that air live on yalebulldogs.com. Tickets are available for both games and can be purchased by calling (203) 432.1400.

VS. UNION
The Elis have a 21-15-3 lead in a series that began in 1991-92, the year Union replaced Army in ECAC Hockey. The teams split last year, but the Blue won 4-0 at Schenectady in November and has taken the last two games at Ingalls. Dan Otto had two goals and Jeff Malcolm stopped all 45 shots in the win earlier this season.

VS. RPI
The Bulldogs and Engineers first played in 1908-09 and RPI has a 50-38-6 lead. Yale won the last meeting at Troy in December and split the series last winter.  Jeff Malcolm stopped 27 shots and got goals from Josh Balch and Clinton Bourbonais in a 2-0 win at Troy earlier this year.

CLARKSON TAKES OT GAME
Yale fell at Clarkson 5-4 in OT on Sunday. The Knights overcame a pair of two-goal deficits and won the contest after a controversial bench penalty in the extra session. Brian O'Neill had a goal and two assists, Antoine Laganiere had a goal and an assist and Andrew Miller chipped in two helpers. Jeff Malcolm had 23 saves. Yale had a big advantage in shots but could not convert enough power-play chances while giving up three goals on the penalty-kill.

ELIS GET POINT AT SLU
The Bulldogs erased a two-goal SLU lead to gain a 3-3 OT tie at Appleton Arena last Saturday. Clinton Bourbonais scored with just over four minutes to play in regulation to force OT.  Yale had the edge in shots, especially in the extra session, but did not get enough power-play productivity. Malcolm had 23 saves for Yale.

WEEKEND TOTALS
Yale, which came away with one out of a possible four points, outshot last weekend's opposition by a combined 79-57 while playing a pair of overtime contests.  The Elis went 2-for-13 with the man-advantage, and were too generous on the penalty-kill, allowing four power-play scores in 11 chances.

ECAC
Yale sits in sixth place with 11 points after playing 10 conference games. The range of games played in the league is from nine to 15, so there is still some catching up to do for the Bulldogs and some others. Yale is a point from fourth and five from the top spot heading into a home weekend.
NORTH COUNTRY STATS
Clinton Bourbonais had a goal in both games and was Yale's only multiple-goal scorer… Andrew Miller led the team with four (1-3-4) points... Brian O'Neill registered a goal and two assists over the two games… Jeff Malcolm stopped 49 of 57 shots.

DUTCHMEN
Union, winners of three straight and unbeaten in its last four, is coming off a win over RPI and a 2-0 win over Harvard at Fenway Park last Fridayy. Junior F Jeremy Welsh ranks seventh in the nation with 16 goal in 22 games (.73) this winter, while two other teammates have hit double-digits. Sophomore Troy Grosenick has most of the work in the Union net. His 1.60 GAA and .939 save percentage are tops among Division I goalies.

ENGINEERS
RPI is 1-1-1 over its last three including a tie with Harvard and a win over AIC. Freshman F Ryan Haggerty leads the team with five goals, but junior D Nick Bailen has a team-best 14 points.Junior Bryce Merriam has earned most of the decisions in net while posting a 2.66 GAA and a .901 SP.

RANKS
Yale ranks 7th in scoring offense (3.53) and 35th in defense (2.88). The Bulldog penalty-kill is eighth (87.5) in the country, though the Elis are the 38th most penalized (12.1 minutes) team. The Elis' power play unit is fifth (26.6).

MALCOLM IN MIDDLE
Junior Jeff Malcolm has started every game this season and has all eight 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 14-11-2 with a 2.86 GAA and three shutouts. Malcolm has a 2.63 GAA (36th in Division I) with a .914 SP (37th) this year.

MILLER TIME
Junior F Andrew Miller (86 gp, 21-78-99) is a point shy of 100 for his career after bringing home four points from the North Country last weekend. He currently ranks fourth in Division I with 1.0 assists per game and is 17th in points (1.25). He is one of college hockey's premier  offensive catalysts. Miller, not known for his goal scoring, leads the team with 16 helpers and is 9th on the school's career list. He 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 the last two seasons while he had 12-33-45 in 2010-11. 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 (120 gp, 60-79-139), leads the squad with 12 goals and 22 points. He is 10th on Yale's career goals chart and sixth in points. O'Neill ranks 8th (.71) in goals per game and 13th (1.29) in points in the nation this year. He was a 2010-11 first-team All-ECAC selection and has led the team in scoring the last two seasons. O'Neill had a career-high four goals (most by a Bulldog since 2003) this year against Bentley. His four tallies against the Falcons on Jan. 1, 2012, were on consecutive scores. That eclipsed his 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 (2 saves, 24 minutes) 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. He stopped 11 of 12 shots in one period of work against the exhibition against the Russian Red Stars on Dec. 28.

BLUE LINE
There are seven defensemen on the Yale roster: two seniors, a junior, a sophomore and three freshmen. Newcomer Tommy Fallen (Plymouth, Minn.) leads the Yale blueliners with three goals and 13 points (.76 points, 18th among Division I defensemen). Senior Kevin Peel (Onoway, Alb.) is second with two goals and six points, followed by Matt Killian (Basking Ridge, NJ) with 1-4-5. Senior Nick Jaskowiak (Bloomington, Minn.), junior Colin Dueck (Calgary, Alb.) and sophomore Gus Young (Dedham, Mass.) are the other regulars on defense.   

AGOSTINO
Yale sophomore forward Kenny Agostino (Flanders, NJ), who came within a step of making the U.S. National Junior Team this winter, is the top scoring Eli sophomore with 6-9-15. 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 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.
 
BULLDOG BITES
Yale is 0-1-2 in OT games this year...  The Elis used the same lineup both nights in the North Country... Yale erased a two-goal deficit on Saturday and then gave up a two-goal advantage on Sunday... Nick Jaskowiak played in his 100th game last weekend... Andrew Miller has 99 career points.

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 Bulldogs travel to Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend. Friday's game at Bright Center in Boston airs live on NBC Sports Network.

ACCOMPLISHED LEADERS
The current Yale roster is comprised of leaders and scholars. Here are some examples.

22  were captains of hockey teams before coming to New Haven
13 captained another sports team
17 won a scholar-athlete award
14 graduated in top 10 percent of their senior class

SURVEY SAYS
The Yale players were surveyed about each other, and here are the results:

Best Passer:              Andrew Miller (Jr, F)
Fastest on Skates:         Brian O'Neill (Sr, F)
Hardest Shot:             Antoine Laganiere (Jr, F)
Best Forechecker:         Chad Ziegler (Sr, F)
Strongest:             Josh Balch (Jr, F)
Most Likely to become a coach: Josh Balch  
Best Singer:             Colin Dueck (Jr, D)
Most Unique Hobby:         Brian O'Neill (model airplanes)
Best Sense of Humor:         Charles Brockett (Sr, F)
Biggest Appetite:         Charles Brockett
Best Dresser:             Andrew Miller
Want your sister to date:     Anthony Day (Fr, F)
 
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.

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.

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 (5-3 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 45-12-3 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 five (Cornell, Colgate, BC, QU, PU) times this year. 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