Brown Visiting Ingalls Saturday Night

Jan. 3, 2007

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The Yale men's hockey team (6-6-2, 3-4-0 ECACHL), which sits two points behind seventh-place Brown (7-4-3, 3-3-1) in the conference standings, hosts its travel partner, the Bears, in a key ECACHL and Ivy League contest this Saturday at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs, who have gone six straight games without a victory, are coming off a loss to Minnesota State and a tie with Nebraska-Omaha last week at New Haven.

BULLDOGS VS. BEARS Yale and Brown have been playing since the 1897-98 season with the Blue holding a 76-67-8 lead. However, the Bears have gone 8-2-1 vs. Yale recently, including a 3-2 OT win at Providence less than a month ago. The Ivy rivals played to a 3-3 draw last winter at New Haven.

MSU BEATS YALE Minnesota State outshot Yale 34-22 on the way to a 3-1 win at Ingalls Rink on Dec. 29. Chris Cahill tallied the Bulldog goal to tie the score at 1-1 in the second period while killing a penalty. The Elis hung in there despite being outshot 15-4 and giving up a SHG in the opening frame but could not tally again. Alec Richards made 31 stops for the Blue.

LATE FLURRY RESULTS IN DRAW Nebraska-Omaha erased a 4-0 third-period deficit with four straight scores over the final 17 minutes to earn a 4-4 OT draw on Dec. 30. The game featured 24 penalties, numerous two-man advantages and 32 shots on goal by both squads. Yale and UNO each notched a pair of power-play scores. Jean-Francois Boucher, Will Engasser, Bill LeClerc and Shawn Mole had the Yale goals and Billy Blase made 28 saves in his first collegiate start.

LAST MEETING Eric Slais lit the lamp at 2:14 of OT to lift Brown to a 3-2 win on Dec. 9 at Meehan Auditorium. The Bulldogs outshot the Bears 41-32 but freshman goalie Dan Rosen, who leads the nation with a 1.44 GAA and a .957 SP, was the star of the game with 39 saves. Alec Richards had 29 stops but gave up the winner on a rising blast that went top shelf from 20 feet out. Yale forward Mark Arcobello had both goals but could have had two more if not for a few bad bounces.

BLUE IN CONFERENCE The Blue leads the league in PIM (30.1), is sixth in PP (17.0), seventh in defense (3.14) and 10th in offense (2.57).

COMPARING CLASSES The Yale newcomers lead the team in scoring with 19 goals and 43 points. The juniors (6-15-21), seniors (7-11-18) and sophomores (5-8-13) are far behind.

ARCOBELLO HAS HOT HAND Rookie forward Mark Arcobello (Milford, Conn.), who had both of Yale's goals in the 3-2 OT loss at Brown, has points in four of the last five outings. After going pointless in the first four games this season, Arcobello has turned it on with 6-7-13, including a pair of two-goal outings. He is the only Eli with two multiple-goal games and is fourth in the ECACHL with 1.14 PPG in conference play .

BACKMAN LEADING YALE Freshman forward Sean Backman (Cos Cob, Conn.), the son of a former New York Ranger and New Haven (AHL) Nighthawk Mike Backman, leads Yale with 8-6-14 and is 14th in conference points per game. Backman has a point in 11 of the 14 games including a pair of goals against UConn.

RICHARDS' STREAK ENDS AT 19 Sophomore goalie Alec Richards, whose string of starts ended at 19 (Billy Blase vs UNO), is likely to be in goal Saturday. Richards earned Yale's only ECACHL award this year, Goalie of the Week on Nov. 20 after w ins at Dartmouth and Harvard. He is ninth in conference save percentage (.892) and 10th in goals against (3.14) for league games.

BLASE GETS FIRST START Freshman goalie Billy Blase (3.53, .878) made his first collegiate start in the 4-4 OT game with UNO. Blase made 28 stops, including 13 in the final period, while allowing a pair of PPG. One of the four third-period goals by UNO was a two-man advantage. Blase, who played in the BCHL and for the U.S. Developmental Team, was the first freshman in Taft School history to play on the varsity.

BEHIND THE BENCH First-year Yale head coach Keith Allain '80, the former Bulldog star goalie and NHL assistant coach, is second at Yale with 31 goaltending wins and third in saves (2,337).

LECLERC FINALIST FOR SKILLS EVENT Senior Bill LeClerc (4-8-12), tied for second in points on the team, ranks second among conference defensemen with 1.0 points per game in league play. LeClerc, who has points in three of the last four games, has been named a finalist for the 2007 Frozen Four Skills Competition at St. Louis, Mo. The inaugural skills event was held last year at Milwaukee and there were no Yale men involved. Last year, LeClerc (8-8-16) came within two goals of the school record for blueliners which was 10 by Dave Baseggio in 1988-89.

BULLDOG BITES Robert Page has an assist in four straight games and five of the last six... Jean-Francois Boucher has points in three of the last four games... Two Bulldogs who had not seen much action lately were inserted into the lineup vs. UNO and lit the lamp. Senior Shawn Mole tallied his first goal since his sophomore year, while Will Engasser, who won a playoff game at Dartmouth two years ago, scored his second of the year... Engasser now has a goal in the season opener and the last game...The 41 SOG for Yale at Brown were a season-high.

FROSH IMPACT The seven members of Yale's class of 2010 have had a significant impact. All six skaters have dressed regularly and have produced more offense than any other Yale class. Rookies Sean Backman and Mark Arcobello lead the team in points while four other freshmen have hit the net. In addition, freshman goalie Billy Blase has played well in two games. Yale has not had a newcomer named team MVP since Paul Castraberti in 1977-78.

HIGGINS, HAMILTON PRODUCING IN NHL Two ex-Bulldogs are producing in the NHL this season. Chris Higgins '05, Yale's highest draft pick ever, has 11-6-17 in 20 games with Montreal. Jeff Hamilton '01, Yale's all-time leading scorer, has 10-9-19 (33 gp) with Chicago. He had his first NHL hat trick on Dec. 2 during a four-point night. Hamilton's goal at 19:26 of the third period pulled the Blackhawks even with the Predators before his tally 59 seconds into OT gave Chicago a 4-3 win. Since the NHL re-introduced OT in 1983-84, only one other player has ever tied a game with less than a minute remaining in the third and won it less than a minute into OT.

report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director