Bulldogs Making First Trip to Quinnipiac

Jan. 30, 2007

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The Yale men's hockey team (8-10-3, 5-8-1 ECACHL), looking to climb in the packed ECACHL standings, has a road/home conference weekend with four points on the table. The Bulldogs, winless in five straight, make their first trip to Quinnipiac (12-8-4, 8-3-3) and the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden on Friday for a 7 p.m. faceoff that can be heard live on WYBC (AM-1340) and on wybc.com. Princeton (9-9-2, 6-7-1) comes to Ingalls Rink the next night at 7 p.m. for Alumni Day. A video feed of Saturday's game will be available live on yalebulldogs.com and will also be archived shortly after the game.

BLUE RUNS INTO RED HOT GOALIES

Yale ran into a pair of hot goalies last weekend at home. Jordan Alford stopped 27 of 28 shots, including all 15 in the third period, in RPI's 2-1 win at the Whale on Jan. 26. Tom Dignard had the Bulldog goal. Union's Justin Mrazek (39 of 41) made many big saves to thwart the Yale charge that included goals by Will Engasser and Sean Backman. Alec Richards, who stopped 55 of 60 shots on the weekend, deserved a better fate. The second Olivier Bouchard goal came with :32 left in OT to give Union a 3-2 win on Jan. 27.

DOGS VS. CATS

The Quinnipiac-Yale rivalry includes just three meetings, and they all were played at Ingalls Rink. The Elis won the first, 4-3, last January before the Bobcats took the February contest 6-2, the same score in Quinnipiac's victory over the Blue last month. Yale and Princeton have been playing since the 1899-1900 campaign with Yale holding a 119-94-8 lead. The Bulldogs beat the Tigers 3-2 at Baker Rink last month and have taken three of the last five.

CATS, TIGERS

Quinnipiac, two points out of first place and winners of three of its last four league games, chewed up Holy Cross (7-0) in the first game at its new arena on Jan. 28. Rookie forward Brandon Wong (17-12-29) and sophomore goalie Bud Fisher (.906, 2.52) have been the primary leaders in the surge to the top of the ECACHL standings. Princeton had taken two of its last three games heading into its 16-day layoff for exams, but came out of the break on Jan. 29 with a 3-1 loss at home to Robert Morris. The Tigers outshot RMU 32-27 but could not convert a man-advantage. The visitors cashed in on two power-play chances and got 31 saves from Christian Boucher. Zane Kalemba (.903, 2.45, 7-7-1) has all but two of Princeton's wins this year, but has had help from a solid defense and scoring from Darroll Powe (9 goals), Lee Jubinville (7-11-18) and Grant Goeckner-Zoeller (6-10-16).

THE MATCHUP

Here's how Yale matches up on paper against the Cats and Tigers in conference play.

Conference Stat: Yale-Quinnipiac-Princeton

Offense: 11th (2.36)-1st (3.86)-4th (3.07)

Defense: 9th (3.14)-2nd (2.43)-6th (2.93)

PP: 7th (14.9)-4th (19.4)-5th (16.7)

PK: 6th (83.2)-3rd (89,9)-5th (84.7)

PIM: 1st (24.5)-8th (17.6)-11th (13.4)

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). "It's difficult because I like to see our guys rewarded for playing a great game. We did so many things well. There's no doubt we deserved a victory. We played better tonight than last night, and we can't get frustrated," said Allain after the OT loss to Union.

FROSH AHEAD OF CLASSES

The Yale newcomers lead the team in scoring with 27 goals (by six players) and 59 points. A pair of frosh leads the team in points, but Yale has not had a rookie lead the team in points since Chris Higgins in 2001-02. The Blue has not had a freshman named team MVP since Paul Castraberti in 1977-78. The juniors (9-21-30), seniors (8-19-27) and sophomores (7-9-16) are far behind in scoring. The frosh had 2-2-4 last weekend.

BACKMAN LEADS BLUE

Freshman forward Sean Backman, the son of a former New York Ranger and New Haven (AHL) Nighthawk Mike Backman, was Yale's first ECACHL Rookie of the Week awardee after getting two points in the Jan. 6 win over Brown. He leads Yale with 11-8-19 and is third in conference points per game for frosh (14th overall). Backman has a point in 14 of the 21 games including a pair of goals against UConn.

ARCOBELLO ONE OF TOP ECACHL ROOKIES

Rookie forward Mark Arcobello has points in nine of the last 12 outings. After going pointless in the first four games this season, Arcobello has turned it on with 7-11-18, including a pair of two-goal outings. He is the only Eli with two multiple-goal games and is second in the ECACHL among frosh with .93 PPG in conference play (13th overall).

BULLDOGS IN THE CAGE

Sophomore goalie Alec Richards (2.95, .896, 8-10-2) has started all but one (Billy Blase vs. UNO) game this year. He had a season-high 41 saves in the win over Brown, three shy of his career-best (44 at Minnesota State, Dartmouth). Richards earned ECACHL Goalie of the Week on Nov. 20 after wins at Dartmouth/Harvard. He is 12th in conference goals against (3.17) and 11th in save percentage (.892) for league games. Matt Modelski saw his first action of the year with five saves in relief at Colgate on Jan. 20.

OFFENSIVE ON DEFENSE

Senior Bill LeClerc (5-11-16), third in goals and points on the team, ranks third among conference defensemen with .79 points per game in league play. He has points in three of the last four games.

BULLDOG BITES

Sean Backman's goal against Union snapped an 0-for-14 string with the man-advantage... The Blue and Union have skated to three straight OT contests... The Elis are 2-5-1 when outshooting opponents this season... Yale's non-league schedule in 2007-08 includes Nebraska-Omaha, Minnesota-State and Alabama-Huntsville (2) on the road and UConn, Brown and Princeton at home... The two Ivy/ECACHL squads come to Ingalls for non-league games and play the Elis three times next year... Yale is 1-2-1 vs. teams that were ranked; the win came at No. 8 New Hampshire (now No. 2)... The Blue is 1-5-1 vs. teams currently in the USCHO national rankings.

ALUMNI DAY

This Saturday is Yale Hockey Alumni Day with an 11 a.m. game for old Blue followed by a 1 p.m. reception and the 7 p.m. Princeton-Yale contest. For more information on the day, please contact the Yale Athletics Alumni Office at (203) 432-1434.

HIGGINS, HAMILTON PRODUCING IN NHL

Two ex-Bulldogs are having their best pro seasons ever in the NHL. Chris Higgins '05, Yale's highest draft pick ever, has 14-8-22 in 32 games with Montreal. Jeff Hamilton '01, Yale's all-time leading scorer, has 12-11-22 (44 gp) with Chicago. He had his first NHL hat trick on Dec. 2 during a four-point night.