Yale Opens 2008-09 At Showcase Tournament

Oct. 29, 2008

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The official dropping of the puck on the 2008-09 Yale men's hockey season is this Saturday night at Providence when the Bulldogs take on the Brown Bears as part of the Showcase Tournament at Meehan Auditorium. The Elis, who play an exhibition the night before against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), skate against the Bears in a non-league contest. You can hear the call of Saturday night's game live on WYBC (AM-1340) or on wybc.com. Live video streaming of the game is also available for purchase on brownbears.cstv.com.

Series History

The Bulldogs are 80-67-8 against the Bears since the first meeting 101 years ago. Yale has taken the last four, including all three last season. Brown's last win was Dec. 9, 2006, a 3-2 OT game at Providence.

Bulldogs Scrimmage Big Green

Four different Yale players scored goals on Oct. 26 at Ingalls Rink as the Bulldogs hosted Dartmouth in a three-period scrimmage. The goals came from senior F Patrick Brosnihan, sophomore D Jimmy Martin, freshman F Brian O'Neill and senior F Michael Karwoski. Yale outshot the visitors 28-25 but scored on just one of six power-play chances. The Elis held the Green scoreless on eight man-advantages while using three different goalies. Alec Richards stopped all 10 shots - including six on the power play - he faced in the first period. Billy Blase halted 12 of 13 shots on target in the middle frame before Ryan Rondeau finished things with a pair of stops in the third. The Elis, who fell short (42-21) in the faceoff battle, used every healthy player on the roster at some point.

Roster Notes

Senior F Patrick Brosnihan and senior goalie Alec Richards are the tallest Elis at 6-foot-4... Brosnihan and junior D Ryan Donald are the heaviest (220) Bulldogs... Senior F and captain Matt Nelson is the oldest (turns 23 in early January) on the squad while freshman D Kevin Peel (19) is the youngest... The Blue has 15 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies... Yale has seven players from both the USHL and prep schools, five from the BCJHL, two each from the AJHL, EJHL and public schools and one from the U.S. National Program.

First NCAA Hockey Regional in CT

Yale and Fairfield Universities are co-hosting the first-ever NCAA Hockey Regional Tournament in the Nutmeg State on March 27-28 at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport. There are four regional events that weekend with the winners headed to Washington, D.C., for the 2009 Frozen Four. Yale hosted the 2004 NCAA Women's Frozen Four at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., but has never hosted a men's NCAA hockey event.

Opponents in Polls

Six 2008-09 Yale opponents are listed among the top 20 in the latest USCHO.com national poll: Princeton (10), Minnesota State (12), Clarkson (15), Cornell (16), Air Force (17) and Harvard (20).

Schedule Notes

The Bulldogs have 16 home regular-season contests and all but two of them are at 7 p.m. The Jan. 4 Air Force game is 5 p.m. while the March 1 game with Colgate is on Sunday at 4 p.m. Yale has five home games in a row from Dec. 5 through Jan. 4 which is part of an eight of nine stretch at Ingalls.

Out of the League

The Elis have seven non-league games including two against Alabama-Huntsville and single faceoffs against Minnesota State, Air Force, Nebraska-Omaha, Connecticut and Brown.

Backman for Hobey

Junior forward Sean Backman, co-ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year in 2007 and a third-team all-league pick in 2008, is Yale's Hobey Baker candidate. He led the Blue with 18 goals and 27 points last winter while earning the Murray Murdoch Award for team MVP the second year in a row. Backman ranked 14th in the NCAA with 0.56 goals per game, which was second best in ECAC Hockey. Yale has not had a Hobey finalist since Chris Higgins in 2003.

Bench Leaders

Keith Allain '80, in his third year as the Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey, is 4-1 against Brown. Allain, a two-time Olympic coach, earned his first collegiate playoff wins as a coach or player last season. Roger Grillo, in his 12th year at Brown, is 115-182-47 in his only collegiate head coaching job.

Coach Allain Says

"We are really looking forward to testing ourselves this weekend against Brown. The guys have worked very hard in preparation for a successful season and we are chomping at the bit to get into some real competition."

From Pro Hockey to Med School to Marines

Ben Stafford '01, a former Yale captain, played seven years of professional hockey before heading to medical school in Philadelphia last year. Stafford completed one year of med school and then joined the U.S. Marines. He is now deployed to Iraq. Stafford scored 65 goals and won a Calder Cup with the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms.

Bulldog Bites

Yale was picked seventh in both the ECAC Hockey coaches and media polls... The Bulldogs are 1-1 under Keith Allain in regular-season openers but have lost five of their last six overall... The Elis finished 16-14-4 last winter and were tied for sixth with a 9-9-4 ECAC Hockey mark... The above .500 finish was the first for Yale since 2002-03... The Elis don't play in a holiday tournament this winter, but the 2009-10 squad will be at the Badger Showdown in Madison, Wis., next December.

Bulldogs In Or Near the Show

Chris Higgins '05 enters his fifth season with the Montreal Canadiens and has 226 NHL games under his belt. Higgins has 72 goals, 57 assists and 129 points, including 4-5-9 in 18 playoff games. Jeff Hamilton '01, Yale's career scoring leader, is looking to get back to the NHL after 70 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last winter. He has 29-42-71 in 142 big-league games.

Whale Taking Shape

A $23.5 million renovation of historic David S. Ingalls Rink is in the second of three phases. The project includes the addition of approximately 14,000 square feet of varsity operational space as well as a complete renovation of the current facility. The expanded and enhanced home of Yale Hockey will include new men's and women's varsity locker rooms, training and strength and conditioning rooms, two new press boxes, a lower level hockey heritage area, offices for coaches of both programs, a student-athlete study area, new lights, as well as a sound system and de-humidification unit. The upper level interior will also be decorated with photos displaying the rich history of Yale Hockey.

Elis On The Air

Every home game can be seen and heard live on Yale's All Access (yalebulldogs.com) for free. All home games and select road contests can be heard live on WYBC (AM 1340) and wybc.com. Alex Jenson `09, Michael Dunn '10 and Paul Treadgold '10 provide the call for all broadcasts.

NHL Network

The NHL Network airs a Friday night college hockey package showcasing 19 contests beginning Oct. 31 and March 21. Three leagues (CCHA, WCHA and ECAC Hockey) are part of the package, which consists of games produced by network entities but provided to the NHL Network. ECAC Hockey has three league games and three post-season contests on the network.

Yale On TV

The Elis are on TV at least three times this winter, including two games at Ingalls Rink. Both Quinnipiac games are live TV broadcasts. The game at Ingalls on Jan. 31 is on NESN while the Feb. 20 tilt at TD Banknorth Arena airs live on My9. The last game of the regular season is a stand-alone ESPNU game for Yale and Colgate on Sunday, March 1 at the Whale.

release filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director