Bulldogs and Bears Saturday

Dec. 5, 2006

The Yale men's hockey team (6-4-1, 3-3-0 ECACHL), which was ranked 15/16 last week but fell out of both polls with a pair of conference losses last weekend, travels to Providence this Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against travel partner Brown. Yale, which follows with a 20-day break from games, takes on the Bears (5-4-2, 2-3-1) at Meehan Auditorium in a contest that airs live on WYBC (AM-1340) and wybc.com with Chris Hudson and Michael Dunn calling the action.

THE SERIES

Yale and Brown have been playing since the 1897-98 season with the Blue holding a 76-66-8 lead. The Bears have gone 7-2-1 vs. Yale recently though the Bulldogs won the first meeting last winter (5-2 at Brown) followed by a 3-3 OT tie at Ingalls.

SLU TAKES 5-2 DECISION

Mike McKenzie had two goals and an assist as St. Lawrence skated past Yale 5-2 before 3,236 at Ingalls Rink on Dec. 2. The Bulldogs, who lost for a third straight time, had the edge in shots on net (32-30) but did not convert enough (1-for-5) power-play chances. SLU went scoreless on three attempts but got enough offense from even-strength play to win for a sixth time in seven games. Kain Tisi stopped 30 shots, including a dozen in the opening period, to earn his second win of the year. Alec Richards, the sophomore Yale goalie, finished with 19 in two periods of action. He was replaced in the third by freshman Billy Blasé, who finished with eight saves and one goal allowed. Sean Backman and Bill LeClerc had the Bulldog goals.

CLARKSON POWER PLAY RULES

A penalty-filled night and a battle of special teams went to the visitors at Ingalls Rink. David Cayer and Nick Dodge each had a goal and three assists as the Golden Knights scored four times on nine power plays to take a 4-1 win over Yale on Dec. 1. Yale, which outshot the Knights 36-29, had its worst night ever on the power play going scoreless on 13 attempts. That was the difference in the game. Clarkson lit the lamp on each of its substantial two-man advantages and the Bulldogs had just as many opportunities at five-on-three. Alec Richards, who made 25 saves and did not allow an even-strength goal, was victimized by an opportunistic power-play unit. David Leggio stopped 35 shots and gave up a five-on-five score. Mark Arcobello had the lone Yale goal.

BULLDOG BITES

Alec Richards had played every minute for the Blue until being pulled after the second period on Dec. 2. He and Dartmouth's Mike Devine were the only goalies in the ECACHL to play every minute for their teams this year... This is the first time Yale has lost three consecutive games since last winter... The Yale-Clarkson game had "only" 77 minutes in penalties, but the 13 power play chances may be the most in Yale history. A search through the school records could not produce a game with more, though some seasons do not include PPA... The 4 PPG allowed were a season-high; both SLU and Dartmouth tallied 4 PPG against Yale in 2005-06... The Elis have outshot opponents five times this winter.

RANKED NO LONGER

Yale had been nationally ranked for two straight weeks, the last being 16th in the USCHO.com listing and 15th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings. The No. 17 ranking in the USCHO poll the week before was the first ranking for the Bulldogs since the 2002-03 squad started 0-2 and then reeled off wins in seven of the next eight games.

BACKMAN LEADING BULLDOGS

Freshman forward Sean Backman, the son of a former New York Ranger and New Haven (AHL) Nighthawk, Mike Backman (8-3-11), leads Yale in scoring and is seventh among conference rookies with a point per game in league play. Backman has a point in nine of the 11 games including a pair against UConn. He had a goal and an assist last weekend at home.

RICHARDS BETWEEN PIPES

Sophomore goalie Alec Richards had his roughest weekend this season with eight goals allowed against Clarkson and SLU combined. However, three of those scores came with Yale down two men and another was a 5-on-4. Richards was Yale's first ECACHL weekly award winner, Goalie of the Week on Nov. 20 after wins at Dartmouth and Harvard. He is 10th in conference save percentage (.890) and 13th in goals against (3.18) for league games. Richards has started 17 straight contests dating to last February. In recent times, only Dan Lombard (2001-02) and Alex Westlund (1997-98) started 17 straight games in one Yale season.

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).

OFFENSIVE BLUELINER

Senior Bill LeClerc (3-6-9) is tied for second on the Elis with eight points and ranks third among conference defensemen with 1.0 points per game in league play. Last year (8-8-16) he came within two goals of the school record for blueliners which was 10 by Dave Baseggio in 1988-89.

FROSH IMPACT

The seven members of Yale's class of 2010 have had a significant impact on the 6-4-1 start. When healthy, all seven have dressed each night. Rookie Sean Backman leads the team with 11 points while four other freshmen have hit the net. The newcomers, among three of the team's top four point producers, have accounted for 16 goals and 34 points. Goalie Billy Blase '10 saw his first action against SLU on Dec. 2 and stopped eight of nine shots.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Bulldogs' power play stands at 12 for 82 (14.6%) with a season-high three at Harvard on Nov. 18. The Blue has a PPG in all but two games. Yale's penalty kill (82%) has been solid but taxed, especially by simultaneous infractions.

5 NHL DRAFTEES

Current Yale players who were NHL draft selections are juniors Rob Page (Columbus, 6th round, 167th overall 2004) and Will Engasser (Phoenix, 9th, 261st, 2004), sophomores Patrick Brosnihan (Phoenix, 7th, 212th, 2005) and Brennan Turner (Chicago, 5th, 134th, 2005), and freshman Greg Beller (N.Y. Rangers, 6th, 178th, 2005).

NHL 2006-07 IMPACT

Two former Yale players are off to great starts in the NHL this season. Chris Higgins '05, Yale's highest draft pick ever (1st round, 14th overall), had eight goals (team leader) and five assists in 13 games with the Montreal Canadiens until being sidelined with an injury. Jeff Hamilton '01, Yale's all-time leading scorer, has six goals and seven assists in 22 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. He had his first NHL hat trick on Dec. 2 during a four-point night.