Feb. 22, 2005
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by Katie Baker '05
The Yale men's hockey team (4-21-2, 3-16-1 ECAC, 12th) takes to the road for its final regular season weekend of 2004-2005 when the Elis travel to Union and Rensselaer for Friday and Saturday showdowns. Yale dropped a pair of sellout home games to Vermont and Dartmouth in their final weekend at Ingalls Rink.
The Series
Yale leads the all-time series with Union 15-7-2 since the Dutchmen entered the league in the 1991-1992 season. Union has won two straight games against the Bulldogs, however, dating back to a 3-1 win at Ingalls last season and followed by a 5-2 victory in New Haven back on Nov. 20. Yale first matched up against RPI in the 1908-1909 season, and since then the two teams have played 79 contests, with the Engineers holding the 44-30-5 edge over Yale. On Nov. 19, RPI was a 5-2 winner over Yale at Ingalls to win their second straight in New Haven, although Yale had won three straight games in the series prior to that loss.
Fallon Blanks Elis, Sets Record
Vermont goaltender Joe Fallon set a UVM single-season shutout record with five as the Catamounts shut out Yale en route to a 5-0 victory at Ingalls Rink on Feb. 18. Vermont scored twice in the first period. Yale's Christian Jensen missed on a breakaway and a Shawn Mole wrister from the blue line hit the post to keep the Cats lead at 2-0 lead going into the second period. Vermont added two more goals in the second before Yale goaltender Matt Modelski (15 saves) was pulled in favor of junior Josh Gartner, who played the final 28:08 and made 20 saves while giving up one goal.
Bulldog Rally Falls Short
On Saturday, Feb. 19 the Elis hosted Dartmouth on Senior Night, marking the last home game for graduating Yale players Nick Shalek, CJ Nibbe and Pete Cohen. The Big Green scored first, racking up two goals in the first 5:10 of the game before Yale's Bobby Burns cut the lead in half with his third goal of the season at 7:45. The Green scored their third goal at 14:46, and goaltender Josh Gartner was pulled in favor of senior Cohen, who stepped in to make 26 saves over the remainder of the game. Down 5-1 just 2:26 into the second after a pair of goals from Dartmouth's Chris Snizek, Yale mounted a comeback in the second, tallying a couple of beautiful 2-on-1 goals by Nate Jackson and Jeff Hristovski, but the Bulldogs were unable to score in the third and dropped the 5-3 decision.
Union Drops Pair on the Road
Union (11-20-1, 7-13-0, 9th), coming off a 3-1 loss at Colgate and a 4-1 defeat at Cornell, enters the weekend with the chance to earn home ice in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. Union's senior captain Jordan Webb leads his team in goals with 16, having netted another score in his team's game against Colgate, and has amassed 110 career points. The Dutchmen's power play has been struggling of late, going 1-for-41 in the last seven games, while its penalty kill has allowed four goals over the last 15 chances.
RPI Blanked In Weekend Set
RPI (13-19-2, 5-14-1, 11th) enters the weekend after being shut out in a pair of games against Cornell (L, 3-0) and Colgate (L, 1-0), the first time since March 13-14, 2004 that the Engineers failed to score a goal in back-to-back games. The Engineers are led offensively by a pair of juniors, Kirk MacDonald and Kevin Croxton. MacDonald has gone 15-16-31 over the course of the season, while Croxton is 6-23-29 over that same span and needs only two more points to reach the 100-career-point mark. RPI goaltender Andrew Martin boasts a 2.93 GAA in 25 games played.
Senior Sendoff
In a strong end to their Ingalls careers, all three Yale seniors saw action in the Feb. 19 game against Dartmouth. The game was a sellout, Yale's third straight and fifth of the season. Goaltender Pete Cohen (Medfield, Mass.) made 26 saves in his best game of the season and earned the third star of the game, while forward CJ Nibbe (Minnetonka, Minn.) earned an assist on Bobby Burns' (Belmont, Mass.) first period goal to grab his first point of the year. Nick Shalek (Purchase, N.Y.) did not pick up a point but nearly scored a goal, which would have been his first career score. Yale's seniors combine for four points (0-4-4) on the season.
Other Classes
The junior class, which is Yale's largest, has tallied 32 goals and 77 points to lead all classes of Yale skaters and boasts three of Yale's top four scorers (Jeff Hristovski, Christian Jensen, and Nate Jackson.) The sophomores, led by leading scorer Brad Mills (Olds, Alb.), are second with 16 goals and 42 points. Blair Yaworski (Calgary, Alb.) leads the newcomers, who combine for 10 goals and 30 points thus far this season.
Career Year for Jackson
With seven goals and eight assists this season for 15 points, junior center Nate Jackson (Newport, R.I.) has more than doubled his offensive production from his first two seasons combined (5-2-7 going into this year). Jackson has earned points in four of the last six games, including a three-assist showing in Yale's 5-2 win over St. Lawrence on Feb. 5 and a second-period goal and assist in the Elis' 5-3 loss to Dartmouth on Nov. 19 that earned him the second star of the game and a spot on the ECAC Weekly Honor Roll.
Penalty Killers
The Bulldogs penalty kill was much improved in last weekend's action, as Yale gave up only one power play goal over the course of two games. In Friday's matchup with Vermont, Yale stopped the Catamounts on all 7 of their extra-man opportunities, including a 5-on-3 chance that lasted 1:31. Against Dartmouth, the Elis gave up a power play goal to Nick Johnson but stifled the Green on their other chance.
Helpful Hristovski
Jeff Hristovski (Concord, Ont) leads the team in assists, having recorded 14 helpers this year. With his second period goal against Dartmouth, the junior earned his 20th point of the season, tying him with Christian Jensen (New Canaan, Conn.) for second on the team behind injured player Brad Mills (10-13-23).
Rookie Recap
Blair Yaworski earned his 9th assist on Nate Jackson's goal, giving him the lead in helpers among freshman. With four goals and seven assists in conference games, Yaworski is tied for 7th in the ECAC in conference points among freshmen. Fellow classmate Rob Page (Eden Prairie, Minn.) has been one of Yale's most consistent defensemen this season, leading all blueliners in point production (2-8-10). Freshman Jean-Francois Boucher (Rosemere, Queb.), the son of an Olympic gold-medal winning speedskater, has shown that hockey also runs in the family, earning a spot on Yale's top line this season. Boucher scored goals in back-to-back games against Connecticut and Brown and added his third goal of the season in Yale's loss to Cornell. David Germain (Quincy, Mass.) is Yale's other point-scoring freshman, having notched an assist in Yale's 2-1 win over Clarkson on Jan. 8.
100th Tie a Rare One
Yale's scoreless tie with Colgate on Feb. 11 was the first double-blanking in 64 years and the 100th draw in the history of the Bulldog program.
Need For An Early Lead
Yale is 3-0 when leading after two periods and has three wins and a tie when scoring the game's first goal. The Elis have only led after one period twice this year and have won both games, while going 0-17 when trailing after 40 minutes.
Blueliners Make Red
Yale defensemen have accounted for six goals and 29 points this season. Freshman Robert Page (2-8-10), 27th among ECACHL defensemen, had the best offensive day of his young collegiate career on Jan. 29 against Harvard when he assisted two of the three Yale goals. Page now leads the blueliners with ten points. Sophomore Bill LeClerc (Acton, Mass.), who moved up to forward on Feb. 12 for the first time in his career, had three assists against UConn and lit the lamp in both games against Princeton for his first collegiate goals. He stands 2-5-7 on the season. Sophomore Shawn Mole (Mississauga, Ont.) nailed his first career goal against UConn to bring him to 1-5-6, while sophomore Matt Craig (Brampton, Ont.) scored Yale's only goal against Clarkson and added assists against Brown, Princeton, and Cornell for a season total of 1-3-4.
Mills Out With Injury
Sophomore Brad Mills was knocked out of the Feb. 11 Colgate game with a leg injury in the second period that has forced him to miss the past three contests. He is not likely to suit up this weekend. Mills, last year's team rookie of the year, has points in 16 of his 24 games this year. His three goals against UConn on Jan. 22 marked his first collegiate hat trick and the first for a Bulldog since Joe Zappala (Medford, Mass.) notched the trio a year ago against the Huskies. He leads the Blue with 10 goals, 13 assists and 23 points. Mills had an eight-game point streak earlier this year.
Captain Nick
Nick Shalek, who might be the first non-recruited skater to become captain of the Yale men's team, has also distinguished himself as the only Bulldog to play both up front and on the blueline. He has played 22 games up front this year and two on defense. Unlike most members of the class of 2005, Shalek does not have to be concerned about looking for a job next year because he has already signed on with the Yale Investments Office, headed by ardent Yale hockey fan David Swensen.
Jensen An Offensive Threat
Although he did not play in Yale's game against Dartmouth due to concussion,Junior forward Christian Jensen has been a human highlight film since coming to New Haven three years ago. Jensen, who ranks third in the ECAC in conference goals, has lit the lamp in ten of Yale's games this season.. He showcased his skills with two great moves to set up linemate Brad Mills for a pair of shorthanded goals on Jan. 22 against UConn. Jensen, who started with one goal over the first five games, followed that with a productive run. Heading into the Badger Showdown he had six goals and eight points over seven games. Jensen, an unselfish player who happens to lead the team with 92 shots on target, has four PPG and one SHG this season. He is also a midfielder on the Bulldog lacrosse team.
Zappala Always Dangerous Around Net
The goals have not been coming as frequently as they did last year, but this Yale junior has a nose for the puck and knows how to light the lamp. After leading the nation with nine game-winning goals -- one shy of the NCAA record -- forward Joe Zappala did not have a point this season until the sixth game. He now has five goals and 12 points, including the big goal against the Badgers on Dec. 31 that helped Yale tie the No. 4 ranked team. In Yale's 5-3 loss to Dartmouth Zappala set up Nate Jackson with a needle-threading pass to give Yale one of its two second period goals, proving that he can contribute offensively even when he cannot find his scoring touch.
Spreading the Wealth
Seventeen Yale players have contributed points for Yale this season, including foiur rookies: Blair Yaworski, Robert Page, Jean-Francois Boucher, and David Germain. Yale's most recent addition to the point scoring list was senior CJ Nibbe, who scored his first point of the season and sixth of his career with an assist against Dartmouth.
Yalies in the Pros
Eleven Tim Taylor disciples are lacing up their blades at work, including two players in the CHL (Vin Hellemeyer '04 & Stacey Bauman '03), one in the ECHL (Nick Deschenes '03) and a pair in Europe (Dan Lombard '02 & Craig Ferguson '92). Here are the former Yale skaters who are playing pro in the AHL as of Feb. 7.
Player Team GP, G-A-P Ray Giroux '98 Houston Aeros 41, 6-14-20 Ben Stafford '01 Philadelphia Phantoms 53, 10-15-25 Jeff Hamilton '01 Hartford Wolfpack 36, 15-21-36 Jeff Dwyer '04 Chicago Wolves # 9, 0-2-2 Ryan Steeves '04 Hershey Bears 50, 3-2-5 Joe Callahan '05 Utah Grizzlies 48, 1-4-5 Chris Higgins '05 Hamilton Bulldogs 52, 16-15-31 # sent to ECHL for rehab
Top Dog Trio Breaks Up
The line of Joe Zappala, Brad Mills and Christian Jensen, which has combined for a team-high 26 goals and 54 points, was broken when Mills went down with a leg injury on Feb. 11. Junior Nate Jackson moved into that spot on Feb. 12 and notched a power-play goal, adding two points the next weekend with a goal and an assist against Dartmouth. The next closest line is the Jean-Francois Boucher, Jeff Hristovski and Blair Yaworski trio with 14 goals and 39 points.
Shot On Goal Never a Bad Play
Yale has been outshot in 23 of the 27 games this season, including the 5-2 win over SLU. The Elis put more rubber on net than Princeton (twice), UConn and Brown (at Ingalls) and are 2-2 when outshooting opponents. The Elis have been outshot by a total of 305 this year.
Numbers To Avoid
The Elis are trying to avoid some dubious records this season. The records for losses in a season by a Yale team is 23 by the 1995-1996 squad. The fewest wins by a Yale team in the modern era is one by the 1974-1975 Elis coached by Paul Lufkin. That team went 1-21-1 and 0-19-1 in ECAC play with the only victory coming against Army, 9-2. With a win or tie this weekend the Bulldogs could avoid tying the loss record.
