BROWN AT YALE
Friday, Nov. 1, 2019
David S. Ingalls Rink
ESPN+
Livestats
Game Notes

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The 2019-20 season begins Friday night when the Yale Men's Hockey Team hosts conference travel partner Brown at 7 p.m. at Ingalls Rink. The 182nd meeting of the Ancient Eight schools is the ECAC Hockey opener and the first of a weekend set that has both contests airing live on ESPN+ and internationally on Stretch Internet. The Bulldogs and Bears skate Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium.

BULLDOGS
Yale has plenty of experience returning to Ingalls Rink this season, which is one reason the ECAC Hockey Coaches have picked the Bulldogs to finish fifth. The Bulldogs return nine of its top 10 point producers from last winter, while six of the eight regulars on defense jump on the ice at the Whale again. One of the forwards is senior captain Evan Smith, who chipped in 15 points for a squad that finished 15-15-3 in 2018-19. The Elis have two blueliners this season with Team USA experience. Junior Phil Kemp and sophomore Jack St. Ivany, a pair of NHL draft picks, skated for the silver medal winning U.S. Team at last year's junior world championships. The Elis also have experience between the pipes. Senior Corbin Kaczperski has 28 career games after recording a 2.47 goals against and a .908 save percentage with an 8-5-2 record last season.

BEARS
Brown, picked seventh by the ECAC coaches, is coming off its most successful campaign in recent years, including ECAC Playoff series wins over Princeton and Quinnipiac before finishing 15-14-5 overall.

SERIES
Yale leads the series 99-74-8 and has won three of the last four, including a pair of one-goal decisions in 2018-19. This is the second time in three years that the two schools have opened with a home-and-home series.

BULLDOG NOTES BY NUMBER
1 – Connor Hopkins - West Kelowna Warriors Rookie of the Year as well as the West
Kelowna Warriors Academic Achievement Award for 2018-2019
2 – Jack St. Ivany – Drafted by Philadelphia Flyers in 2018… Earned a silver medal with the US National Team at the 2019 IIHF Junior
World Championship
3 – Michael Young – Earned top defenseman honors for Vernon Vipers in 2018-19
4 – Matt Foley – Captained team at Cathedral High School
5 – Brian Matthews –Phil Todd Memorial Scholarship for outstanding performance and dedication from Omaha Lancers
6- - Billy Sweezey - won a bronze medal at Junior Club World Cup for Chicago Steel under former Yale and current NHL assistant Dan Muse
7 – Brandon Tabakin - 2016 Four Nations Tournament Gold Medalist with USNTDP
8 – Will D'Orsi - Select 16 for Five Nation's Team USA, won gold medal after scoring three goals, Player of the Game vs. Germany.
9 – Robbie DeMontis - 5th in total points in Muskegon Lumberjack history after three seasons.
10 – Chandler Lindstrand – AHCA Academic All-American who was assistant captain for USHL Des Moines Buccaneers
12 – Dante Palecco – ECAC Player of the Week and ECAC Rookie of the Week (4-goal, 5-point weekend) against St. Lawrence and Clarkson in 2017-18
13 – Evan Smith – Team Captain… Scored 4 goals against Princeton at home his sophomore year
14 – Mitchell Smith – Last season recorded career highs in points (11) and goals (5) as well as
posted a career-best +6
15 – Kyle Johnson - Represented Team Canada West in World Junior A Challenge in 2016 and
2017… He was an assistant captain on the gold medal winning 2017 team
16 – Teddy Wooding – Rookie of the Year for the Vernon Vipers and got the Wayne Buck Memorial Award
17 – Kevin O'Neil – Notched GWG in closing moments of Harvard game at Whale rookie year
18 – Justin Pearson – Last season led all newcomers with 17 points (6-11-17) and led all skaters
in game-winning goals (4)
19 – Quinton Ong – Played two seasons and amassed 35 goals and 85 points in 114 games for
the Canmore Eagles of the AJHL
20 – Curtis Hall – Drafted by Boston Bruins in 2018… Selected to the 2017 USA Hockey/All-American Prospects Game and the
USHL''s Top Prospect Game.
21 – Tyler Welsh - Recorded career-highs in goals, assists, points and shots in 33
games last season.
22 – Hayden Rowan – Alternate captain who had 7 playoff points for BCHL Trail Smoke Eaters
23 – Cole Donhauser - Played hockey and lacrosse at The Nichols School in Buffalo, captained both senior year
24 – Graham Lillibridge - Played in 2018 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game
25 – Phil Kemp – Edmonton Oilers draft pick… Won 2017 Five Nations Championship and was co-captain of Under-18 World
Championship Gold Medal winner before winning Silver medal on 2019 U.S. Junior National Team.
26 – Brett Jewell – Scored 28 goals, had 36 assists and captained 2016-17 Merritt Centennials (BCHL)
27 – Luke Stevens - Carolina Hurricanes draft pick in 2015… Father, Kevin Stevens, played 15 years in NHL for five teams
29 – Nicholas MacNab – Academic All-ECAC in 2017-18
33 – Corbin Kaczperski – His .933 SP was fifth in the nation in 2017-18

SURVEY SAYS
Yale players were surveyed to learn what they thought of their teammates.
Strongest: Robbie DeMontis
Fastest: Luke Stevens
Hardest shot: Jack St. Ivany
Best fore-checker – Brett Jewell
Best passer – Graham Lillibridge
Best Singer – Luke Stevens
Most unique hobby – Corbin Kaczperski (baking)
Best sense of humor – Will D'Orsi
Biggest appetite – Kyle Johnson
Most soft spoken – Quinton Ong
Most talkative – Dante Palecco
Nicest – Kyle Johnson
Best dresser – Dante Palecco and Phil Kemp
Most likely to be a head coach – Phil Kemp and Matt Foley

PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL
1. Cornell (8) - 113
2. Quinnipiac (3) - 109
3. Clarkson (1) - 100
4. Harvard - 93
5. Yale - 74
6. Dartmouth - 68
7. Brown - 61
8. Union - 57
9. RPI - 31
    Princeton - 31
11. Colgate - 29
12. St. Lawrence – 21

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
There are 28 student-athletes on the 2019-20 roster, including 16 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies. The Americans come from 10 states (8 from Massachusetts), while there are eight Canadians from three provinces.

ROI
The third iteration of Rivalry on Ice at Madison Square Garden takes place on Jan. 11 when Yale meets Harvard. The Bulldogs won both the 2014 and 2016 ROI contests. Tickets for the 2020 meeting are available at msg.com.

CT ICE 2020
Yale has established a recent tradition with hockey in Bridgeport and the Webster Bank Arena. That trend, which includes playing and hosting NCAA Tournament games, continues with a Jan. 25 contest against Sacred Heart on the first day of Connecticut Ice 2020. The first-ever tournament for the state's four Division I hockey schools has the Bulldogs and Pioneers squaring off at 7:30 p.m., following a 4:30 matchup between Quinnipiac and Connecticut. The winners meet at 7 on the 26th, while the third-place game is 3:30. "Connecticut is a great hockey state, and the arena is a great place to play the game," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach. Tickets for this event are available at sny.tv/info/connecticut-ice.

CLASS OF 2019
Three seniors from last year's squad are playing hockey this winter, but only one took a traditional path. Joe Snively, an All-ECAC forward and Washington Caps signee, is playing forward for the AHL Hershey Bears. His ex-teammates Sam Tucker (G) and Andrew Gaus (F) may be breaking ground for Bulldogs as grad transfers. Tucker (Boston University) and Gaus (Colorado College) had a year of eligibility that could not be used at an Ivy League School, so they took scholarship offers to play one more season. Of course, they are working towards new degrees, Gaus for a master's in teaching and Tucker in Metropolitan College's graduate program for financial management. The captain of the 2018-19 team, Anthony Walsh, is back in the program as the operations director.

CLASSROOM
Yale MIH earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award for the 2018-19 academic year by having an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate in the top 10 percent of all squads.