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GAME DAY CENTRAL
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The 2021-22 Yale Men's Hockey Team opens the regular season by traveling to Providence to face Brown on Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium at 7 p.m. The opener airs lives on ESPN+.
The two teams last met in the first two games of the 2019-20 season with the Elis grabbing a 3-2 win at home before Brown won 5-1 in Providence. That Yale season finished with an ECAC Hockey Playoff series win over Union and a 15-15-2 overall record.
The Elis used an Oct. 23 scrimmage with Princeton and Brown to prepare for this weekend. Yale played 40 minutes against both schools.
This is arguably the greatest challenge faced by
Keith Allain, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach, since he took over the men's hockey program in 2006.
The Bulldogs, who have not played a game since winning a conference playoff series in early March of 2020, have one of their top 10 scorers and one of the regular defensemen back from that squad, while none of the three goalies on the roster has played a college hockey game. In fact, only nine skaters on the current team have played a collegiate contest.
The mole hill may look like a mountain, but Allain and his two new assistants have worked diligently to integrate the newcomers with the veterans while building team chemistry and confidence.
"Expect to see a hungry, focused group, one that will compete with energy and enthusiasm and grow throughout the season," said Allain, who has guided the program to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national title in 2013 and three regional finals.
Senior captain
Graham Lillibridge, who has been a regular on the ice since arriving in New Haven, heads up the blueliners. Juniors
Michael Young and
Brandon Tabakin saw limited ice time as rookies in 2019-20.
"The team is extremely excited about the upcoming season and to be playing in games again after over a year off. Although we are a relatively inexperienced team, I believe the upperclassmen see great opportunities to increase their role from two seasons ago and the underclassmen see opportunities to play a meaningful role from the start of their first game," said Lillibridge. "Because of these opportunities, everyone on the team is going to be pushing each other and practices are going to be very competitive, but the competitive nature of practices will only raise the level of play for our team and lead to greater success from the start to the end of the season."
Justin Pearson, a senior who earned All-Ivy League honors in 2019-20 after notching 14 goals and 24 points, is the top returning forward. Senior
Kyle Johnson, juniors
Cole Donhauser,
Hayden Rowan and
Quinton Ong and sophomore
Teddy Wooding are the others on the front lines who have played for the Bulldogs.
Junior goalie
Connor Hopkins missed his only season on the roster with an injury. Sophomore
Nathan Reid and first-year
Luke Pearson are the "new" Bulldogs between the pipes.
Yale at Brown
Saturday, Oct. 30 - 7 p.m.
Meehan Auditorium
Live Stats | ESPN+
Yale Game NOTES
