Tigers and Bobcats to get familiar

It's a little early in the men's hockey team's season for a playoff series. The Tigers, after all, have played only five of their 29 scheduled games, first taking the ice barely three weeks ago. But even though the playoffs don't officially begin until March, Princeton (3-2-0 overall, 2-2-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League) will play Quinnipiac (3-3-2, 1-1-2) three times in eight days starting Saturday in what figures to be a mid-season battle with a postseason flair.

"I don't know if we have a really intense rivalry with [Quinnipiac] yet. I think we have more of a rivalry with Clarkson or Brown because of the playoffs last year, but playing them three times in a row like this is definitely going to be just like a playoff series, so a rivalry is going to develop," senior forward Kyle Hagel said.

It is true that the Bobcats of Hamden, Conn., don't immediately come to mind when one considers the Tigers' greatest rivalries. Nevertheless, as Hagel pointed out, when you play any one team so many times, you start to get under each other's skin, and before long players are finishing their checks with a little more zeal. The slashings and hookings to the shin pads and gloves become a little more liberal, and the goals and wins just feel a little bit better.

Add to that the fact that Quinnipiac advanced all the way to the ECACHL finals last season before losing to Clarkson — and is expected to again challenge for a league title — and Princeton could be in for an intense stretch of games.

"I don't know too many guys on [Quinnipiac], but they were picked to finish pretty high in the standings, and when you're playing someone expected to finish high, you always want to knock 'em off," junior forward Brett Wilson said.

Saturday's game will be a non-conference game, which means it will only count toward the teams' overall records and not in the ECACHL standings. But, just like their non-conference game against Yale earlier this season, the Tigers are approaching it as they would any other game.

"Even though it's a non-conference game, it's still big, especially coming off of two losses," Wilson said. "You definitely don't want to come out with a longer losing streak."

Having surrendered 10 goals in its last two losses, Princeton will face a Bobcats team that has only scored 2.4 goals per game, compared with the Tigers' 3.2. Still, Quinnipiac has no shortage of firepower, with five double-digit goal scorers returning from last season.

"They're a really good team," Hagel said. "I know they had a freshman who was a big goalscorer. They definitely have some snipers we've got to watch out for."

That standout rookie is now-sophomore Brandon Wong, who led the Bobcats in scoring last year with 27 goals and 44 points as an ECACHL Co-Rookie of the Year and is a constant offensive threat.

Attempting to counter the Quinnipiac attack will be the Tigers' big line of Wilson, junior forward Lee Jubinville and sophomore forward Cam MacIntyre, which has combined for nine goals and 25 points already this season.

"They're kind of similar to us; they've got some good forwards who like to play an up-tempo style, which we like doing as well," Wilson said. "But as long as we play our game, we don't really care what the other team's going to do."

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In addition to its postseason feel, the upcoming Quinnipiac "series" could heavily influence the course of the Tigers' regular season. Come away with three wins, and the Tigers are 6-2 overall and sitting pretty at or near the top of the ECACHL standings. Drop three games in a row, and the Tigers are in trouble, a long way away from the No. 18 ranking they held after the first two weeks of the season.

Either way, one thing is certain: At this time a little over a week from now, the Tigers and the Bobcats — despite their shared feline heritage — will not be very fond of each other.