The men’s hockey team is coming off two of the most successful seasons in program history, as it claimed the league championship in 2007-08 and an NCAA tournament berth in both years.
This season, the Tigers hope to contend for the ECAC Hockey championship again and play deep into March for a third consecutive year. That journey begins in earnest this weekend at Baker Rink when the regular season begins.
Princeton hosted a scrimmage against Morrisville State and an exhibition against Windsor last weekend but will officially begin its season this week against two ECAC rivals: The Tigers host Brown on Friday afternoon and Yale on Saturday night. Each game will be the first of the season for each opponent. Both contests are officially non-conference games, and neither will count in the ECAC league standings.
After eight consecutive losing seasons, the Tigers won the ECAC tournament in 2007-08, defeating Harvard in the finals. Last season, Princeton fell to Cornell in overtime in the ECAC semifinals, but earned an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament. The Tigers were knocked out in the first round by the University of Minnesota-Duluth in heartbreaking fashion, allowing two goals in the final minute of regulation and eventually losing in overtime.
Seventeen current Tigers were on both of those teams. Thanks to their recent success and returning talent, they have high expectations for the coming year. Princeton is ranked ninth in the nation in the most recent USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll, and was predicted to finish third in the league in several media and coaches’ polls.
Princeton’s defense should be strong again this year, anchored by senior goaltender Zane Kalemba. Kalemba was named a preseason All-American by College Hockey News and selected to the writers’ and media All-Conference teams. Kalemba allowed only 1.82 goals per game and posted a .932 save percentage last year, both Princeton records. Senior forward Dan Bartlett, who led the team with 16 goals and 28 points, also returns to give the Tigers some firepower on offense.
“I always feel good around these guys,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “Obviously, we have returning a top goaltender and a ‘D’-core that was here last year. That gives a team confidence, that’s for sure.”
Brown suffered a tumultuous offseason following a 5-23-5 season that also saw a coaching overhaul. Dartmouth assistant and former Bears defenseman Brendan Whittet was hired to replace Roger Grillo, and two assistant coaches were also replaced. Popular expectations are not high for the rebuilding Bears: Both the ECAC coaches and media picked them to finish last in the 12-team league.
“We don’t know a whole lot about [Brown] because they have a new coach, but it doesn’t really change the way we prepare,” junior defenseman Cam Ritchie said. “We’ve been working on playing the same sort of hockey that we’ve played the past couple years. We’re just trying to perfect our game and let the rest take care of itself.”
On Saturday, Yale comes to Princeton for a very highly anticipated showdown. The defending ECAC Hockey champion enters the weekend ranked seventh in the nation. The ECAC Hockey coaches and media both picked the Bulldogs to repeat as league champions, by a narrow margin over Cornell and Princeton.
Yale returns with the league’s most prolific offense. Four Bulldogs accumulated more than 30 points last season, and all will be back in New Haven, Conn., for another year, including first-team all-conference forwards Sean Backman and Mark Arcobello. Yale will, however, have to recover from the loss of star goalie Alec Richards, an all-ECAC selection last year who is now playing for the Rockford IceHogs, the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.
“We can’t look past the Brown game, but the past few years we’ve played Yale in the playoffs, and then last year we had some really good games,” Bartlett said.
The Tigers open their conference schedule at home the following weekend. Princeton plays St. Lawrence (3-2-0) on Nov. 6 at Baker Rink and hosts Clarkson (3-2-0) the next day.
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