Men's Hockey: Second half brings chance for redemption

The January exam period often slows the momentum of Princeton’s winter sports teams by creating a two-week gap in the season while other Ivy League teams continue their normal practice schedules. For the men’s hockey team, this year’s exam period is providing some much-needed rest and recovery time.

“This exam period is a little different than the past few years,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “We have been looking forward to this one. We just need some time to get healthy. We can’t even fill a full lineup.”

Princeton (6-10-2 overall, 3-8-1 ECAC Hockey) returns to the ice on Jan. 25 with a game against Connecticut (2-15-3) at Baker Rink. The following weekend, the Tigers travel north for a pair of league games against Harvard (3-5-2, 3-10-2) and Dartmouth (2-7-0, 4-11-0).

With three straight games against teams with losing records, Princeton has an opportunity to start the second half of its season on a positive note.

“If we can keep our heads above water, this experience can be a positive building one for the team,” Gadowsky said.

In its final three games before exams, Princeton played without its three senior captains: forward Kevin Kaiser, forward Cam MacIntyre and defenseman Jody Pederson. The Tigers did not have enough players in any of those games to make four full lines on offense, making it difficult for the team to play its customary brand of high-intensity, fast-paced hockey.

Despite multi-goal losses in the team’s final two games, Gadowsky stressed the Tigers’ continued strong effort in the face of adversity.

“The wins that we’ve had with the lineup that we’ve had [have] been tremendous,” Gadowsky said. “It gives us confidence as a team and allows individuals to play in roles that they might not have had. I’m hoping that when we come back healthy, it’s a benefit in the long run.”

Princeton hopes to have its entire lineup together so that the team can build cohesion as the stretch run of the season approaches.

“Our immediate goal is to obviously get healthy. When we do that, we hope to play the highest level hockey that we can,” Gadowsky said. “We do have a little catching up to do. There are going to be new players in our lineup that we haven’t seen all year and new lines that we haven’t been able to put together.”

For much of the season, junior forward Mike Kramer and senior forward Dan Bartlett have led the team’s offensive attack. Kramer currently has 14 points and is tied for the team lead with seven assists. Bartlett leads the team and is tied for second in the ECAC with 12 goals.

“Mike Kramer ... has really expanded his roles and is playing fantastic two-way hockey. Bartlett is also putting up points and playing great,” Gadowsky said. “Mike Kramer has been one of our best players from a defensive and offensive standpoint.”

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The Tigers also hope that a healthy Pederson will add depth to one of the most experienced defensive units in the ECAC. As this unit grows healthy, it will make the jobs of senior goaltender Zane Kalemba and junior goaltender Alan Reynolds less stressful. In losses to Union and Rensselaer, both goalies faced a number of challenging shots, and Princeton allowed 11 goals in the two games.

“Hopefully, we’ll get healthy and be able to play better hockey, and that’s going to be better for all our goaltenders. Certainly, Zane has felt the brunt of us not being healthy,” Gadowsky said. “[Our goaltenders have] played well in parts and showed us that all three of them are capable. We certainly have loads of confidence in Zane and expect that when we get healthy, that will certainly be indicated in his game as well.”

Princeton will look to take advantage of all three of its opportunities to improve its record before returning to school for the second semester.

“Our goal is to become healthy and put our team together so that we’re ready for the stretch run,” Gadowsky said. “Our team will have a lot of confidence so that when we’re ready, it will make a lot of noise.”