Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey

Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey
Current season
Princeton Tigers athletic logo
UniversityPrinceton University
ConferenceECAC Hockey
First season1899–1900
Head coachBen Syer
1st season, 0–0–0
ArenaHobey Baker Memorial Rink
Princeton, New Jersey
ColorsBlack and orange[1]
   
NCAA Tournament appearances
1998, 2008, 2009, 2018
Conference Tournament championships
1998, 2008, 2018

The Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Princeton University. The Tigers are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink in Princeton, New Jersey.[2] In 1999, future NHL player Jeff Halpern scored 22 goals to tie for the most goals in the ECAC and was co-winner of Princeton's Roper Trophy for athletic and academic achievement.[3] In 2010–11, Andrew Calof was ECAC Rookie of the Year.

History

Princeton University ice hockey team in 1906–07 season. Players from top row to bottom row, left to right: Charles Coxe, Josh Brush, Chester Levis, Philip Chew, Jay Zahniser, John Chislett, Ralph Osborne and Harral Tenney.

Princeton University had an ice hockey team organized already during the 1894–95 season, when the school still went by the name of College of New Jersey. On March 3, 1895 the university ice hockey team faced a Baltimore aggregation at the North Avenue Ice Palace in Baltimore, Maryland and won by a score of 5–0. The players on the 1895 team were Chester Derr, John Brooks, Howard Colby, James Blair, Frederick Allen, Ralph Hoagland and Art Wheeler.[4]

For the 1899–1900 season the Princeton University ice hockey team became a member of the Intercollegiate Hockey League (ICHL) where they played organized league games against other Ivy League school teams such as Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Yale.

Princeton's most famous ice hockey player Hobey Baker (1892–1918) played for the school team between 1911 and 1914, before he graduated and went on to play for the New York City based St. Nicholas Hockey Club.

As many college programs did, Princeton's ice hockey squad suspended operations for the 1917–18 season due to the United States entering World War I but the icers returned after the armistice was signed. A few years later the Tigers hired their first head coach, Russell O. Ellis, but they would go through several more before they could find someone to lead the program for more than a few years. Despite the tumult behind the bench Princeton was still producing some of the best teams in college hockey, setting a program record of 15 wins that would stand for 76 years.

In the midst of the Great Depression Richard Vaughan came to Princeton and would helm the team for the next quarter-century. Vaughan would keep the Tigers competitive through much of his tenure and his 159 wins remains a program high 60 years after his retirement. Princeton found it difficult to replace Vaughan, going through 5 coaches in 18 years while producing only two winning records in that time. The team's nadir came under Bill Quackenbush who, despite ending up in the Hall of Fame as a player, was the program's worst coach as far as records go. Quackenbush's tenure began well with Princeton making the ECAC tournament for the first time, but the following season the team slid to 16th in the conference and would not win more than 5 games a year for the next 5 seasons. Quackenbush remained with the program even after a 1–22 season but resigned in 1973 with the Tigers an afterthought in ECAC Hockey. Princeton would not play another postseason game until 1985, the year after 7 teams left to form Hockey East, and they would not win a playoff game until 1992 under first-year head coach Don Cahoon.

Coach Ben Syer and players in 2024

During Cahoon's time at Princeton the program recovered from decades as a bottom-feeder and in 1995 produced their first winning season in 27 years. Three seasons later the Tigers won their first conference tournament and made the NCAA tournament for the first time. After Cahoon left to head Massachusetts in 2000, he was replaced by long-time assistant Len Quesnelle but after four years the team was back at the bottom of the conference and he was swiftly replaced by Guy Gadowsky.

It took Gadowsky a few years to get the Tigers back on their feet but he led the team to its second conference championship in 2008, setting a program high with 21 wins that he bested by 1 the following year. Two years later Gadowsky left and was replaced by Bob Prier but just as had happened with Cahoon, the successor did not last long and after a dismal third season Ron Fogarty was hired as the 17th head coach in program history. As of 2019 Fogarty's best season came in 2018 when he led an underdog Tigers squad to their 3rd conference title.

Lineup of Princeton Tigers players
2023-2024 Princeton Tigers at Brown's Meehan Auditorium

Season-by-season results

Records vs. Current ECAC Hockey Teams

As of the completion of 2018–19 season

School Team Away Arena Overall record Win % Home Away Last Result
Brown University Bears Meehan Auditorium 72–90–11 .448 35–39–6 33–46–6 5-6 L (3OT)
Clarkson University Golden Knights Cheel Arena 34–84–7 .300 24–35–5 6–45–1 1-1 T
Colgate University Raiders Class of 1965 Arena 48–59–8 .452 28–26–6 15–32–2 3-4 L
Cornell University Big Red Lynah Rink 53–91–8 .375 25–39–6 16–50–2 2-3 L
Dartmouth College Big Green Thompson Arena 89–104–16 .464 45–44–8 34–46–8 0-5 L
Harvard University Crimson Bright-Landry Hockey Center 58–158–12 .281 27–60–5 18–75–6 4-2 W
Quinnipiac University Bobcats People's United Center 12–17–1 .417 4–10–1 8–7–0 3-6 L
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers Houston Field House 37–69–11 .363 19–26–5 18–40–6 2-6 L
St. Lawrence University Saints Appleton Arena 25–70–11 .288 16–33–5 9–36–4 5-3 W
Union College Dutchmen Achilles Rink 25–36–7 .419 16–15–3 8–21–4 2-3 L
Yale University Bulldogs Ingalls Rink 109–141–11 .439 51–47–4 32–69–3 3-2 W

All-time coaching records

Coaches
Head coach Ben Syer
Assistant Connor Jones

As of completion of 2023–24 season[5]

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1899–1917, 1918–1920 No Coach 20 103–87–6 .541
1920–1921 Russell O. Ellis 1 4–4–0 .500
1921–1922 Moylan McDonnell 1 3–6–1 .350
1922–1924 Chippy Gaw 2 24–11–1 .681
1924–1927 Beattie Ramsay 3 20–25–1 .446
1927–1933 Lloyd Neidlinger 6 71–31–3 .690
1933–1935 Frank Fredrickson 2 15–18–0 .455
1935–1943, 1945–1959 Richard Vaughan 22 159–211–14 .432
1959–1965 R. Norman Wood 6 49–88–1 .359
1965–1967 Johnny Wilson 2 14–27–1 .345
1967–1973 Bill Quackenbush 6 34–104–2 .250
1973–1977 Jack Semler 4 25–66–5 .286
1977–1991 Jim Higgins 14 130–219–21 .380
1991–2000 Don Cahoon 9 122–129–32 .488
2000–2004 Len Quesnelle 4 29–84–11 .278
2004–2011 Guy Gadowsky 7 105–109–15 .491
2011–2014 Bob Prier 3 25–58–12 .326
2014–2024 Ron Fogarty 9 90–169–27 .362
2024–present Ben Syer 1 0–0–0
Totals 17 coaches 121 Seasons 1,022–1,446–153 .419

Statistical leaders

The team's statistical leaders are as follows.[6]

Career points leaders

Player Years GP G A Pts PIM
John Messuri 1985–1989 110 60 118 178
Ryan Kuffner 2015–2019 132 75 77 152
Andre Faust 1988–1992 106 62 88 150
Max Véronneau 2015–2019 130 52 92 144
Jeff Halpern 1995–1999 132 60 82 142
John Cook 1960–1963 67 65 132
Andrew Calof 2010–2014 117 44 79 123
Greg Polaski 1986–1990 96 64 57 121
Scott Bertoli 1995–1999 130 41 77 118
John McBride 1957–1960 60 57 117

Career Goaltending Leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 30 games

Player Years GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA
Robert O'Connor 1947–1949 34 2.38
Zane Kalemba 2006–2010 108 6267 57 44 5 257 9 .912 2.46
Mike Condon 2009–2013 53 2969 18 22 8 288 3 .917 2.67
Sean Bonar 2010–2014 63 3457 17 33 6 182 2 .898 2.84
Erasmo Saltarelli 1994–1998 76 3975 29 24 11 196 5 .896 2.94

Statistics current through the start of the 2019–20 season.

Roster

As of September 6, 2024.[7]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Connecticut Arthur Smith Sophomore G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2004-04-30 Farmington, Connecticut Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)
3 New Jersey Pat Reilly Freshman D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 2004-09-27 Avon, New Jersey Coquitlam Express (BCHL)
4 New York (state) David Ma Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-06-22 Yonkers, New York Chicago Steel (USHL)
6 Ontario Ian Devlin Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2002-01-07 Toronto, Ontario Coquitlam Express (BCHL)
7 British Columbia Kai Daniells Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-03-07 Whistler, British Columbia Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)
8 Massachusetts Tyler Rubin Junior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2003-01-10 Natick, Massachusetts West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)
10 New Jersey Alex Konovalov Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2000-11-12 Basking Ridge, New Jersey Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)
11 Pennsylvania Jayden Sison Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-01-27 Paoli, Pennsylvania Coquitlam Express (BCHL)
12 New York (state) Jake Manfre Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 2004-04-22 Smithtown, New York Coquitlam Express (BCHL)
13 Massachusetts Drew Garzone Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2004-05-30 Dover, Massachusetts Coquitlam Express (BCHL)
14 Manitoba Carson Buydens Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2004-03-10 Gladstone, Manitoba North Iowa Bulls (BCHL)
15 Ontario Julian Facchinelli Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 2004-07-04 Woodbridge, Ontario Vernon Vipers (BCHL)
16 Massachusetts Brendan Gorman Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2003-02-17 Arlington, Massachusetts St. Sebastian's (USHS–MA)
17 Maryland Miles Gunty Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2004-02-21 Bethesda, Maryland Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
18 New Jersey Joshua Karnish Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2003-08-07 Marlton, New Jersey Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)
19 Massachusetts Jack Cronin Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-03-31 South Hamilton, Massachusetts Minnesota Magicians (NAHL)
20 Saskatchewan Kevin Anderson Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2003-09-15 Regina, Saskatchewan Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)
21 New York (state) Michael Young Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-08-28 Kings Park, New York New Jersey Jr. Titans (NAHL)
22 Quebec Noah de la Durantaye Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2000-05-27 Montreal, Quebec Coquitlam Express (BCHL)
23 Ontario Kai Greaves Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2003-03-04 Cambridge, Ontario Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL)
24 Massachusetts David Jacobs Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-09-26 Needham, Massachusetts Cowichan Valley Capitals (BCHL)
25 Connecticut Nick Marciano Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2002-05-19 Greenwich, Connecticut Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL)
26 British Columbia Luc Pelletier Freshman F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2003-09-07 Courtenay, British Columbia Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)
27 Wisconsin Jaxson Ezman Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-12-22 Middleton, Wisconsin Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
28 British Columbia Brendan Wang Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-02-08 Burnaby, British Columbia Fort McMurray Oil Barons (AJHL)
30 New Jersey Conor Callaghan Sophomore G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-03-02 Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
31 New Brunswick Ethan Pearson Senior G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-07-30 Fredericton, New Brunswick Mount St. Charles (USHS–RI)

Awards and honors

NCAA

All-Americans

AHCA First Team All-Americans

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

ECAC Hockey

Individual awards

All-Conference

First Team All-ECAC Hockey

Second Team All-ECAC Hockey

Third Team All-ECAC Hockey

ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team

Olympians

This is a list of Princeton alumni who have played on an Olympic team.[10]

Name Position Princeton Tenure Team Year Finish
Gerard Hallock Defenseman 1923–1926 United States USA 1932  Silver
Robert Livingston Defenseman 1928–1931 United States USA 1932  Silver
Fred Kammer Right Wing 1931–1934 United States USA 1936  Bronze
Malcolm McAlpin Center 1930–1932 United States USA 1936  Bronze
Christopher Rodgers Goaltender 1941–1942 United States USA 1948 DQ
Jim Sloane Right Wing 1940–1943 United States USA 1948 DQ

† denotes the AAU team that marched in the opening ceremony but did not participate.

Tigers in the NHL

As of July 1, 2024.

= NHL All-Star team = NHL All-Star[11] = NHL All-Star[11] and NHL All-Star team = Hall of Famers

† Jeff Halpern won a Stanley Cup as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

Source:[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Logo & Brand Assets | Princeton University Office of Communications". Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  2. ^ "USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online :: Princeton Tigers Men's Hockey". Archived from the original on 2007-10-24.
  3. ^ Jeff Halpern
  4. ^ The Baltimore Sun, March 4, 1895, pg. 7
  5. ^ "Men's Hockey Coaching History". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  6. ^ "Men's Hockey Individual Records". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  7. ^ "2022–23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "Legends of Hockey". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  9. ^ "United States Hockey Hall of Fame". Hockey Central.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  10. ^ "Men's Hockey National Team Members". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.
  12. ^ "Alumni report for Princeton University". Hockey DB. Retrieved August 3, 2019.