.png&width=24&type=webp)
.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Q & A
January 05, 2001 | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 5, 2001
Princeton, N.J. - Describe your early hockey career and how you ended up at Princeton?
I was pretty much just a weekend player until my sophomore year of high school. Since my public school did not have a hockey team, all of my travel hockey teammates would go play for their high school teams during the season and I played junior varsity basketball in eighth and ninth grades during the winter, football in the fall and tennis in the spring. I made the Rochester Junior Americans in the summer before my sophomore year and played their for two years. Then I went to Milton Academy because I knew I wanted to play in the Ivy League and Milton offered a great education and hockey program.
Who was your favorite hockey player growing up?
Ray Borque was by far my favorite player growing up. He is consistent, tough, is a great leader, and he makes the game look effortless.
What is the hardest thing about being a division 1 athlete?
The toughest challenge to being an athlete at Princeton is balancing your time between academics and athletics and knowing how to separate the two. For example, focusing on hockey when you're at the rink and academics when you're in the classroom. Coach Len Quesnelle's ascension to head coach has been a rather smooth transition. what makes him special as a coach?
Len has been a great assistant coach, and there's no question that he has risen to the challenge of being a great head coach as well. He has a much different coaching style than Toot [Don Cahoon, Princeton's coach prior to Quesnelle], which to his credit he did not attempt to modify after he was named head coach. Toot was more of a `rah-rah' type of character, and Len has not tried to become that kind of coach. He understands that he doesn't have to be like Coach Cahoon to be as successful as him.
Another thing that separates Len from other coaches is his patience in letting the team work out problems without prematurely intervening. For example, if multiple mistakes are made in a drill, most coaches blow the whistle and start yelling right away, but Len takes the stance that he won't be able to blow the whistle in a game and relies on upperclassmen to get things going in the right direction, giving the players the same responsibility we would have in the game.
This team is playing well early. What factors can you point to for Princeton's early-season success?
I think the majority of our early success can be attributed to three things: our dilligence in preseason preparation, added depth with the addition of this freshman class and a positive team attitude. We worked extremely hard as a team this off-season and have benefited greatly from our work with strength coaches Matt Fleming and Jason Gallucci. With their help we have increased our strength and stamina as a team, which has put us in a physical position to succeed. Also, the freshmen have shown a high level of maturity so far and great work ethic, so everyone knows that they are fighting for their spot every day. The positive attitude is refusing to become negative after a goal against or bad penalty. A lot of credit goes to the coaches for keeping everyone positive and focused both in the locker room and on the ice.
Break down the freshman defensemen? What are their strengths?
The freshman defensemen are extremely strong this year. Steve Slaton has become an offensive force already as he's playing with a lot of confidence right now, which is great for the team and necessary for a freshman who wants to step right in and play. Matt Maglione has great potetial and is already at a level where he is contributing in his first season.
What is it like to play in front of a goalie like Dave Stathos?
Obviously having a guy like Stats back there makes you more comfortable as a defenseman. He has become a very mature goaltender over the past two years and consistently makes the right play with the puck. When he makes a great save or dives out to cover up a loose puck it automatically makes the defense feel like we owe him one, which inspires us to work that much better to protect our net for him.