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Princeton University Athletics
Coming About
January 05, 2001 | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 5, 2001
Princeton, N.J. - Senior Ethan Doyle is not the most imposing player on paper, for he is listed on the Princeton roster at 5'10" and 170 pounds. As anyone associated with Princeton hockey knows, however, his value to the team cannot always be measured in numbers. Doyle lets his play and approach to the game speak for itself.
A coach's dream, he works hard, is one of the team's most solid defenders and is an important leader in the dressing room. Coming into this season Doyle had scored four career shorthanded goals, and while he has not scored one this season, his play on the penalty-kill unit has been exemplary. In fact, Doyle assisted on Tommy Colclough's shorthanded goal against Yale on Nov. 21, which is Princeton's only shorthanded goal of the season.
The line of Doyle, junior Josh Roberts and sophomore George Parros constitues the Tigers' grittiest line, as they are incredible at cycling the puck in the offensive zone. The hard of work of Doyle and his line paid off when it scored the third goal of the contest at New Hampshire to shrink the Wildcats' lead to one goal. While the Tigers did not end up winning the game, Doyle's presence was key, as he tallied two assists in the 6-3 loss to the No.5-ranked team in the country. Doyle's hockey career is not typical of your average Division I player, because he was a rather late bloomer. As an eight-year-old, Doyle learned how to skate in his hometown of Marblehead, Mass., and did not begin playing hockey until a coach of a local team noticed him on the ice.
"He came over to me and asked if I played hockey, and he was shocked to find out that I didn't," says Doyle, who later joined a local team and has been playing ever since.
Doyle was a standout at the Phillips Andover Academy. During his senior season he was heavily recruited by Boston University coaching legend and good family friend Jack Parker. Boston University, a perennial power in college hockey and the team that every Massachusetts youth dreams about playing for, offered him a full scholarship. The offer was very tempting to Doyle, but he was hoping to attend a school in the Ivy League. Harvard was interested in him, but Doyle decided that Princeton was a better fit.
Don Cahoon, Princeton's head coach during the time of Doyle's recruitment, is another college hockey coach that shares a close relationship with the Doyle family. Both Cahoon and Parker were sailing friends of the Doyles, who are an extremely talented sailing family.
Before attending Phillips Andover Academy, Doyle was the most valuable player at Marblehead High School and broke Cahoon's Marblehead freshman scoring record.
"I knew Coach Cahoon my whole life, and I knew that he would be honest with me as a player and person in college," comments Doyle, who also viewed Princeton's academic stature as an important factor in selecting his college. "I could see that Coach Cahoon was building something special here at Princeton, and I felt like Harvard's program did not look like it was going to become much better anytime soon," adds Doyle.
Doyle, who will graduate with a degree in political economics this May, has enjoyed his experience at Old Nassau, and he believes that the rigorous academic and athletic schedules that Ivy Leaguers face will help him after his college days. Doyle has a job offer from a well-known firm in the banking industry, but he plans on taking a few months off after graduation to sail professionally and decide what career path to take.
Doyle's father, Robert sailed on Ted Turner's victorious America's Cup crew in the 1980s, and Ethan plans on sailing in a regatta in London shortly after gradu ation. When this regatta concludes, Doyle plans on sailing in the Mediterranean Sea for a couple of months while he tries to determine whether he would have a legitimate chance of sailing professionally.
Both sailing and hockey demand that the participant must be able to handle adversity, and one has to be intelligent in their approach to both sports to be successful. While some may not see nor understand the comparison between these two sports, Doyle has shown an ability to carry over lessens learned in each hobby. A sailer has to adapt to the wind conditions, water current and several other nautical variables, which helps to explain how Doyle has managed to get so much out of his smallish physical frame.
Doyle sees a lot of himself in freshman Tommy Colclough, who is 5' 10" 184 pounds and also hails from Massachusetts.
"Tommy is an excellent penalty killer and is blessed with tremendous offensive skills. What is most impressive about him, however, is his ability to get to loose pucks, which shows that he plays with great intensity, desire and courage.
Tiger Coach Len Quesnelle would be overjoyed if Colclough could equal Doyle's accomplishments.
by Geoff Loose