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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Hockey Bound for Minneapolis for NCAA Tournament
March 25, 2009 | Men's Ice Hockey
NCAA FIrst Round
Princeton vs. Minnesota-Duluth
GAMETIME: Friday, March 27 at 9 p.m. ET
2008-09 RECORDS: Princeton (22-11-1, 14-8-0 ECAC); Minnesota-Duluth (21-12-8, 10-11-7 WCHA)
SERIES RECORD: Series Tied 1-1-0
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This Week's Storylines
Tourney Time
The Princeton men's hockey team is making its third appearance in the NCAA Hockey Tournament and its second in a row this weekend when it heads to the West Regional to take on Minnesota-Duluth. Denver and Miami will meet in the other game at the Regional, with the two winners playing for a Frozen Four berth on Saturday night.
The Road to Minneapolis
Princeton received its first-ever at-large berth to the NCAA tournament by finishing the season ranked 12th in the Pairwise Rankings. The Tigers were one of 10 at-large teams selected to the tournament field. Princeton sealed its fate with a 2-2 tie against St. Lawrence in the ECAC consolation game on Saturday in Albany.
Tough Weekend
Princeton played 155:54 of hockey last weekend in Albany and never actually played when trailing. Princeton did not trail in the semifinal against Cornell, but dropped the game in double overtime. The following day Princeton had two one-goal leads but St. Lawrence forged the tie.
On to the NCAAs
Princeton has made two NCAA Tournament appearances, the first coming in 1998 and the second 10 years later in 2008. Princeton is 0-2 in those games, falling to eventual National Champion Michigan 2-1 in 1998 and Frozen Four semifinalist North Dakota 5-1 last season.
The Score is Deceiving
Princeton fell to North Dakota 5-1 last season, but the game was much closer than the score showed. Princeton trailed 2-0 midway through the third before the gap widened late with a couple of empty-net goals. Princeton actually outshot the Sioux 39-18.
Fourth in the Tourney
Princeton and St. Lawrence tied the consolation game but the Saints won a shootout to officially finish third, relegating the Tigers to fourth. Said Princeton's Dan Bartlett of the result, “It definitely feels better than I thought a fourth-place finish would feel in this tournament.”
Third-Place ECAC RS Finish
Princeton's third-place finish in the league standings marked Princeton's second straight season finishing in the top third of the ECAC standings. Princeton was second a season ago. Prior to that, a fourth place in 1999 was Princeton's best league finish.
First Round Bye
Princeton secured a first-round bye when it swept Brown and Yale on Feb. 20 and 21 at Hobey Baker Rink. It marked the second-straight bye for the Tigers and their second overall since the ECAC adopted the current playoff format for the 2002-03 season.
22 Wins
Princeton recorded its 22nd win of the year Sunday against Union, setting a new program record for wins in a season. Princeton has now won 20 or more games on three occasions. The 1999 Tigers won 20 times and last year's team had 21 wins. This year the Tigers won 20 regular season games, which is also a program record.
Trending Up
Princeton has increased upon its win total in each of the past six seasons. After a three-win season in 2002-03, the Tigers won five games in 2003-04, eight games in 2004-05, 10 games in 2005-06, 15 games in 2006-07, 21 games a season ago and now 22 in the 2008-09 season.
ECAC Wins
Princeton went 14-8 in its ECAC Hockey schedule to record the same record for the second year in a row. The 14 wins and 28 points tie Princeton's regular season highs set last season.
Polling Place
Princeton ranks 10th in the USCHO.com Poll and 11th in the USA Today Poll. The Tigers have been ranked as high as fifth this season, which is the all-time high for the program. All four teams playing this week are nationally ranked with Denver at No. 4, Minnesota-Duluth at No. 8 and Miami at No. 14/13.
ECAC Tournament Recap
Union QF Game 1
Mark Magnowski and Lee Jubinville each scored in the first 10 minutes of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and lift Princeton to a 3-2 win in Game 1 of the quarterfinals. Union scored the game's first and last goals, but the Tigers scored the middle three for the win.
Union QF Game 2
Union took advantage of a series of Tiger miscues early on to build a lead in a 5-2 win in Game 2. The Dutchmen led 2-0 10 minutes into the game and never looked back. Dan Bartlett scored both goals in the loss for Princeton, which moved within two goals last in the third period but could not draw any closer.
Union QF Game 3
Princeton jumped on Union in the decisive third game by scoring three goals in the first seven minutes to build a 3-0 lead. All three goals came with the Tigers skating with four players on the ice as the first two were scored skating four-on-four and the third was shorthanded. Brett Wilson, Dan Bartlett and Lee Jubinville provided the scoring and Zane Kalemba made 38 saves in goal.
Cornell SF
Following a scoreless first period, the Tigers came alive with two goals in the middle period. Sam Sabky opened the scoring, but Cornell evened the score at 1-1. Dan Bartlett continued his strong tournament with a goal to make it 2-1 Princeton after two. Cam MacIntyre made it 3-1 as he recorded his third point of the game, but Cornell rallied late to tie it and eventually won in double-overtime. The game last 89:54 and is the longest in Princeton history.
St. Lawrence Conso
Princeton again never trailed as the Tigers took lead of 1-0 and 2-1 with both goals coming from Bartlett. St. Lawrence evened the game at 2-2 early in the third period and that's where it ended. Bartlett finished his ECAC Tourney run with seven goals and an assist in eight games and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Year End Honors
ECAC Player and Goalie of the Year
Zane Kalemba became the second Tiger in a row to be honored as the ECAC Player of the Year. He is also just the second Tiger to ever receive the award joining 2008 winner Lee Jubinville. He also was named Princeton's first winner of the Ken Dryden Award as the league's top goaltender and became the first Princeton goalie to ever be named to an all-league team as he was a first-team All-ECAC choice.
Ivy Player of the Year
Zane Kalemba became the second Tiger in a row to be honored as the Ivy League Player of the Year. He joins 1989 winner John Messuri and 2008 winner Lee Jubinville as Princeton's three Ivy League Players of the Year in men's hockey.
Hobey Candidate
Zane Kalemba, who plays his home games in Hobey Baker Rink and has Hobey's face on his goalie mask, was named a Hobey Baker Candidate. The junior is the second straight Hobey Baker Candidate from Princeton.
All-League
Juniors Zane Kalemba and Jody Pederson were both named first-team All-Ivy to give Princeton two first-team selections for the second year in a row. Kalemba became the first Princeton goalie to earn first-team honors since Ron Dennis in 1981. Pederson was also a third-team All-ECAC choice. Senior Brett Wilson received second-team All-Ivy honors for the second time in his career.
Upcoming Opponents
Princeton vs. Minnesota-Duluth
Princeton and Minnesota-Duluth have a limited history, meeting just two times in the 1980-81 season with the teams splitting a series in Duluth.
Scouting the Bulldogs
One of the hottest teams in the nation, UMD enters the weekend on quite a roll. The Bulldogs finished seventh in the WCHA regular season standings, then swept fourth-seeded Colorado College in the first round of the playoffs. That sent UMD to the WCHA Final Five, where they won three straight games, topping Minnesota, North Dakota and Denver to claim the WCHA tournament title. UMD is 21-12-8 overall and was 10-11-7 in the WCHA regular season.
Common Opponents
Princeton and UMD shared just one common opponent this season. That opponent was Minnesota State. Princeton topped the Mavericks 5-2 at home, while the Bulldogs took two from the Mavericks at home by scores of 4-0 and 7-4.
Princeton vs. Denver
Princeton is 2-2 all-time against Denver with all four meetings taking place in Denver. The last two meetings, in 1993 and 2005, came in the opening round of the Denver Cup. Princeton took the 2005 meeting by a 4-1 score. Three current Tigers played in that game, with Lee Jubinville scoring in the win.
Scouting the Pioneers
Denver enters the NCAA tournament as a top seed in the region. The Pioneers finished second in the WCHA regular season and were also the runners up in the tournament with the loss to UMD. Denver is 23-11-5 overall and went 16-8-4 in the WCHA regular season.
Common Opponents
Princeton and Denver had two common opponents this season in Colgate and Minnesota State, and both went 3-0 against the pair. Princeton took two from Colgate and one from Minnesota State, while Denver swept Minnesota State and won a single meeting against Colgate.
Princeton vs. Miami
Princeton is 1-1 all-time against Miami with both games being played at neutral sites during in season tournaments. Princeton defeated Miami in Cincinnati in 1986 and the Redhawks topped the Tigers in 2003 in Minneapolis.
Scouting the Redhawks
Miami finished third in the CCHA regular season but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Northern Michigan in three games. The Redhawks are 20-12-5 overall and went 17-7-4 in the CCHA regular season.
Common Opponents
Princeton and Miami played games against three common opponents with Princeton going 4-1 to Miami's 3-1-1. Princeton had two wins over Clarkson, a win over Nebraska-Omaha and split two games with Rensselaer. Miami dropped one to Clarkson, had a win and a tie against UNO and swept Rensselaer.
Team Notes
Against Ranked Teams
Princeton is 5-4-1 against ranked teams with wins over Northeastern (#4), Minnesota State (#17), Nebraska-Omaha (#16), Cornell (#5) and Yale (#7), losses to Cornell (#17, #9), Dartmouth (#20) and Yale (#18), and a tie with St. Lawrence (#14). Princeton is 3-1 against teams ranked in the Top 10 and the Tigers will play two games against ranked teams this weekend.
Balanced Attack
Princeton has gotten contributions from all lines this season as 19 skaters have contributed at least a point, with 18 scoring goals, and 13 Tigers have reached double digits. Brett Wilson, Lee Jubinville and Dan Bartlett all have more than 20 points this season. Princeton had four 20-point players a season ago.
Fire Away
Princeton currently ranks first in the nation in shots on goal per game with an average of 38.00 shots per game this season. Yale ranks second with 36.03 and Air Force, Wisconsin and Miami round out the top five. Princeton has had 40 or more shots in 17 of 34 games played this season.
Strong Team Defense
Princeton is ranked in the top five in the nation in scoring defense. The Tigers have allowed a goal or less in 18 games this season and currently rank fifth in goals against at 2.03 goals per game. Notre Dame (1.64), Alaska (1.74), Boston University (1.95) and Cornell (2.00) rank ahead of Princeton's 2.03 goals-against per game.
Most Disciplined
The Tigers are the least penalized team in the nation, averaging just over five minors per game at 10.6 minutes Providence is the second-least penalized teams with 10.9 penalty minutes per game and is the only other team under 11 minutes per game.
Home and Away
Princeton is 12-6 this season at home, 9-3 on the road and 1-2-1 at neutral sites.
Offense From the Back
Three of Princeton's top 12 scorers are defensemen as Jody Pederson, Matt Godlewski and Taylor Fedun have eclipsed 14 points. The Tigers have gotten 71 points from defensemen this year for an average of 2.09 points per game, which ranks 15th among all teams in the nation.
Fit to Be Untied
Princeton saw its stretch of 81 games without a tie end in the consolation game of the ECAC tournament. Princeton went without a tie last season and last tied a game since Feb. 2, 2007 at Brown. Princeton had only been to overtime twice in the past two years before the weekend, both wins this season against Colgate. Princeton went 97 games without a tie from 1970 to 1974.
Non-Conference Wrap
Princeton finished its non-league regular season schedule with a 6-1 record. Princeton played at least one team from each Division I conference and picked up wins over Brown, Northeastern, Quinnipiac, Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha and Robert Morris.
Even or Ahead
Princeton has been even or ahead on the scoreboard for 78.8% of the minutes played this season. The Tigers have only trailed for 447:05 all season and have been behind in 14 of the 34 games played.
Ironmen
Princeton has had 12 skaters appear in every game this season. Last season, there was not one player that played in every game.
Game Winners
With his game-winning goal against Robert Morris, Brandan Kushniruk moved atop the category with three this season. That also ranks eighth nationally. Six others?Derrick Pallis, Matt Arhontas, Jody Pederson, Dan Bartlett, Lee Jubinville and Mark Magnowski?have two game winners this season. Fourteen Tigers have netted game winners this year.
On the Horizon
All four teams competing this season in Minneapolis hope to continue their seasons in two weekends at Frozen Four in Washington, D.C.