PHT’s Frozen Four preview

By Joe YerdonApr 10, 2013, 3:00 PM EDT

This year’s Frozen Four in Pittsburgh offers up one of the great storylines for all the teams involved. One way or another, someone is going to win their first national championship in hockey.

For three out of the four schools (UMass-Lowell, Quinnipiac, St. Cloud State), it’s their first trip to the Frozen Four. Yale hasn’t made the national semifinals since 1952.

Thursday’s first semifinal matchup provides quite the contrast in styles. Hockey East champions UMass-Lowell bank on dogged defending and the play of budding superstar freshman goalie Connor Hellebuyck to lead them to glory. They’ve got some scorers in Scott Wilson, a Penguins prospect, as well as Joseph Pendenza, Derek Arnold, and Riley Wetmore. Make no mistake, if Lowell is going to win it all, it’ll be because of Hellebuyck.

Yale, on the other hand, loves to push play and use their speed to their advantage. Newly acquired Flames prospect Kenny Agostino (part of the Jarome Iginla deal) leads the way for them in scoring and has great support in a pair of seniors, Andrew Miller and Antoine Laganiere. Coach Keith Allain has helped Yale to become a consistent tournament team, but he’ll need senior goalie Jeff Malcolm to bring his “A” game to take out Lowell, something he’s done already in helping the Bulldogs upset Minnesota and North Dakota.

In the late game, Quinnipiac facing St. Cloud shows off a pair of regular season champions looking to prove that winning over the long haul of the season pays dividends.

Quinnipiac has done their business all year thanks to a lineup that features 11 seniors. Making a run at the title is a heck of a way to go out with style. Goalie Eric Hartzell is a Hobey Baker finalist and the key to their season. The Bobcats have a host of talent up front in Lightning prospect Matthew Peca (not related to former Sabres/Islanders center Michael), Jets prospect Jordan Samuels-Thomas, senior Jeremy Langlois (pictured), and the super-twins Connor and Kellen Jones (the latter an Oilers prospect).

St. Cloud does things a bit differently. The bulk of their talent is made up of underclassmen with the lone exception being Hobey Baker finalist Drew LeBlanc. Junior and Kings prospect Nic Dowd has been a big time tournament player for them, but it’s a crew of freshmen that help steal the show. Jonny Brodzinski, Kalle Kossila, and Joey Benik have been big in the postseason. Senior and Flames prospect Ben Hanowski has stepped up big himself since being part of the Iginla deal.

If sophomore Ryan Farragher can keep holding things down in goal and silence the Quinnipiac attack, things are looking up for the Huskies.

Predictions: It’s impossible to pick against Connor Hellebuyck at this point. He and Lowell have been too strong. I like Lowell to take down Yale and then St. Cloud in the finals to win their first national championship.

Tonight on NBCSN: No. 12 Yale battles rival Harvard

By Joe YerdonJan 18, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT

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The Crimson look to pull another surprise on NBCSN, this time against an ancient rival in Yale.

No. 12 Yale Bulldogs (9-4-3) vs. Harvard Crimson (5-8-1)

When last we saw Harvard, they were busy coming back from a 5-2 deficit against Boston University to take them down in overtime, 6-5. Now that they’re back into the ECAC schedule where the points are crucial, their high from beating BU went away fast after losing to Dartmouth. Harvard is 1-6-1 in their last eight.

Keith Allain’s Yale club isn’t quite the run-and-gun show we’ve seen in the past, but instead have found a nice balance of offense and defense. In the past, goaltending has hurt them but senior Jeff Malcolm has been steady leading the Bulldogs to a 3-1-2 record in their last six. That loss was a stunning 5-4 decision to Holy Cross in which they were down 5-2 at one point.

NHL prospects to watch

For Yale, the big one to keep an eye on is the team’s leading scorer, junior forward Kenny Agostino. The Penguins prospect has 9 goals and 12 assists on the year and he’s just one goal behind undrafted senior Antoine Laganiere. Others to watch: Gus Young (JR – D – Colorado), Rob O’Gara (FR – D – Boston)

The Crimson’s Alex Fallstrom (SR – F – Boston) now leads the team in points with 10. Team USA WJC gold medalist Jimmy Vesey (FR – F – Nashville) is one guy who can help spark the offense now that he’s back. Undrafted sophomore forward Tommy O’Regan showed he’s got some jump against BU.

Others: Colin Blackwell (SO – F – San Jose), Brian Hart (FR – F – Tampa Bay), Danny Biega (SR – D – Carolina), Patrick McNally (SO – D – Vancouver), Petr Placek (SO – F – Philadelphia)

(Photo: Yale Daily News)

Tonight on NBCSN: Historic rivals Harvard and Yale face off

By Joe YerdonJan 27, 2012, 5:00 AM EDT

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There aren’t many rivalries in collegiate sports that go back as far in history as Yale and Harvard do. When these two Ivy League rivals get together tonight at Harvard’s Bright Center (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) it’s a battle between two schools jockeying for better positioning in the ECAC.

For Yale coach Keith Allain’s squad, they’ve gone from former NCAA tournament top seeds last year to falling on hard times in conference this season (5-6-1 in conference, 8-9-2 overall).

Senior captain Brian O’Neill is leading the way in scoring with 12 goals and 10 assists, but highly touted sophomore and Penguins draft pick Kenny Agostino is there as well to try and keep the Bulldogs’ once high-powered offense clicking.

Goalie Jeff Malcolm is doing his part in keeping Yale in most games, but his record this season is .500. Last weekend Yale was swept by Union and RPI while scoring just two goals on the weekend. That kind of offense won’t cut it against Harvard, especially since the Crimson are apt to giving up goals.

Harvard coach, and former Boston Bruin, Ted Donato comes in with a roster loaded with NHL draftees but a team that’s struggling (3-4-6 in conference, 4-6-8 overall).

Lightning prospect and forward Alex Killorn leads the way as Mr. Everything with 11 goals and 12 assists. Killorn teams up with scoring defensemen Danny Biega (Carolina) and Patrick McNally (Vancouver) while forwards Marshall Everson and Alex Fallstrom (Boston) help score goals.

One area that needs work for the Crimson is in goal. Freshman Stephen Michalek (Minnesota) has been thrown to the wolves in Cambridge and is doing his part to keep Harvard winning (or at least tying). Harvard has done well to stay in games, however, something Donato says he appreciates seeing and provides character to his team.

What to watch for: Power plays. Both Harvard and Yale make their living on the man advantage. Harvard has been burying teams on the power play scoring at a 33.8% rate while Yale is putting pucks in the net 23.6% of the time.

26 of Harvard’s 54 goals this season have come on the power play and Killorn has seven of them. Meanwhile, Yale has 21 power play goals and O’Neill has eight of them. Taking penalties could mean taking a loss in this game.

(Agostino photo: Brianne Bowen – Yale Daily News)

(Killorn photo: Gil Talbot – Harvard)