QUINNIPIAC MEN’S ICE HOCKEY 2015-16 MEDIA CLIPPINGS 3/30/2016 Sam Anas in position to pass on lessons to younger Quinnipiac teammates

New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Sam Anas in position to pass on lessons to younger Quinnipiac teammates

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Thursday, October 1, 2015

HAMDEN >> His role as a talented and integral part of Quinnipiac’s success the past two seasons is undeniable. Take a national rookie of the year award, 45 goals and two NCAA tournament appearances as verification.

Still, Sam Anas was an underclassman. And like all good underclassmen, he understood much could be learned by observing the example older players, especially franchise­ caliber forwards like Matthew Peca and Kellen and Connor Jones.

“If you’re injured, if you’re tired, if you’re sick, when you’re on the ice you’re on the ice,” Anas said prior to the Bobcats’ Thursday morning practice session. “You can be sick, but once you’re out there, no one cares that you’re sick. As long as you’re working hard on the ice, good things will come your way.”

Anas, as an upperclassman, now finds himself in position to impart some of that acquired wisdom. Quinnipiac’s six­man freshman class can look back to last March to see the Bobcats’ scoring star practices what he preaches.

A sprained knee ligament suffered in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals against Union should have ended Anas’ season. He missed the semifinals in Lake Placid, New York and was doubtful for the NCAA West Regional opener at North Dakota.

The thought of watching from the stands was too much to bear. So, after testing the knee at practice a day earlier, Anas decided to play through the pain. His role was limited early, but when Quinnipiac fell behind he talked his way into more ice time in what would be a North Dakota victory.

“I probably shouldn’t have played, but it was to the point where it wasn’t going make the injury any worse, it was just going to be painful,” Anas said. “At the morning skate, it was up to me and our trainer as to whether I wanted to play. And I wanted to play. That’s just who I am.”

Rest and rehabilitation got Anas through most of the summer.

Eventually, he dropped the knee brace and was at full strength by the time he joined the New York Islanders at their developmental camp in July. He capped the week with two goals at the team’s intra­ squad scrimmage at the Barclays Center.

Anas has NHL aspirations, and should have pro opportunities given his offensive skill. Parts of his game still need polishing. http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151001/SPORTS/151009957&template=printart 1/3 3/30/2016 Sam Anas in position to pass on lessons to younger Quinnipiac teammates “He’s not a defensive liability at all. But he’s an average defensive hockey player,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “He knows if he wants to reach the NHL one day, he needs to get to get where Peca was and become an elite defensive hockey player.”

Peca, recently sent down to the AHL despite shining in his first NHL training camp with the Tampa Bay Lightning, was so good offensively that many overlooked the fact that he was one of the top defensive forwards and penalty killers in the ECAC, much like the Jones’ twins before him.

Quinnipiac, expected to compete for a third straight NCAA bid, won’t be able to replicate Peca’s role with one person this season. The lost offense will likely be spread out among sophomores in larger roles and the freshmen.

Anas, ever the observer, is committed to improving other areas of his game to pick up the slack.

“Defense, skating and some decision­making,” Anas says. “Obviously, I’m an offensive player but there’s time I try and do too much or make the perfect play instead of the simple play. It may not be the flashiest play, but in the end it’s the right play. It’s being a little more mature with the puck, and possessing it more.”

ONE MORE YEAR

Alex Miner­Barron was granted an NCAA waiver and is eligible to play this season. The only catch: he must sit out the season’s first five games. A fourth­year defenseman, he has re­enrolled at Quinnipiac as a graduate student.

Quinnipiac knew it had Miner­Barron for only three seasons when he arrived because he’d made the decision to play five USHL playoff games after turning 21. According to NCAA rules, playing even one Junior hockey league game after one’s 21st birthday costs a full season of college eligibility.

But Quinnipiac filed a waiver claiming Miner­Barron was under duress after receiving a concussion just prior to his decision to compete in the playoffs, a provided medical documentation to support the claim.

The NCAA agreed, docking only the five games he’d played in after turning 21. Miner­Barron can play in Sunday’s exhibition, and will return to the lineup on Oct. 24 against St. Cloud State.

The Glendora, California native, who went by Alex Barron his first three seasons, also requested the school use his legal last name Miner­Barron this season.

NEW FACES

Chris Truehl, starting goaltender at Air Force the past two seasons, joins Quinnipiac this fall as a transfer. So does Kevin Duane, a New Canaan resident and forward who spent the past two seasons at Boston University. Both must sit out this season, per NCAA rules, and will have two years of eligibility starting next fall.

Truehl, from Madison, Wisconsin, was an Atlantic Hockey all­rookie selection as a freshman who won 21 games during his time at Air Force. Duane, at 6­foot­5, 210 pounds, saw playing time dwindle from 32 games to just four last season at BU.

http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151001/SPORTS/151009957&template=printart 2/3 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Quinnipiac At The Forefront Again

October 7, 2015

QUINNIPIAC AT THE FOREFRONT AGAIN

New Season Brings More High Expectations For Talent­Laden Group

Recommend 8 people recommend this.

by Joshua Seguin/Staff Writer

College hockey programs are all built differently. In the ECAC, the differences in the makeup and playing styles of teams makes change at the top of the standings almost inherent. The one constant among all the ebbs and flows in recent years has been Quinnipiac. The Bobcats will look to defend their regular­season championship this season and look to continue the consistency that has been evident since coming into Division I.

"It is great for our University (the constant success)," Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. "Our players take it seriously and they know there is a lot of pressure to succeed and we welcome that pressure. We recruit highly competitive and character kids that enjoy the pressure and want to succeed. Our kids understand that we need to do certain things to win hockey games and they buy into it. That is why we are as good as we are."

The Bobcats have won the ECAC's Cleary Cup, as conference regular season champion, two of the last three seasons. Since joining the ECAC, Quinnipiac now in its 10th season, has finished no lower than ninth. That finish came in its first season Related Articles in the league and it still achieved 20 overall wins, a feat it has achieved in 13 of its 16 D­I seasons. Since that finish, its lowest finish is seventh. In the last four seasons the Bobcats have Quinnipiac finished in the top four.

"It definitely starts with the coaching staff," Quinnipiac captain College Hockey News Soren Jonzzon said. "From a player's perspective, once they get Announces All­CHN Teams here, a lot of it is making them feel part of the team. We try to Thrills and Redemption incorportate everyone into everything we do, on and off the ice. Mental Block There's no real seperation from a freshmen to a junior on this Anas Contributes in Win team."

Matching that success in the ECAC tournaments has often proved elusive. it has yet to win a Whitelaw Cup, and it has bowed out in the semifinals each of the past three seasons, making only one final in 10 years.

Last season, no one expected the Bobcats to be near the top at the end of the season. The success even surprised its coach, as he constantly reminded us that his team was overachieving. The results on the ice didn't match those statements. Quinnipiac ran away with the league in the regular season, but faltered in the tournament.

The Bobcats now return all but two key pieces from that team. They also return consistent goaltender Michael Garteig. His experience gives them advantage that some teams in the ECAC lack. This season will mark the smallest team turnover since making the national championship game in 2013. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2015/10/07_quinnipiac_at_the_forefront.php 1/2 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Quinnipiac At The Forefront Again "We emphasize details," Jonzzon said. "Making sure that we are ready to go and we make sure we are ready for every puck battle in all three zones. When we keep possession of the puck it frustrate teams and it makes us tough to play against, which is what we want."

The success over the past two seasons has come amid the largest roster turnover in the ECAC. This year, on paper, will be the smallest roster turnover for Quinnipiac in the last three years. But Pecknold will need to work his magic to replace arguably the best player he has had at Quinnipiac, Matthew Peca. Peca quietly put together a great season but didn't put up godly goal numbers so was often times missed when talking about the best players in the league. Dan Federico was the other key loss and it will be difficult replacing his 25 minutes/game on the blueline.

"(Peca) was really good," Pecknold said. "He was really undervalued and underestimated by college hockey coaches and media in general. He was one of the best players in the country last year. He was one of the best defensive players we have ever had here. He was a really high­end kid that was a great two way, much in the way of a Steve Yzerman type."

Peca and Federico departing also means that QU will need to replace its two co­captains. This year Jonzzon will captain the Bobcats, with Travis St. Denis and Sam Anas serving as assistants.

"It is a huge honor for me,," Jonzzon said. "Seeing the caliber of guys that have come before me that were captains, just to follow in their footsteps, it is a huge honor. My goal is to keep the culture and the mentality of the team with the new guys coming in."

Looking back on Quinnipiac's success it is easy to find the correlation over the years. Character and will often supercede talent in college athletics, and the Bobcats are a great example.

"I need to give a lot of credit to my assistants for the recruiting," Pecknold said. "I think Reid (Cashman) and Billy (Riga) do a great job. Bill handles the majority of it but they both do it together. We are consistent with it, we know the type of kid and talent level that fits into our system and we also put a lot of time and effort in recruiting character. If you see the success we have, we have a great identity and a great culture here. It is really important that we continue recruiting great character kids in our program."

Each of the last two recruiting classes have included an impact player. Two seasons ago, Sam Anas was the national Rookie of the Year. He burst onto the national scene, scoring 22 goals and 43 points. His contributions continued into his sophomore year, despite the graduation of his two top­tier linemates from that season. Landon Smith was the guy last year that stepped right up to be the top. He was second in the league Rookie of the Year voting, adding 31 points and 15 goals. Quinnipiac has a pipeline to the BCHL that it uses well and that continued this year, with all six playing in that league last season.

"I am always excited, coming into the year," Pecknold said. "I never try and get too high or too low coming into the season because yout don't know what will happen, with injuries and who did what in the offseason. I like where we are and I like our freshmen class. I think it is six good players. I don't know if there is a Sam Anas in there, but we hope that one or two will step up, having huge freshmen years for us."

Whether or not Pecknold finds another Anas in his freshmen class shouldn't matter too much. An experienced goaltender, a talented group of forwards and a skilled defense that has come of age sets an expectation that the Bobcats will continue their successful trend.

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http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2015/10/07_quinnipiac_at_the_forefront.php 2/2 3/30/2016 Sam Anas Putting Together Standout Career For Quinnipiac Hockey ­ Hartford Courant Sports / College Sports Sam Anas Putting Together Standout Career For Quinnipiac Hockey

Sam Anas of the Qunnipiac hockey team. (Nick Caito)

By Mike Anthony • Contact Reporter

OCTOBER 7, 2015, 6:19 PM

AMDEN — Sam Anas, a junior forward on the Quinnipiac hockey team, is putting together one H of the best careers in program history and there are two ways to consider how much of a surprise that is to coach Rand Pecknold.

Pecknold saw potential but didn't set the bar extremely high when he began recruiting Anas, 5­feet­8 and then only 130 pounds, out of Landon (Md.) Prep about five years ago.

But after a couple of standout years with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League, and since making a difference almost immediately upon arriving at Quinnipiac, Anas' development into one of the most dynamic offensive players in college hockey hasn't been a real shock. http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc­quinnipiac­hockey­season­preview­1008­20151007­story.html 1/3 3/30/2016 Sam Anas Putting Together Standout Career For Quinnipiac Hockey ­ Hartford Courant "If you ask me from when he was 18, no question, he's completely exceeded what we thought he would be," Pecknold said. "We thought he could be pretty good but there was a lot of risk when we took him in terms of his size. Then [after two years at Youngstown] we were like, 'Oh, this is looking really good.' At that point we knew we had a top­six forward, a power play guy. But even then, did we think he had a shot at being an All­American?"

Probably not. But Anas, now 165 pounds, keeps upping expectations. He received several national rookie of the year awards after leading Quinnipiac in scoring as a freshman with 43 points (22 goals, 21 assists). Last season as a sophomore, he led the Bobcats with 39 points (23 goals, 16 assists) and was named an AHCA/CCM second­team All­American.

Anas, a left wing, was the perfect compliment on a line with the Jones twins (Connor and Kellen) in 2013­14 and for half of 2014­15 with Matthew Peca, now with the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. He skated on a line centered by Travis St. Denis down the stretch last season, a pairing Pecknold will keep intact this season, which begins Friday at Holy Cross.

"As I get older here at Quinnipiac, I like to think guys would look forward to playing with me one day so I can help them out when they're younger," Anas said. "I want to take on a heavier load this year. Instead of just feeding off my linemates, I want to be able to set the tone."

Quinnipiac was coming off the program­changing season of 2012­13, which ended with a national championship game loss to Yale, when Anas debuted. The Bobcats have returned to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons, losing first­round games to Providence in 2014 and North Dakota in 2015.

"I don't think the goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament every year — that is the expectation," Anas said. "That's a must. This year, I think we really want to win the ECAC [Tournament]. We've never done that, been so close. And then we want to get as far as we can in the NCAA Tournament. And then why not set the goal to win the whole thing, right?"

Quinnipiac, ranked No. 18 in the preseason uscho.com national poll, won ECAC regular season titles in 2013 and 2015 but has lost in the conference semifinals the past three seasons.

"At the end of the day we want to win that tournament just as bad as any," said senior goalie Michael Garteig, who set a program record with seven shutouts last season and has 11 in his career, also a record. "Losing a guy like Matt Peca [143 career points] is going to hurt any program and it's a tough hole to fill, but we have a deep, deep team."

Garteig's career shutout total and his win total (46) are the most among active Division I players.

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc­quinnipiac­hockey­season­preview­1008­20151007­story.html 2/3 3/30/2016 Sam Anas Putting Together Standout Career For Quinnipiac Hockey ­ Hartford Courant Quinnipiac has 17 juniors and seniors, tied with Northeastern and Michigan State for the most in the nation. Among active Division I players, Anas is seventh with 45 career goals and second in power play goals with 19.

He rescued Game 1 of an ECAC Tournament quarterfinal series last season against Union, scoring two goals in 48 seconds – one at even strength with 1:26 remaining in regulation to pull the Bobcats within a goal and another on the power play with 38 seconds left to tie it at 3. Quinnipiac won in triple overtime.

The Bobcats won that series with a 3­1 victory in Game 3. Anas left that game with a knee injury, missed an ECAC semifinal loss to Harvard and returned in a limited capacity for a first­round NCAA Tournament loss at North Dakota. The Bobcats finished 23­12­4 and their record over the last three years is 77­30­15.

"It was a great year," Pecknold said. "I think we've overachieved the last three years in a row. But then you get to a point and think, is it really overachieving? We certainly have talent, but the strength of our team is our character and our culture. We buy into a system and play to our identity. The boys know if they do that, they'll be rewarded."

Copyright © 2016, Hartford Courant

This article is related to: College Basketball, Ice Hockey, Quinnipiac University Bobcats, Providence Friars

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc­quinnipiac­hockey­season­preview­1008­20151007­story.html 3/3 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac hockey getting used to replacing departed stars

New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Quinnipiac hockey getting used to replacing departed stars

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Thursday, October 8, 2015

HAMDEN >> Replacing production of franchise­caliber players has become an annual event at Quinnipiac; one that dates back to the graduation of All­American defenseman (and current assistant coach) Reid Cashman in 2007.

Lately, it hasn’t been much of a problem for coach Rand Pecknold. Quinnipiac has appeared in three straight NCAA tournaments. Its quest for a fourth begins with Friday night’s season opener at Holy Cross, though not without a gaping first­ line hole that must be filled.

Forward Matthew Peca, now in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, was a crucial element to the Bobcats’ recent success.

“He was that good, and I don’t think some people who weren’t around him understand how good he was,” Pecknold said. “He was a special player.”

Peca’s offensive production can be replaced, though likely by committee. The real impact may be felt on the penalty kill, where he and graduated defenseman Dan Federico established Quinnipiac as one of the top penalty­killing units in the nation last winter.

“He was an outstanding defensive center; was great on face­offs. He did everything well,” Pecknold said. “But this is what happens in college hockey every year. You lose good players.”

Sam Anas, a second­team All­American, leads a talented crop of returning forwards. Travis St. Denis and Landon Smith combined for 30 goals and 64 points. Pecknold believes defenseman Devon Toews, an Islanders draft pick, has All­America potential. Alex Miner­Barron won an appeal and was granted another season of eligibility, at least after sitting out the first five games. He’s an experienced and versatile player able to play forward and defenseman.

The formula for replacing lost production lies in younger players ready to make the leap into a leadership role. Forward Tim Clifton and defenseman Derek Smith did it last season. Current sophomore candidates with the same potential are forwards Bo Pieper, Tanner McMaster and Andrew Taverner, along with defenseman Kevin McKernan.

Pecknold says he’s also looking for more out of sophomore defenseman Connor Clifton. Though a regular the past two seasons, Clifton’s offensive production declined and, though he cut his penalty minutes in half, still must show more discipline.

http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151008/SPORTS/151009527&template=printart 1/2 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac hockey getting used to replacing departed stars Joe Fiala, a converted defenseman, is in line for a more regular role this season. Six incoming freshmen could also be counted on to contribute immediately, perhaps none more so than Thomas Aldworth and Scott Davidson, both bigger forwards with play­making ability, and defensemen Luke Shiplo and Daniel Fritz.

There’s another ace in the hole for the Bobcats, albeit an oft­overlooked one.

Michael Garteig rarely gets glowing praise from those outside of Hamden. One league preview described his play as “adequate for the most part.” But he’s quietly established himself as one of the most consistent and successful goaltenders in the country.

Despite sitting on the bench as a freshman understudy, Garteig enters the season with more wins (45) and shutouts (11) than any other goalie in the nation. He’s also third in career goals­against average (1.99) and last year his .932 save percentage in league games was behind only Kyle Hayton of St. Lawrence and Yale’s Alex Lyon, both All­Americans.

Another adequate season from Garteig should suit Quinnipiac just fine.

Six games to circle

• Oct. 23­24 vs. St. Cloud State, 7 p.m.: Great opportunity to see how Bobcats measure up against a perennial Western NCAA contender.

• Dec. 12 vs. Boston University, 7 p.m.: No Jack Eichel, but there’s plenty left from the Terriers’ NCAA finalist squad.

• Jan. 9 vs. Harvard at Madison Square Garden, 7 p.m.: A date at the World’s Most Famous Arena? Need we say more?

• Feb. 5 vs. Cornell, 7 p.m.: Not quite a Hatfield/McCoy­level feud, but no love lost between these teams.

• Feb. 27 vs. Yale, 7 p.m.: Long ago became Quinnipiac’s can’t­miss event of the school year.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151008/quinnipiac­hockey­getting­used­to­replacing­departed­stars

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http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151008/SPORTS/151009527&template=printart 2/2 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac’s Tim Clifton playing role of goal­scorer early on

New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Quinnipiac’s Tim Clifton playing role of goal­scorer early on

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

HAMDEN >> They may be tied for the team lead in goals after the season’s opening weekend, but no one will be mistaking Quinnipiac forward Tim Clifton for Sam Anas any time soon.

Anas’ goals tend to be works of art worthy of a frame and velvet rope. Clifton’s are more on par with a hardcore punk rock concert. Need some assistance with that analogy? Well, Clifton is often most effective working through the mosh pits in front of the crease.

Take his performance during last Saturday’s win over Holy Cross. Clifton, screening the goalie on a power play, was in the middle of a rebound scrum when an opposing player knocked the puck into his own net. Clifton got credit for the goal.

Later, he took a similar position as Anas rifled a shot through traffic. The puck missed Clifton’s stick, but caught teammate Travis St. Denis’ and was redirected into the net.

Quinnipiac, 2­0 and ranked 17th in the nation, scored nine goals in the home­and­away sweep of the Crusaders. Another big offensive night could be in the cards Thursday night when Arizona State, a former club program in its first season playing Division I competition, visits High Point Solutions Arena at 7.

Those utilitarian goals likely won’t keep Clifton (two goals, one assist in two games) on pace with the national scoring leaders for long. But it’s a role the junior from Matawan, New Jersey, fully embraces.

“I just want to contribute in any way I can,” Clifton said. “I think I go hard to the net, win battles and am strong on my feet. Those little things are adding up to these goals. It’s just getting into that area and being the guy that wants to be there while other guys are ripping one­timers at you.”

Scoring is hardly a foreign concept to Clifton. Three years ago playing for the Jersey Hitmen (and sporting a uniform featuring a cartoon mobster holding a hockey stick behind a bullet­laden ‘Hitmen’ logo) he led the Eastern Junior Hockey League with 30 goals.

His nine goals last winter tripled the total of his freshman season. Most came from within six feet of the net, and he tallied just one over the final 17 games.

Still, at 6 feet 1 and a physical 190 pounds, he caught the eye of the Montreal Canadiens, who invited him to their summer developmental camp. There, he skated with some of the team’s top prospects, including first­round picks Nikita Scherbak and Mike McCarron.

“They wanted me for some particular reason,” Clifton says. “Beats me. Guess they like the way I dump and chase.” http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151014/quinnipiacs­tim­clifton­playing­role­of­goal­scorer­early­on&template=printart 1/2 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac’s Tim Clifton playing role of goal­scorer early on He’d watched his younger brother, Connor, participate in these camps before. Connor, a junior defenseman at Quinnipiac, was a fifth­round draft pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2013. But it was Tim Clifton’s first NHL camp invitation. An engineering major and ECAC All­Academic team selection, he’ll almost certainly have an opportunity to play professionally in two years. He described the experience as “eye­opening.”

“Because there are high­caliber players coming together in one of the most prestigious franchises ever,” Clifton says. “But also because I went out there and competed with them. It’s nice to get a glimpse into the next level, and knowing that now I have something to strive for. It was an honor to be invited and it gave me a confidence boost coming into this season.”

October in Connecticut

Arizona State gets the grand tour of Connecticut with a busy three games in three nights starting Thursday in Hamden. On Friday, the Sun Devils travel up I­91 to Hartford to meet UConn at the XL Center. And on Saturday they’ll be at Danbury Arena to face Sacred Heart.

Yale, the state’s fourth Division I program, isn’t on the docket this time around. Instead, the Bulldogs will meet them out West for the first Desert Hockey Classic at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, starting Jan. 9.

The Sun Devils got the first varsity win in program history last Saturday, beating Alaska­Fairbanks 2­1 at the Kendall Hockey Classic. A night earlier, in their varsity debut, they dropped a 3­2 overtime decision to Alaska­Anchorage.

Shelton’s Charlie Zuccarini, a freshman forward for Arizona State, didn’t play last weekend.

Next season, Arizona State returns to Hamden for two games. The Bobcats will play two at Arizona State in 2017­18.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151014/quinnipiacs­tim­clifton­playing­role­of­goal­scorer­early­on

© 2016 New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151014/quinnipiacs­tim­clifton­playing­role­of­goal­scorer­early­on&template=printart 2/2 3/30/2016 Malafronte: A night to remember for Quinnipiac’s Tom Hilbrich against Arizona State

New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Malafronte: A night to remember for Quinnipiac’s Tom Hilbrich against Arizona State

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Thursday, October 15, 2015

HAMDEN >> Since arriving at Quinnipiac a little over three years ago, Tom Hilbrich’s function on the men’s hockey team can be easily defined. He’s a practice player, plain and simple.

“One of the R.O.T.G’s,” says Hilbrich, a senior from Port Credit, Ontario.

At Quinnipiac, that’s the acronym for “Rest of the Guys.” As in, “OK, starters on the ice. The rest of the guys go stand over there.” It’s far from his dream role. But Hilbrich has proudly gone above and beyond the call of duty at every practice, off­season lifting session and team meeting.

When it came to games, however, Hilbrich’s uniform has been a suit, tie and dress shoes. Until Thursday, that is, when Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold inserted Hilbrich’s name onto the line chart for that evening’s game with Arizona State.

With his parents among the crowd at High Point Solutions Arena — Pecknold tipped them off a couple days earlier so they could make travel arrangements from Ottawa — Hilbrich skated a regular shift at right wing, got off a couple of shots on goal and nearly scored in the Quinnipiac’s easy 5­0 non­league victory over the Sun Devils.

“It’s a dream come true,” Hilbrich said. “There’s almost no words. It’s been a tough go, and I had some ups and downs. We have some high­end players here. I never expected anything, to be put in over other guys. I kept my nose down and kept my energy up to do my part off the ice.”

Hilbrich, a 6­foot­6, 230­pound defenseman by trade, knew playing time would be tough to come by when he accepted Quinnipiac’s offer to join the team as a preferred walk­on out of the Central Canada Hockey League.

He’s excelled in the classroom, a Dean’s List student who earned his undergraduate degree in three years and is now enrolled as a graduate MBA candidate. Last spring, the school of business recognized him as the senior class’s top marketing major.

And though he’d been eligible for 120 games and played in none until Thursday, Hilbrich has been a vocal leader and role model in the Quinnipiac locker room.

“He’s an unbelievable teammate,” says Quinnipiac captain Soren Jonzzon. “There’s a reason we’ve loved having him here for four years. He’s so good for the team.”

Though the Bobcats were banged up heading into Thursday night’s game — forwards Tim Clifton, Andrew Taverner and Craig Martin are all nursing injuries — Pecknold said he planned to play Hilbrich, http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151015/SPORTS/151019649&template=printart 1/2 3/30/2016 Malafronte: A night to remember for Quinnipiac’s Tom Hilbrich against Arizona State anyway.

Arizona State, a first­year program with only three players who’ve participated in a Division I game prior to this season, didn’t put up much of a fight against a far­superior opponent.

Add a severe case of jet lag to the equation, and you get the end result. Thomas Aldworth had two goals and an assist while Michael Garteig needed only 14 saves to record his 12th career shutout.

The Sun Devils, college hockey’s newest program, will have to get used to this level of competition and extensive travel quickly. They participated in a tournament in Anchorage, Alaska over the weekend, and then hopped a red­eye back to Phoenix in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Following two days of practice in Tempe, it was back to the air for five hours and then another two hours on the bus from JFK to Hamden, where they began the grand hockey tour of our state on Thursday.

On Friday they’ll move up I­91 to play UConn at the XL Center before taking on Sacred Heart Saturday night in Danbury.

By the time they arrive back in their dorms on Sunday, the Sun Devils will have played five games and traveled some 13,000 miles in a span of 10 days. With no other team within 800 miles, it’s part of the price of Division I hockey in the Valley of the Sun.

“Three games in three days is extremely difficult, especially after a trip to Alaska,” Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. “But we need these kinds of experiences if we want to be an elite program.”

As for Hilbrich, his varsity debut went well enough that it may not be his last appearance. With time ticking away in the third, he found himself with the puck in the slot and nothing but daylight between him and the goalie.

“I tried to sell it, baited him a little bit,” Hilbrich said. “The R.O.T.Gs, we do extra work after games and practices when we’re not in the lineup, and we do a drill like that all the time. It was a textbook play.”

Hilbrich shot ticked off the goaltender’s shoulder. There’d be no Hollywood ending. But it’ll forever be a night for him to remember.

Contact Chip Malafronte at [email protected]. Follow Chip on Twitter @ChipMalafronte.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151015/malafronte­a­night­to­remember­for­quinnipiacs­tom­hilbrich­against­arizona­state

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FǺŇȘĦǾȚȘ FǺŇPǾȘȚȘ

ĚČǺČ Ħǿčķěỳ: Đǿň'ț Ųňđěřěșțįmǻțě Qųįňňįpįǻč

Bỳ Jěff Čǿx [1] @JěffČǿxȘpǿřťș [2] ǿň Ǿčť 22, 2015, 6:00ǻ

Mǻťť Đěẅķěťť

ųįňňįpįǻč ŀǿǿķěđ ŀįķě ǻ ẅěŀŀ-ǿįŀěđ mǻčħįňě. Ťħě Bǿbčǻťș měťħǿđįčǻŀŀỳ běǻť Mǻįňě ťǿ ěvěřỳ ŀǿǿșě pųčķ, mǿvěđ ťħě Q pųčķ qųįčķŀỳ, ǻňđ đǿmįňǻťěđ pǿșșěșșįǿň įň ǻ 4-0 șħųťǿųť vįčťǿřỳ ǿvěř ťħě Ųňįvěřșįťỳ ǿf Mǻįňě ǿň Ťųěșđǻỳ ňįģħť. http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/ecac/2015/10/22/9582156/quinnipiac­bobcats­rand­pecknold­sam­anas­michael­garteig­chase­priskie­devon­toews 1/5 3/30/2016 ECAC Hockey: Don't Underestimate Quinnipiac ­ SB Nation College Hockey Ťħě ěňđ řěșųŀť ǻňđ ťħě ẅǻỳ įň ẅħįčħ įť ħǻppěňěđ șħǿųŀđ čǿmě ǻș ňǿ șųřpřįșě ťǿ čǿŀŀěģě ħǿčķěỳ fǻňș. Qųįňňįpįǻč ħǻș fǿųř șťřǻįģħť 20-ẅįň șěǻșǿňș ǻňđ ťħřěě čǿňșěčųťįvě ŇČǺǺ Ťǿųřňǻměňť běřťħș. Fǿř ťħě mǻjǿřįťỳ ǿf ťħǿșě fǿųř șěǻșǿňș, ťħě Bǿbčǻťș ħǻvě běěň ǻ pųčķ pǿșșěșșįǿň ťěǻm ťħǻť řǿųťįňěŀỳ ǿųťșħǿǿťș ťħěįř ǿppǿňěňťș.

Ẅħįŀě ħěǻđ čǿǻčħ Řǻňđ Pěčķňǿŀđ ťřįěđ ťǿ đǿẅňpŀǻỳ ħįș ťěǻm'ș ǻppǻřěňť șķǻťįňģ ǻđvǻňťǻģě ǿvěř ťħě Bŀǻčķ Běǻřș, įť ẅǻș ǿbvįǿųș ťǿ ǻňỳǿňě ẅǻťčħįňģ ťħǻť ťħě Bǿbčǻťș ẅěřě fǻșťěř ťħǻň ťħěįř fǿě fřǿm Ħǿčķěỳ Ěǻșť.

"Ǿųř ģųỳș ẅěřě ģǿįňģ. Ǿųř įňťěňșįťỳ ẅǻș ģřěǻť. Ẅě ẅǿň řǻčěș. Ẅě ẅǿň bǻťťŀěș. İť fěŀť ťǿ mě ẅě ħǻđ mǿřě jųmp," șǻįđ Pěčķňǿŀđ.

"Ťħěỳ ŀǿǿķěđ ǻ ŀǿť fǻșťěř ťħǻň ẅě đįđ ťǿňįģħť," čǿňčųřřěđ Mǻįňě čǿǻčħ Řěđ Ģěňđřǿň.

Pěřħǻpș mǿșť įmpřěșșįvě ẅǻș ťħǻť ťħěřě șěěměđ ťǿ bě ňǿ đřǿp ǿff įň șķǻťįňģ ǻbįŀįťỳ řěģǻřđŀěșș ǿf ẅħǻť ŀįňě ẅǻș ǿň ťħě įčě Ťųěșđǻỳ ňįģħť. Ǻŀŀ fǿųř ŀįňěș čǿňșįșťěňťŀỳ ǿųťřǻčěđ ǻňđ ǿųť-bǻťťŀěđ Mǻįňě pŀǻỳěřș fǿř ťħě pųčķ.

"Ẅě ňěěđ ǿųř ẅħǿŀě ťěǻm ťǿ čǿňťřįbųťě. İ đǿň'ť ěvěň ķňǿẅ ẅħǻť ǿųř fǿųřťħ ŀįňě ẅǻș ťǿňįģħť, bųť ǿųř fǿųřťħ ŀįňě ťǿňįģħť ẅǻș řěǻŀŀỳ ģǿǿđ. Ẅě ħǻđ fǿųř ŀįňěș ťħǻť ẅěřě ģǿįňģ," ěxpŀǻįňěđ Pěčķňǿŀđ. "Ģųỳș ǻřě șťěppįňģ ųp."

Qųįňňįpįǻč đěfěňșěměň đįđ ǻ ťěřřįfįč jǿb ǿf pųșħįňģ ťħě pǻčě ǻňđ șťǻřťįňģ ťħě ťřǻňșįťįǿň. Jųňįǿřș Đěvǿň Ťǿěẅș, Čǿňňǿř Čŀįfťǿň ǻňđ Đěřěķ Șmįťħ ǻŀŀ ěxħįbįť pǿįșě ǻňđ qųįčķ đěčįșįǿň mǻķįňģ șķįŀŀș ẅįťħ ťħě pųčķ ǻș ťħěỳ mǻķě ǿųťŀěť pǻșșěș. Fřěșħmǻň Čħǻșě Přįșķįě ħǻș ǿňŀỳ ǻđđěđ mǿřě pųčķ pǿșșěșșįǿň ǻbįŀįťỳ ťǿ ťħě bǻčķ http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/ecac/2015/10/22/9582156/quinnipiac­bobcats­rand­pecknold­sam­anas­michael­garteig­chase­priskie­devon­toews 2/5 3/30/2016 ECAC Hockey: Don't Underestimate Quinnipiac ­ SB Nation College Hockey ŀįňě.

"Čħǻșě įș pŀǻỳįňģ ģřěǻť. Ħě'ș ǻ ģřěǻť ķįđ. Ħě'ș řěǻŀŀỳ ẅǿřķěđ ħǻřđ ťǿ řǿųňđ ǿųť ħįș ģǻmě įň jųșť ǻ șħǿřť ťįmě ħěřě," ěxpŀǻįňěđ Pěčķňǿŀđ.

Ťųěșđǻỳ ňįģħť ẅǻș ťħě 50ťħ čǻřěěř ẅįň ǻňđ 13ťħ șħųťǿųť fǿř șěňįǿř ģǿǻŀťěňđěř Mįčħǻěŀ Ģǻřťěįģ, ňǿẅ įň ħįș ťħįřđ ỳěǻř ǻș ťħě fųŀŀ-ťįmě șťǻřťěř. Ħě'ș ǿfťěň čřįťįqųěđ fǿř ħįș pŀǻỳ běťẅěěň ťħě pįpěș, bųť įť'ș ħǻřđ ťǿ qųǻřřěŀ ẅįťħ ħįș ňųmběřș.

"Ħě fįňđș ǻ ẅǻỳ ťǿ ẅįň. Ħě đǿěș ħįș jǿb. 13 șħųťǿųťș įș ǻ ħųģě ňųmběř. Ẅě'vě ħǻđ șǿmě řěǻŀŀỳ ģǿǿđ ģǿǻŀįěș čǿmě ťħřǿųģħ ħěřě ǻňđ ħě'ș ǿųř ǻŀŀ-ťįmě ŀěǻđěř," Pěčķňǿŀđ čǿmměňťěđ.

Ẅįťħ ťħě Bǿbčǻťș șěěmįňģŀỳ ǿň pǻčě ťǿ mǻķě ǻ fǿųřťħ șťřǻįģħť ŇČǺǺ Ťǿųřňǻměňť, ťħįș ẅěěķěňđ'ș ħǿmě șěřįěș ǻģǻįňșť Șť. Čŀǿųđ Șťǻťě čǿųŀđ ģǿ ǻ ŀǿňģ ẅǻỳ įň đěťěřmįňįňģ șěěđįňģ čǿmě Mǻřčħ. Pěčķňǿŀđ ķňǿẅș ťħě Ħųșķįěș ẅįŀŀ přǿvįđě ťħě șťįffěșť ťěșť ỳěť.

"Ẅě'vě pŀǻỳěđ ťħěm ǻ ŀǿť ťħě ŀǻșť fěẅ ỳěǻřș. Ťħěỳ'řě ǻň ěxčěŀŀěňť ťěǻm. Ťħěỳ'řě ẅěŀŀ-čǿǻčħěđ. Ťħěỳ ħǻvě ģřěǻť șpěčįǻŀ ťěǻmș. Ẅě'ŀŀ ģěť ħěǻŀťħỳ ťǿmǿřřǿẅ ťħěň ģěť fǿčųșěđ fǿř ťħěm," șǻįđ Pěčķňǿŀđ.

Qųįňňįpįǻč ķňǿẅș įť ẅįŀŀ ħǻvě įťș ħǻňđș fųŀŀ ẅįťħ Șť. Čŀǿųđ'ș pǿťěňť pǿẅěř pŀǻỳ ťħǻť čǿměș įňťǿ ťħě ẅěěķěňđ čŀįčķįňģ ǿňě ǿųť ǿf ěvěřỳ fǿųř ťįměș.

"Ťħěỳ ħǻvě ģřěǻť șpěčįǻŀ ťěǻmș. Ťħǻť fįřșť pǿẅěř pŀǻỳ ťħěỳ řǿŀŀ ǿvěř ťħě bǿǻřđș įș přěťťỳ įmpřěșșįvě. Ťħěỳ ħǻvě fįvě ķįđș ẅħǿ čǻň mǻķě pŀǻỳș ǻňđ ħǻvě pǻťįěňčě ǻňđ pǿįșě," șǻįđ Pěčķňǿŀđ.

Mǻňỳ įň ťħě přěșěǻșǿň ťħǿųģħť ťħě ĚČǺČ ẅǻș ǻ ťẅǿ ťěǻm řǻčě http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/ecac/2015/10/22/9582156/quinnipiac­bobcats­rand­pecknold­sam­anas­michael­garteig­chase­priskie­devon­toews 3/5 3/30/2016 ECAC Hockey: Don't Underestimate Quinnipiac ­ SB Nation College Hockey běťẅěěň Ỳǻŀě ǻňđ Ħǻřvǻřđ, bųť įť ẅǿųŀđ bě ųňẅįșě ťǿ șŀěěp ǿň ťħě Bǿbčǻťș.

----

Jěff Čǿx čǿvěřș čǿŀŀěģě, jųňįǿř, ħįģħ șčħǿǿŀ ǻňđ přěp ħǿčķěỳ, ŇČǺǺ řěčřųįťįňģ ǻňđ ŇĦĿ Đřǻfť přǿșpěčťș. Fǿŀŀǿẅ ħįm ǿň Ťẅįťťěř @JěffČǿxȘpǿřťș [4] .

Řěčǿmměňđěđ

Vŀǻđě Đįvǻč Ťħě Ǻșťřǿș Mįčħįģǻň'ș 5 Ťħįňģș Ťħǻť čŀǿșě ťǿ řěșěřvěđ ťħě Mįčħǻěŀ Ẅįŀŀ Đǿǿm fįňǻŀįżįňģ șħǿřťěșť ųřįňǻŀ Đǿẅňįňģ Șįģňș Řěpųbŀįčǻňș

čǿňťřǻčť fǿř ťħěįř ẅįťħ Fŀǿřįđǻ ȘĐpǿųňřșǿįřňěđģ b 2ỳ 0Čį1ťį6żěňįżě

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New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Quinnipiac looks to improve on perfect penalty­killing unit

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Thursday, November 5, 2015

HAMDEN >> When defensemen make the highlight reel, it’s typically for bone­jarring body checks. So it was a refreshing change of pace to see Quinnipiac’s Devon Toews unleash a goal for the ages against Maine two weeks ago, when he popped a puck up and over the head of a defender to spring himself for a breakaway.

The play received international airplay in the U.S. and his native Canada, making nightly top­play segments on ESPN’s SportsCenter and TSN’s SportsCentre.

Toews enjoyed the attention but knows the play evolved from fortunate circumstance, namely a fortunate bounce and unsuspecting goaltender.

“It was a very lucky goal,” said Toews, a junior defenseman with six points in six games for the Bobcats (6­0), ranked fifth in the USCHO Top 20 Poll.

Toews prefers the give­and­go goal he scored a few days earlier against Arizona State when, without breaking stride, he allowed Soren Jonzzon’s pass to click off his skate and to the left a split second before batting it home.

“That one,” he says. “was a lot nicer.”

Appearances can be deceiving. Flashy plays and statistics receive glory but don’t necessarily tell the entire story. The same can be said of Quinnipiac’s penalty­killing unit.

Despite statistics that leap off the page — a streak of 22 consecutive kills to start the season is tops in the nation — Toews and coach Rand Pecknold believe the numbers are a bit misleading heading into this weekend’s ECAC Hockey series at Colgate (Friday, 7 p.m.) and Cornell (Saturday, 7 p.m.).

“We feel we can be a lot better even though we are perfect,” Toews said. “We’re giving up a lot of high­ quality opportunities.”

Outstanding penalty­kill numbers are nothing new for Quinnipiac, which over the previous four seasons has posted three of the highest success rates ever recorded. Its .911 rate (164­for­180) in 2013 was second best in Division I history, behind only Michigan State’s 1999 standard of .920 (172­for­187).

The .898 success rate in 2014 ranks 18th all­time; the .894 in 2012 is 22nd, according to the NCAA record books. Three other teams — Yale, Brown and Cornell — are perfect on the penalty kill this http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151105/quinnipiac­looks­to­improve­on­perfect­penalty­killing­unit&template=printart 1/2 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac looks to improve on perfect penalty­killing unit season, but none have more than two games or five attempts. Miami­Ohio (30 of 31) and Michigan State (25 of 26) rank fifth and sixth heading into the weekend.

There’s no official record for longest streak of successful penalty kills. But Quinnipiac owes its current run to a couple of fortunate breaks. Opponents have hit at least one post and missed an open net on the man­advantage. The Bobcats must tighten up in the zone, limit chances on net and not rely on goaltender Michael Garteig to bail out their mistakes.

Kevin McKernan, a sophomore defenseman who saw minimal action on the unit last season, has stepped in and been outstanding. Forward Tommy Schutt is also greatly improved. But the Bobcats need more consistency out of their rotations, something Pecknold expects to come with experience.

Most penalty­kill units consist of three shifts of four players. Quinnipiac used only two last season because forward Matthew Peca and defenseman Dan Federico were so good.

“Part of the problem with the penalty kill is a problem we created for ourselves because we used Peca and Federico so much,” Pecknold said. “We didn’t get enough players enough reps last season. That’s OK, and I don’t regret that. That’s where we are right now.”

Still, it’s hard to argue with those numbers.

One­timers

Quinnipiac sports information director Ken Sweeten and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed a baby girl into the world on Thursday morning. It’s their first child. … Quinnipiac has enjoyed the trip to central New York, sweeping Colgate and Cornell each of the past three seasons. … The bye weekend came at a good time for Quinnipiac. A virus made its way through the locker room over the weekend, and four or five players would have been questionable if any games were scheduled, Pecknold said. … Forward Tim Clifton, out with an injury since the opening weekend, is considered questionable for this weekend, though he’s practiced all week. … Both games this weekend can be heard on WQUN­1220.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151105/quinnipiac­looks­to­improve­on­perfect­penalty­killing­unit

© 2016 New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151105/quinnipiac­looks­to­improve­on­perfect­penalty­killing­unit&template=printart 2/2 3/30/2016 NCAA Hockey: Quinnipiac's Garteig named HCA Player of the Month | NCAA.com

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Garteig led all ECAC hockey goalies in games played, minutes, wins and shutouts in November. DI M Ice Hockey News

NCAA Hockey: Quinnipiac's Garteig Wisconsin announces Tony Granato, staff named HCA Player of the Month Greg Carvel named UMass ice hockey coach QU headed to 2nd Frozen Four in 4 years Hockey Commissioners Association Last Updated ­ Dec 2, 2015 14:41 EST Doherty leads by example for Boston College Contact |Archive | RSS No. 1 Quinnipiac advances to Frozen Four WAKEFIELD, Mass. – Quinnipiac senior goaltender Michael Garteig (Prince George, B.C.), who led the Denver punches Frozen Four ticket Bobcats to No. 3/2 national ranking last month, while posting a record of 7­0­2 was named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association National Division I Player of the Month for November. BC downs Duluth, heads to Frozen Four

UMass­Lowell beats Yale in overtime The 6­foot­1, 190­pound senior from Prince George, British Columbia, was named the HCA Player of the Month for the first time in his career. In nine games for the month of November, Garteig led all ECAC Hockey More News » goalies in games played (nine) minutes (528:51), wins (seven) and shutouts (two). He allowed just 11 goals for the month for a 1.25 goals­against average, while posting a .946 save percentage. The Bobcats’ goalie was in net for all but one period of the teams’ Nov. games, including a stretch of five games played over nine Video Gallery days (Nov. 13­21). In that span, Garteig was 3­0­2 with 0.83 GAA after allowing just four goals in 289:44 DI MEN'S ICE HOCKEY between the pipes and also posted a .965 save percentage after stopping 109 of 113 shots­on­goal. Two of DI Men's Hockey: the four goals allowed by Garteig came with the Bobcats’ playing a man­down. Quinnipiac fills out... Mar 27, 2016(1:03) He was recently name ECAC Hockey’s Goaltender of the Month for the second consecutive month and for DI MEN'S ICE HOCKEY the fifth overall time in his career. Garteig stopped 19 of 20 in a 4­1 win against Harvard on Nov. 13 before a DI Men's Hockey: Denver 22­save performance against Dartmouth on the following night. He also stopped 25 of 26 in a 1­1 tie against advances to Frozen... Mar 27, 2016(1:14) Clarkson before blanking St. Lawrence in a 36­save performance that saw him featured on ESPN Sports

Centers Top 10 as the No. 4 play of the day. DI MEN'S ICE HOCKEY DI Men's Hockey: Boston Recently named to the Mike Richter Award Watch, the award is given annually to the top NCAA Division I College skates by... Mar 27, 2016(1:21) goalie in the country, Garteig tied a program mark earning his 59th career win between the pipes for the Bobcats on Nov. 28, in a 1­0 shutout over Massachusetts. He now owns a career record of 59­21­11. More Videos »

The HCA National Rookie of the Month for November is Colin White (Hanover, Mass.) from Boston College. White scored five goals and 12 assists in November as his 17 points and 2.43 points per game led all NCAA players during the month. He also lead or tied for the lead among Hockey East rookies in goals (five), assists (12), points (17), game­winning goals (one), and shots on goal (three). White recorded a multi­point http://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey­men/article/2015­12­02/ncaa­hockey­quinnipiacs­garteig­named­hca­player­month 1/2 3/30/2016 NCAA Hockey: Quinnipiac's Garteig named HCA Player of the Month | NCAA.com (12), points (17), game­winning goals (one), and shots on goal (three). White recorded a multi­point performance nearly each time he pulled on the Eagles’ sweater in November, save for a one­assist outing Nov. 28 against RIT. He is currently riding an eight­game point streak dating back to Oct. 30 (five goals, 13 assists). In that span, he has picked up one game­winning tally and two power­play assists.

White exploded in the month of November, leading all freshmen nationwide in nearly every offensive category. He topped all rookies in the month with five goals, 12 assists, 17 points, a plus­12 ranking and 30 shots on goal.

The Hanover, Massachusetts, native helped Boston College to a perfect 7­0­0 record on the month, beginning November with a four­point outing against Massachusetts with a goal and three assists. He picked up another four points in a two­game set with league rival Maine, netting another marker and picking up three helpers. He scored twice against Michigan State Nov. 13 and added an assist before turning in another pair of two­assist games Nov. 21 at New Hampshire and Nov. 24 at UConn, adding the game­winner against the Huskies.

White factored in on four of Boston College’s seven game­winning goals, scoring the deciding tally at UConn and setting up three others. On the season, he currently leads NCAA freshmen with 14 assists and 21 points and a plus­18 rating. His 3.92 shots on goal per game is also the highest among all NCAA rookies.

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http://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey­men/article/2015­12­02/ncaa­hockey­quinnipiacs­garteig­named­hca­player­month 2/2 3/30/2016 Yale vs. Quinnipiac hockey a national event

New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Yale vs. Quinnipiac hockey a national event

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Thursday, December 3, 2015

NEW HAVEN >> Annual regular­season games between Yale and Quinnipiac remain one of the state’s most sought­after tickets. Friday night’s contest at Ingalls Rink is no different, having sold out well in advance while resale asking prices for secondary­market seats are as high as triple face value.

Yet since the Whitney Avenue rivals first met in the fall of 2006, when interest centered on a niche group of college hockey fans in Greater New Haven, the game’s popularity has swelled beyond state borders.

And it’s about to go national. Friday night’s game will be the most widely distributed in the brief history of the series, a syndicated broadcast farmed out by the American Sports Network and picked up by television markets in 17 states, including non­traditional hockey pockets like Texas, Nevada and California.

“There’s more and more interest in those places that heretofore have not demonstrated interest in the sport,” Yale athletic director Tom Beckett said. “To put on a game like this in early December is a great source of pride.”

Perhaps the only disappointment was Canada’s largest sports network, TSN, declined an option on the feed. So Yale and Quinnipiac will have to wait a bit longer until their rivalry becomes truly international.

Around these parts, the game (puck drop is at 6:30 p.m.) can be seen live on SNY and NESN Plus. Surely welcome news for anyone shut out at the ticket window. As of Thursday afternoon, seats on StubHub ranged from $40 to $90.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Keith Allain sat in front of the committee tasked with hiring Yale’s new hockey coach. But the words remain fresh in the mind of Beckett.

“He said he wanted to establish excellence and then maintain it,” Beckett said. “This is a byproduct of that plan; to be good enough to be a TV game.”

Yale doesn’t actively push for television coverage, partly because it’s content with Internet streaming options and partly because Ingalls Rink isn’t configured for modern television. Cameras are intrusive in that they force some season­ticket holders to be relocated and make already tight concourses even more difficult to navigate.

Production crews don’t often hear requests to build camera stands a few feet further away to http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151203/yale­vs­quinnipiac­hockey­a­national­event?source=topstoriesrot&template=printart 1/3 3/30/2016 Yale vs. Quinnipiac hockey a national event accommodate season­ticket holders who’ve sat in the exact same location since the Nixon administration and don’t care for anyone or anything interfering with their night at the rink.

“They laugh, look at me like I have four heads, and then move the stand down two or three feet,” Beckett said. “We know the nuance of the rink, our fans and do our level best to accommodate everyone.”

The benefits of national exposure amplify what’s quickly becoming one of the country’s best hockey conflicts. Yale and Quinnipiac rarely butt heads on the recruiting trail. But the ability to understand the scope of the rivalry through the lens of television makes the program far more attractive to their respective pool of potential student­athletes.

“It’s a big rivalry game, and lots of fun,” said Yale sophomore forward Ryan Hitchcock. “We don’t like those guys and they don’t like us. Seeing them a lot — we’re both competing to be the best in the conference, and the best in Connecticut — there’s definitely some bad blood there. But it’s always going to be good hockey.”

In recent years there’s been much more on the line than bragging rights. Yale and Quinnipiac most notably played for the national championship in 2013, but they’ve also met in the ECAC Hockey tournament. In February, Quinnipiac had a chance to win the Cleary Cup as the league’s regular­season champion against the Bulldogs, an opportunity delayed by a day after a 2­2 tie.

At stake Friday? Quinnipiac’s unbeaten streak. The Bobcats (13­0­2), ranked second in one national poll and third in another, are off to the best start to a season Division I college hockey has seen in two decades.

Only two programs in the past 25 years have gone longer than 15 games out of the gate without losing. Colorado College (15­0­3) went 18 games in 1995. Maine did it twice, going 19 games (14­0­5) in 1994 and 29 games (28­0­1) in 1992.

Quinnipiac has enjoyed a decided edge in the series, going 7­1­4 over the past 12 meetings. Yale’s lone win in that span, of course, came at the 2013 Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. The irresistible narrative of schools located only a few miles apart along the same road launched the rivalry to its current level.

Both teams have established excellence (Yale is currently ranked 10th). And both have managed to maintain those lofty standards.

“Getting this game as part of our schedule this year really does help us,” Beckett said. “The idea of the story of Yale hockey, the ECAC, the rivalries, the quality and style of play, has really helped grow the sport and no doubt helps everyone understand these are outstanding schools to consider for hockey and a great education. (Television) is part of what we want to try and do to get this story out to as many people as we possibly can.”

One­timers

Quinnipiac goaltender Michael Garteig was named the Hockey Commissioners Association national player of the month for November. He ranks third in the country in goals­against average (1.28) and fourth in save percentage (.946). Yale’s Alex Lyon isn’t far behind. He’s sixth in GAA (1.62) and 10th in save percentage (.937). ... Allain said injured forward Mike Doherty and defenseman Nate Repensky are close to returning to game action, though as of Wednesday it hadn’t been determined if this weekend was a possibility. ... Tom Caron, the Red Sox studio host for NESN, will handle play­by­play for Friday’s broadcast. Former Colorado College player Jim Paradise is the color analyst. http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151203/yale­vs­quinnipiac­hockey­a­national­event?source=topstoriesrot&template=printart 2/3 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig pulling out all the stops

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Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig pulling out all the stops

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

HAMDEN >> Michael Garteig arrived at Quinnipiac four years ago with an impressive goaltending résumé and a style completely unsuitable for Division I hockey.

As a two­year starter in the British Columbia Hockey League, Garteig won successive goaltender of the year awards, backboned a Penticton team that won a North American­record 42 consecutive games and, in 2012, captured the Canadian Junior ‘A’ national championship.

Yet he hadn’t worked with a goaltending coach until age 19. As a kid in the remote city of Prince George, B.C. — roughly the halfway point between Juneau, Alaska, and Calgary — he got by on instinct and raw ability. It carried him to the top of the Junior ranks, but wouldn’t be enough at the top levels of college hockey.

“I didn’t know any technique or goalie movements,” Garteig says. “We played just to play.”

To be successful at Quinnipiac would require a total overhaul of mechanics.

“His style was funky; it was really unorthodox,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “He had a hybrid style that would not be effective at our level and it definitely wasn’t going to get him to where he needed to be in pro hockey. And he knew that.”

His technique retuned and refined, Garteig finds himself as the centerpiece of Quinnipiac’s success and a legitimate Hobey Baker Award contender for the 15­0­2 Bobcats.

Last week turned out to be quite eventful for the senior. He broke program records for career wins (60) and longest shutout streak (194 minutes, 49 seconds), which remains active heading into Saturday night’s non­conference showdown with No. 12 Boston University (7 p.m., SNY).

At the season’s halfway point, his goals­against average (1.13) is on pace to break the Division I record of 1.19 set by Michigan’s Jimmy Howard in 2004. Only four goaltenders in history have more career shutouts than Garteig’s 17.

The difference between his first two seasons, when his save percentage went from .910 to .917, and what’s occurring now — Garteig’s save percentage this season is an ungodly .952 — is borderline remarkable. Over the past seven games he’s allowed two goals and stopped 98.7 percent of shots on net.

“He’s tracking the puck better and reading the play better,” Pecknold said. “He’s a half­step ahead in http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151209/SPORTS/151209500&template=printart 1/3 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig pulling out all the stops anticipating what’s coming. The Yale game was a great example. Yale had really good scoring chances and he was in positon and ready to make the save before the puck left a stick. In previous years he might have been coming across as the shot was released.”

When Eric Hartzell was leading the Bobcats to dizzying heights during the 2012­13 season, so many NHL scouts followed Quinnipiac on a regular basis the school could have hired a bus service to transport them from game to game.

Interest in Garteig from NHL personnel had been steady the past two years, but has risen to the point where Pecknold says it’s similar to what Hartzell drew. More will come aboard as Quinnipiac charges toward the postseason.

It’s about a million miles from where he was as a teenager in Prince George with lofty ambition and limited knowledge. His skating ability was borderline primitive, improving to “average, at best” despite Garteig’s significant role on Canada’s most dominant Junior team.

Even his father, Paul, who’d never played the game competitively, could see it was a major hindrance.

“He’d say, ‘If you ever want to play anywhere, you’ve got to skate. And you’re not a good skater.’ Now, it’s one of the strongest parts of my game,” Garteig says. “My dad? He loves it. He probably thinks he’s a goalie whisperer or something.”

In those first days at Quinnipiac, Garteig was accountable. He understood his game needed work and readily implemented a plan to improve. Long hours with Quinnipiac goaltending coaches began the transformation. The past two seasons, he’s worked winters with Jared Waimon, the Bobcats’ volunteer coach, and summers with ex­New York Rangers goalie Steve Valiquette.

This season, Garteig has been otherworldly. Quinnipiac does an outstanding job of blocking shots and limiting opposing chances — he’s only been required to make more than 28 saves three times.

Just don’t be fooled by how easy it usually looks.

“He always has a plan,” Pecknold said.

Future includes Eagles

Quinnipiac’s two­year contract with Boston University (the teams meet at Boston’s Agganis Arena next season) leaves Boston College and New Hampshire as the only Hockey East teams the Bobcats have yet to face. For the time being, anyway.

Quinnipiac will play Boston College each of the next three seasons, beginning with a first­round matchup at the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh next December. Robert Morris, host of the annual post­ Christmas event, and Ferris State are also in the field. The tournament is at the Consol Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Penguins and site of the 2013 Frozen Four.

The Bobcats travel to Boston College in 2017­18. BC comes to Hamden during the 2018­19 season.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20151209/quinnipiac­goalie­michael­garteig­pulling­out­all­the­stops

© 2016 New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com) http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151209/SPORTS/151209500&template=printart 2/3 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Bobcast Setback

December 15, 2015

BOBCAST SETBACK

After First Loss, Quinnipiac Remains Major Force

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by Christopher Boulay/CHN Reporter

Setting records is nice, but winning hardware is more important.

This is the mindset of Quinnipiac after the Bobcats dropped their first game of the season Saturday night against Boston University 4­1. Previous to the loss, coach Rand Pecknold’s squad was 15­0­2, the longest undefeated streak since Colorado College’s 15­0­3 mark recorded during the 1995­96 season. The loss left defending champions Providence as the lone undefeated team.

Quinnipiac scored less than two goals in a game for just the fourth time this season against BU, with much of the credit going to Terrier goaltender Sean Maguire and his 36 saves. The Bobcats had every opportunity to take control of the game early and ensure they would go unbeaten into the holiday break, but the team could not solve Maguire, despite having five power­ play opportunities. This was an uncharacteristic slip­up for Quinnipiac considering its power play has a conversion rate of 25 percent this season, tied for seventh nationally. Related Articles “[Maguire’s] a good goalie,” Pecknold said. “He hasn’t been having a great year, but we know he’s a good goaltender. I thought he was great. We had 37 shots, I think he saw 37. We’re Quinnipiac usually a better team at creating traffic and making [the goaltender] move. Our power play was so slow tonight. Even though we got a lot of shots, it was easy for him to get there and College Hockey News set, and be ready to make the save. We gotta zip pucks around Announces All­CHN Teams and get him moving a little bit. and try to make goalies make Thrills and Redemption saves while they are moving as opposed to being set.” Mental Block Anas Contributes in Win Pecknold also wasn’t looking at the game as an opportunity to keep their season without a blemish. In actuality, he felt that it was a run­in with a solid team that should be a fun test for all involved.

“I don’t think we were looking at the first half’s ending tonight," Pecknold said. “We were more excited to play BU. It’s a great program, and perennially a national power. It’s great to have them in the rink. It was a huge game for our fans, and the place was rocking. Unfortunately, we had a lot of kids that just played poorly. You’ve gotta give BU credit. I think BU created that panic in our game, and we gotta move on and learn from that.”

What Quinnipiac accomplished during the early part of the season is impressive to say the least. Though, many can argue that the loss was coming for a while now.

Quinnipiac has the 10th­best shooting percentage in the country (11.1 percent). However, this number is http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2015/12/15_bobcast_setback.php 1/2 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Bobcast Setback skewed due to its strong power­play performance. When looking at the team’s first nine games, even­strength shooting percentage was 9.23 percent. However, during the final nine games, this fell to 8.49 percent. These numbers are still fine, but there’s certainly been a cooling off period in recent weeks.

“I think what happens when you’re number one in the PairWise and number two in the poll, people get fired up to play you,” Pecknold said. “Here we are, game 18, we don’t have a loss. So BU certainly was really excited to come in and play in our rink tonight. ... We’ve seen that from about game five when St. Cloud came in. It’s been a lot of pressure on us because no one’s taking us lightly, as they shouldn’t. I think once you start winning, you get on a run like that, teams are going to be fired up to play you.”

Luckily for the Bobcats, goaltending has been extremely reliable. Senior Michael Garteig has a save percentage of .948 and a goals against average of 1.24, both good enough for third in Division I. His 1,067 minutes this season are the most in the country, and he is tied for first in the nation with six shutouts. Between his minutes and a small appearance from sophomore backup Sean Lawrence, team save percentage improved throughout the year. During the first nine games of the year, the Bobcats had an even­strength save percentage of .935. This increased to .962 in the last nine games, helping to pick up where the scoring left off.

Not to discount the Quinnipiac offense, as some of its stars had fantastic starts, and their forwards are major reasons why the team is near the top of the Pairwise heading into the holiday break. Junior Sam Anas has 19 points in 18 games, while senior Travis St. Denis has 17 points during this time. Another major contributor in attack is Tim Clifton, who has 10 goals and 15 points for the Bobcats.

Another major reason for the team’s offensive success is its ability to possess the puck. Through 18 games, Quinnipiac has an even­strength Corsi percentage of 56.4 percent, ranked fifth in college hockey.

Looking forward, Quinnipiac has multiple challenges ahead. The ECAC calendar can be unforgiving, even for a team as well­built as the Bobcats. However, the team is focused on the bigger picture, and that means winning games deep into March and April.

“We’ve got Princeton right away, and sometimes that can be tough, playing right after break,” Anas said. “We gotta make sure we stay in shape over break. After that, obviously we’d love to win the Cleary Cup again. This year, I think we’re really going to focus on winning that Whitelaw [Cup] and winning the ECAC Playoffs. That’s something that would be good for our team, and awesome for our program.”

This isn’t about what could have been. It’s about what they’ve already accomplished, and where they can go from here. Quinnipiac is dangerous, and the team has everything needed to make a run at multiple titles. The holiday break will be nice to recharge and get clear heads. Then it’s back to business. The rest of the ECAC, along with the rest of the college hockey world, should be worried.

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http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2015/12/15_bobcast_setback.php 2/2 AllMetSports Quinnipiac hockey standout Sam Anas tries to blaze a trail from Maryland to the NHL

By Dillon Mullan January 28

If Sam Anas ran or dribbled or threw, his path to collegiate and professional sports would have been much clearer. Hundreds of teenagers from his home state earn athletic scholarships every year, and a number have gone on to the NFL and the NBA.

But Sam Anas doesn’t run. He skates. He doesn’t dribble or throw. He dekes.

As the offensive catalyst for Quinnipiac ice hockey — the top­ranked NCAA Division I team in the country — Anas is an anomaly but not because he was a slight, 5­foot­7, 130­pound high school senior when he committed to the Hamden, Conn. university. No, what makes Anas an anomaly is the place he and those hockey skills call home.

Anas, 22, grew up in Potomac, playing four years of high school hockey at Landon in Bethesda. Now he’s trying to become the first player to play for and graduate from a Washington­area high school and make it to the NHL.

“The NHL has always been my dream. Maryland isn’t a hotbed for hockey, so you don’t follow people and say, ‘This kid went from this high school to juniors to college, then pros,’ ” Anas said. “I’ve never known what the path was going to be. I’ve just known that I wanted to play at the highest level possible.”

Anas was the American Hockey Coaches Association rookie of the year in 2014 and led Quinnipiac in scoring in each of his first two seasons, amassing a combined 45 goals and 37 assists across 78 games. This year the junior — now at 5 feet 8 and a more robust 170 pounds — leads the Bobcats (19­1­5) in points with 15 goals and 14 assists.

“His best trait is his composure with the puck — there’s no panic in his game. He’s so poised with the puck on his stick. He has that ability to wait and wait,” Quinnipiac Coach Rand Pecknold said. “There are great players stuck in the minors because they don’t have poise in games. If anything, Sam gets better when the puck drops in a game.”

Breaking through

For Anas, the road to becoming indispensable for college hockey’s top team was paved with rejection and determination. As a rising high school freshman, he was cut from a local travel team for being too small. “I remember how that felt. I remember that coach,” Anas said. “I’ll never forget them telling me I was too small.”

In high school, Anas would arrive at the rink around 3:30 p.m. for Landon practice. After a weightlifting session and another on­ice practice with his club team, he would head home sometime after 9. As a senior, Anas was the All­Met Player of the Year after he tallied 46 goals and 26 assists, leading the Bears to an undefeated season and their first Mid­Atlantic Prep Hockey League title.

“The thing I liked most about Sam was his competitive level. He had a different gear he could go into,” said longtime DeMatha Coach Tony MacAuley, whose Stags lost to Anas and the Bears, 8­2, in the 2011 MAPHL final. “He was the player we tried to key on, and he still snuck up on us. He’s quick and good with his stick, and he uses all his assets the right way.”

Quinnipiac noticed Anas when he played for the now­defunct D.C. Capitals, whose former coaches, brothers Jason and Jared Kersner, currently run SkipJacks Hockey Club in Odenton. The program’s rosters are a mix of the best local talent and transplants who move to the area and live with host families. Players gain exposure to college scouts on weekend travels in the top under­16 and U­18 leagues on the East Coast. During the week, the locally based players can live at home and have a “normal” high school experience — an opportunity not afforded to past NHL hopefuls from the area.

Former Washington Capitals captain Jeff Halpern is one such example. Halpern, now 39, began at Churchill High in Potomac in 1990­91, before the school had begun its ice hockey program in the Maryland Student Hockey League. The next school year, Halpern went off to St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, before starring at Princeton and signing with the Capitals.

Halpern, who made his NHL debut with Washington during the 1999­2000 season, went on to play 976 career games across 14 NHL seasons — playing considerably more hockey in the DMV as a pro than he ever had growing up. “Around here, the idea of playing college hockey was something so unheard of. If you wanted a chance to go play at college, you had to go away,” Halpern said.

“The New England prep schools were not the best option but the only option.”

When Halpern was growing up, he watched the best athletes drop their skates under pressure from football, basketball and baseball coaches. D.C. was too far south, some believed, to produce hockey talent.

“There was a sense of embarrassment. In the hockey world it was embarrassing to be from D.C. at that time,” Halpern said. “You always have that stereotype that kids can’t play hockey from places as south as D.C. I remember trying to downplay that as much as possible.”

A life in hockey

Two locals have helped chip away at that stereotype. Jarred Tinordi played his freshman year at Severna Park in 2006­07, then attended Ann Arbor Pioneer High School in Michigan before he was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 2010. Tinordi, the son of former Capitals defenseman Mark Tinordi, made his NHL debut in 2013 and is now with the Arizona Coyotes. There’s also Bullis graduate Nick Sorkin, the 2008­09 All­Met Player of the Year and a standout forward at the University of New Hampshire, who played in a preseason game with Montreal in 2014 but never took the ice in the regular season. He’s playing for Västerås IK in Sweden’s second tier.

But even as the stigma about Washington­area players was slowly shifting, nearly every college scout in 2010 overlooked Anas.

“My assistant told me, ‘I got this kid from Maryland. He’s a little undersized.’ ” said Pecknold, who was the only Division I coach to offer Anas a scholarship. “I asked, ‘How small?’ He said, ‘Small — really small — but he’s unbelievable. He’s dynamic. He can play.’

“Most NCAA schools thought Sam was too small to play at our level, but he’s got the skill and hockey IQ to play with anyone.”

As his high school friends left for typical college experiences in the fall of 2011, Anas moved to Ohio to live with a host family and play juniors for the U.S. Hockey League’s Youngstown Phantoms. He racked up 97 points in 115 games in two seasons, spending the second one settting a new single­season record for the franchise with 37 goals.

“I’d be texting all my buddies, and we’d talk about life because we were all leaving home for the first time,” Anas said. “I’d hear about them partying or see pictures of all my friends getting together for Thanksgiving break while I was in Ohio playing hockey. But I never questioned whether this was the right decision for me. I’ve never regretted making hockey my life.”

The past three summers, Anas has competed with other prospects at NHL minicamps with the Capitals, Canadiens and New York Islanders. In July, Anas featured in a scrimmage in the Islanders’ first game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn; against a slew of NHL draft picks, he scored twice. As skeptical as some may be of D.C.­area hockey, he had been more than prepared.

“Playing in an arena with 10,000 people you don’t know, that’s one thing,” Anas said. “But playing in a [Georgetown] Prep­Landon game at a small rink like Rockville when there’s 500 people there and you look into the stands and you know everyone, that’s a different kind of pressure.”

This spring, Anas will complete his undergraduate degree in entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac. Next year, he plans on returning for his senior season to play hockey and complete an MBA, all the while carving a line for the next generation of local hockey stars to follow. “I never had anyone show me how to make the NHL,” Anas said. “It would be cool for little kids to look up and see the path I’ve taken — and see that it works.”

Dillon Mullan is a roving reporter who covers high school sports for The Washington Post.

Stats, scores and schedules

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New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Quinnipiac hockey living on edge, but still successful

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Friday, February 5, 2016

HAMDEN >> When Dean Lombardi, general manager of the Los Angeles Kings, came to the University of New Haven for a speaking engagement last fall, he recalled a scouting trip some 10 years earlier to monitor Jonathan Quick.

Quick, then a star goaltender at UMass, had an unusual tendency. In certain situations, Lombardi said, Quick would intentionally leave rebounds as a means to challenge himself against inferior competition.

No one scored. But Lombardi warned him that playing with fire would only lead to problems down the road. Quick, with two Stanley Cup titles in four years, apparently got the message.

For the record, Quinnipiac’s recent trend of furious third­period comebacks is by no means intentional, even if the past four games read like a twisted attempt for the top­ranked Bobcats (20­1­5, 11­0­3) to test their mettle.

Inside the locker room, the team takes pride in its uncanny ability to overcome any deficit, yet fully grasps the dangers of playing from behind. In the grand scheme it’s seen as a troublesome pattern that needs to end, starting with this weekend’s home games with Cornell (tonight at 7) and Colgate (Saturday, 7 p.m.)

“Especially later in the season, we have the opportunity to play high­end teams,” junior defenseman Devon Toews said. “If we get down early, these teams have the goaltending to stand out for one game and ruin our chances. We know we have some things to work on.”

Since a convincing 5­0 win over Union on Jan. 7, there have been no easy games for Quinnipiac. It began against Harvard at Madison Square Garden, when the Bobcats blew a four­goal lead only to win on Derek Smith’s overtime winner.

Last­minute goals eked out ties against Maine and Rensselaer, both games Quinnipiac found itself down by two in the third period. And an epic comeback on Saturday at Dartmouth saw the Bobcats overcome two separate three­goal, third period deficits in a mind­blowing 7­5 victory.

“As a coaching staff, we’re in a bit of a conundrum,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “We’re so proud of our guys to be so resilient and to have that kind of ability to come back. Yet…we’re digging holes for ourselves that eventually we’re not going to get out of. It’s an unusual position to be in. We need to be a better team for 60 minutes and be more consistent with our work ethic.”

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20160205/quinnipiac­hockey­living­on­edge­but­still­successful&template=printart 1/2 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac hockey living on edge, but still successful And there’s the rub. Quinnipiac, by all accounts, is a coach’s dream when it comes to off­ice habits and work ethic. For several seasons, the locker room culture has been single­minded and unwavering. Practice sessions routinely rival game situations in intensity and competitiveness.

It’s a big reason why the Bobcats are among the deepest teams in the nation; where there’s little to no drop off between four lines of forwards, three sets of defensemen and the goaltender.

Junior forward K.J. Tiefenwerth transferred in after a season at UMass. It didn’t take long to notice the difference.

“Guys work super hard and pay attention to details,” Tiefenwerth said. “Coming from the program I was at, it’s night and day. The way guys prepare for practice, the way they battle for spots. It’s a fun environment to be around and it translates well into games.”

One luxury Quinnipiac lacks is relative anonymity. Every opponent is gunning to knock off the nation’s No. 1 team, brimming with energy from the opening faceoff. Of course, in addition to endless talent, there’s a decided psychological advantage that comes with billing as the nation’s best. Opponents might feel like they can only stave off the inevitable for so long, helpless once tide shifts toward the Bobcats.

Media attention, justifiably, has centered on the recent problems. Quinnipiac is hardly in panic mode. It may not be a finished product just yet. But entering the first weekend of February, this type of success is almost unprecedented.

“In the end, if you take a step back, we still have the best record in the country,” Pecknold said.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20160205/quinnipiac­hockey­living­on­edge­but­still­successful

© 2016 New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20160205/quinnipiac­hockey­living­on­edge­but­still­successful&template=printart 2/2 3/30/2016 ‘This Is a Hockey School’: Quinnipiac Students and Polls Agree ­ The New York Times

http://nyti.ms/1QQwSmN

HOCKEY ‘This Is a Hockey School’: Quinnipiac Students and Polls Agree

By DAVE CALDWELL MARCH 10, 2016 HAMDEN, Conn. — Goaltender Michael Garteig knows it takes 66 hours to drive the 3,000­plus miles to the Quinnipiac University campus from his hometown, Prince George, British Columbia, because he has taken that long journey all by himself.

Before Quinnipiac first got in touch with Garteig about playing collegiate hockey, he had no clue where the university was, let alone where Connecticut was on a map. But those were the old days, before Quinnipiac became an epicenter of college hockey.

“I haven’t been home as much as I’ve liked,” said Garteig, who earned his bachelor’s degree in business marketing last semester and is now pursuing a master’s degree. “I’ve stayed here a lot of summers, but I think that’s the reason I’ve developed into the player that I am.”

The Bobcats men’s team (25­2­7) is No. 1 in two of three national Division I hockey rankings and No. 2 in the other, behind North Dakota. The Quinnipiac women (30­2­5) are No. 4 in all three national rankings.

Boston College is the only other university with its men’s and women’s teams now among the top five. Boston College has won five men’s national

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/sports/hockey/quinnipiac­seeks­celebrations­for­both­of­its­hockey­teams.html?_r=1 1/6 3/30/2016 ‘This Is a Hockey School’: Quinnipiac Students and Polls Agree ­ The New York Times

championships, the first in 1948. Its women’s team, established in 1994, is undefeated this season and has been to the N.C.A.A. Frozen Four five times.

Quinnipiac started a men’s hockey program in 1975 and became a Division I team in 1998. The women’s program began in 2001.

“I didn’t think this is where I’d end up because I’d never heard of them,” said Sydney Rossman, the goaltender for the women’s team, who is from Excelsior, Minn.

Neither the Quinnipiac men nor the women have won an N.C.A.A. championship, although the men came close in 2013, when the Bobcats lost to Yale in the final. It was a bitter loss because Quinnipiac had beaten Yale, which is about 10 miles to the south, three times that season.

The players do not discuss it much, but Quinnipiac can win both titles this year. The men open the ECAC Hockey tournament at home Friday against Cornell, and the women, who won their first ECAC title Sunday, host a first­ round N.C.A.A. tournament game Saturday against Clarkson.

“This is a hockey school,” said Cassandra Turner, the first­year women’s coach. “Students get excited about hockey.”

After pointing out that the men’s team “just got crushed” by attention when it went to the Frozen Four three years ago, Rand Pecknold, who is in his 22nd season as Quinnipiac’s coach, said, “This year, we get to No. 1, and it’s no big deal.”

He said of his players: “They almost expected it, like, ‘Hey, this would happen at some point.’ But it’s really important that we continue to do what we’ve been doing. We can’t stray far from the course.”

The women’s program made its first N.C.A.A. tournament last season, losing in the first round to Harvard. It is excelling again after a difficult off­ season. Last April, Rick Seeley, the coach for seven years, left amid accusations

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/sports/hockey/quinnipiac­seeks­celebrations­for­both­of­its­hockey­teams.html?_r=1 2/6 3/30/2016 ‘This Is a Hockey School’: Quinnipiac Students and Polls Agree ­ The New York Times

of physical and verbal abuse against his players at Quinnipiac and at Clarkson, his previous job. He has sued the university for wrongful termination.

But the team has continued to win under Turner, a 34­year­old native of Campbellford, Ontario, who had been an assistant to Seeley.

“When I came here and first walked in, my first impression was outstanding,” Turner said. “I felt when I walked around, people knew each other, cared for each other. I thought, They’re on to something I don’t know about. It’s like a hidden gene.”

Double N.C.A.A. championships are not unheard­of in this state — the men’s and women’s basketball teams at the University of Connecticut each won national titles in 2004 and 2014 — but Quinnipiac, with an undergraduate enrollment of 9,000, is a third of the size of UConn.

The university is probably still more known nationally for its polling institute, but Quinnipiac also has become a place to track pucks. The players and coaches are celebrities on campus and in the town of Hamden, just to the north of New Haven.

“Oh, people know you,” said Taylar Cianfarano, a sophomore forward for the women’s team from Oswego, N.Y. “A lot of professors are fans, too. They always talk about hockey when you’re in class.”

It is safe to say that hockey would not have become as big at the university without Pecknold’s patience and persistence. He was hired in 1994 to coach the men’s team for $6,700 a year, shuttling back and forth from a teaching job at a high school 70 miles away.

The Quinnipiac team practiced at the town rink, often at midnight, and Pecknold did not get an office until the university converted a janitor’s closet. It was too small for Pecknold and his assistants to share at the same time; someone had to sit on a chair in the hallway.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/sports/hockey/quinnipiac­seeks­celebrations­for­both­of­its­hockey­teams.html?_r=1 3/6 3/30/2016 ‘This Is a Hockey School’: Quinnipiac Students and Polls Agree ­ The New York Times

In 2007, Quinnipiac opened the state­of­the­art $52 million TD Bank Sports Center, with a 3,570­seat basketball arena and a separate 3,386­seat hockey arena, and it quickly turned into a drawing card for prospects. Cianfarano smiled when she called the facility “ridiculous.”

The men’s team scaled to the top in recent years, essentially by recruiting players who bought into the team­first philosophy but may have had less talent or were overlooked by bigger programs. Even now, Pecknold has only two players who have been N.H.L. draft choices; at other top teams, there may be a dozen.

“We’ve definitely moved up the food chain in access to athletes, talent­ wise,” Pecknold, 49, said, before adding: “We need kids with the right type of talent. We need kids with the right type of character. Draft picks aren’t everything, but we do a good job of taking some players passed over.”

Soren Jonzzon, the men’s captain, has a typical Quinnipiac recruit’s story. He was not recruited much because he grew up in Mountain View, Calif., not far from San Jose. His junior teams traveled to the East, but never to Boston or New York.

Jonzzon played in only four games as a freshman but became a valuable player as a junior. After a recent practice, he showed up for an interview with a black eye, reflecting his team’s gritty image.

“You even take guys who were the two draft choices, and they’re going down to block every shot,” Jonzzon said.

The Bobcats have rallied to win eight of the 14 games this season in which they trailed.

“One of the things about this team is that we’re never out of a game,” Jonzzon said. “There’s no panic in our game. There’s no doubt the N.H.L. wants guys who are winners.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/sports/hockey/quinnipiac­seeks­celebrations­for­both­of­its­hockey­teams.html?_r=1 4/6 3/30/2016 ‘This Is a Hockey School’: Quinnipiac Students and Polls Agree ­ The New York Times

There have been plenty of wins at Quinnipiac this season. The men’s and women’s teams share notes and get along well, which, Pecknold said, is not necessarily the case at all universities.

Just about the only thing that is left is to share national championships.

“For both the men’s and women’s teams, it’s a high expectation, a high standard,” Garteig said. “But with the culture we’ve set here, that’s kind of how we think.”

A version of this article appears in print on March 11, 2016, on page B9 of the New York edition with the headline: ‘This Is a Hockey School’: Students and Polls Agree .

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/sports/hockey/quinnipiac­seeks­celebrations­for­both­of­its­hockey­teams.html?_r=1 5/6 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac hockey longs for elusive ECAC tourney title

New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

Quinnipiac hockey longs for elusive ECAC tourney title

By Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register

Thursday, March 17, 2016

HAMDEN >> Quinnipiac might be a lock for its fourth straight NCAA tournament, most likely as a No. 1 seed, but it needed a stern reminder that work remains before the field is announced on Sunday.

When the Bobcats take on Dartmouth today at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York (4:06 p.m., WQUN­1220) it will mark their fifth appearance in the ECAC Hockey semifinals.

Yet they are just 1­4 in the championship round, the lone victory during its first appearance in 2007, when current assistant Reid Cashman was a senior defenseman.

At a team meeting on Saturday night, after losing Game 2 of the quarterfinal series to Cornell, Quinnipiac reminded itself not to sweat the future.

“We’ve actually talked about it a lot,” senior goaltender Michael Garteig said. “One of the older guys got up and said stop worrying about the PairWise stuff, stop worrying about the NCAA tournament stuff because at the end of the day right now, we know we’re going to make the NCAA tournament. But Quinnipiac has never won an ECAC championship. For us seniors, and it goes down to the whole team, we really want to win this championship to do something this school has never done before.”

Quinnipiac (27­3­7) dropped to No. 2 in the national polls after the hiccup against Cornell. It also clocks in second in the PairWise, behind North Dakota, and is expected to be the first­ or second­overall seed when the NCAA field is announced. That means a short trip to either Worcester, Massachusetts or Albany, New York for next weekend’s opening rounds.

Three Cleary Cups as ECAC regular season champion in the past four years is a source of pride. But the lack of a Whitelaw Cup and inability to advance to the league final is a source of contention for players and coaches, though luck hasn’t been on Quinnipiac’s side.

Last March, a knee injury to leading scorer Sam Anas in the quarterfinals sent the Bobcats into a semifinal matchup with dangerous Harvard at less than full strength. A year earlier, they lost in double overtime to Colgate. And in 2013, it was simply a dismal performance in a 4­0 loss to Brown, though Quinnipiac recovered to win the now­defunct consolation game against Yale.

“I think the juniors and seniors are tired of it,” Quinnipiac assistant coach Bill Riga said. “Everything’s great with the Cleary Cup, it’s awesome to win the league and be the top seed. But there’s got to be that burn; that desire.”

Dartmouth (18­15­1) will present challenges. Fresh off a stunning quarterfinal sweep at Yale, in which it was badly outshot and outplayed in the clincher, the Big Green are riding white­hot goaltender Chuck Grant. http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20160317/quinnipiac­hockey­longs­for­elusive­ecac­tourney­title&template=printart 1/2 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac hockey longs for elusive ECAC tourney title Quinnipiac’s depth, smothering defense and puck possession ability make it a handful for any opponent. The key could be Garteig, who bounced back from what he called his worst outing in some time to backbone the clinching victory over Cornell.

A national championship is the ultimate goal, but it’s clear Quinnipiac will treat this weekend with the same mindset.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20160317/quinnipiac­hockey­longs­for­elusive­ecac­tourney­title

© 2016 New Haven Register (http://www.nhregister.com)

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20160317/quinnipiac­hockey­longs­for­elusive­ecac­tourney­title&template=printart 2/2 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac Captain Jonzzon Has Experienced Frozen Four, But Now His Role Is Different ­ Hartford Courant Sports / College Sports Quinnipiac Captain Jonzzon Has Experienced Frozen Four, But Now His Role Is Different

Yale #10 Mitch Witek chased by Quinnipiac #18 Soren Jonzzon. (Stan Godlewski / Special to the Courant)

By Mike Anthony • Contact Reporter

MARCH 22, 2016, 5:56 PM

AMDEN – The last time the Quinnipiac hockey team entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. H 1 overall seed, in 2013, then­freshman Soren Jonzzon was a key member of the penalty killing unit.

Not during games, mind you. Jonzzon's main contribution was to help simulate opponent's formations during practices. He didn't need to pack a uniform for the playoffs. He wore a suit and sat in the stands during postseason games in Lake Placid, N.Y., Providence and Pittsburgh. He played just four games and scored one goal during that program­changing season, which ended with a loss to Yale in the national championship game.

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc­quinnipiac­hockey­0323­20160322­story.html 1/3 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac Captain Jonzzon Has Experienced Frozen Four, But Now His Role Is Different ­ Hartford Courant "But the way our team is, we acknowledge the little things," said Jonzzon, now a senior as Quinnipiac prepares to open the NCAA Tournament Saturday against RIT in Albany, again as the 16­team tournament's top seed. "It's a huge part of why everyone fights so hard for each other and is willing to sacrifice. [Upperclassmen] made us feel that, even though we were just practicing, that we were making the team better."

It's been quite a journey for Jonzzon, voted to be the Bobcats captain in a landslide. He has played all 39 games for Quinnipiac (29­3­7), which will be joined at the East Regional in Albany by Yale and UMass Lowell. There is a doubleheader Saturday at Times Union Arena, with the winners meeting Sunday for a trip to the Frozen Four in Tampa.

Quinnipiac is one victory shy of the program record posted in 2012­13. The Bobcats have prolific scorers in Sam Anas (23 goals, 25 assists) and Travis St. Denis (20, 24), and one of the nation's top goalies in Michael Garteig (seven shutouts, 1.90 goals­against average, .924 save percentage).

But depth and experience have been keys to this run, which started with a 17­game unbeaten streak, and will continue to be. Anas is questionable for Saturday's game after being injured on a hit from behind during Saturday's ECAC championship game victory over Harvard.

Even if Anas plays – "I'm hopeful," is as far as coach Rand Pecknold would go – this will be the second season in a row the Bobcats have begun pursuit of another Frozen Four appearance with their top scorer's health an issue. Anas injured a knee in the ECAC playoffs last season and returned, operating at far below 100 percent, for a first­round NCAA loss to North Dakota.

Jonzzon and other players made available Monday said approach and expectations will not change. Jonzzon has helped set the tone.

"Just an awesome person," Pecknold said. "Impressive is the word to use with Soren. He does everything well. On the ice, off the ice, you couldn't ask for better character. A lot of kids will display character when they know the coach or the dad or whoever is watching over their shoulder. The true testament is, do they do the right thing all the time, when no one is going to pat you on the back for it?"

Like when you're killing penalties in practice, knowing you'll be watching games from afar.

"He's a great example for this program, the type of person the coaches recruit," said St. Denis, also a senior. "The way he's improved over the past four years is very impressive. It kind of leaves a steppingstone for future Bobcats — that, you know, if they don't play freshman year they'll be able to improve their game and get to where Soren is at."

Jonzzon, originally from Mountain View, Calif., has eight goals and nine assists. He left home at 16 to http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc­quinnipiac­hockey­0323­20160322­story.html 2/3 3/30/2016 Quinnipiac Captain Jonzzon Has Experienced Frozen Four, But Now His Role Is Different ­ Hartford Courant focus on junior hockey, living with host families in Kearney, Neb., Waterloo, Iowa, St. Louis and Youngstown, Ohio.

"I've lived with families who are pretty low income, pretty much paycheck to paycheck, and I've lived with families who own businesses and are pretty well off," Jonzzon said. "So it's allowed me to gain cultural experience. I lived with a British family, a Korean family. I think I'm more culturally aware and it's taught me to adapt and understand that, no matter what situation you're placed in, as long as you're flexible and able to adapt, you can thrive."

Twenty­something years ago, Jonzzon's father came to the United States from Sweden as Bernt Jonsson to visit a friend in Oregon, where he met Soren's mother, Kathy. Born and raised in California, Kathy was in Oregon to visit her brother, Rick Bladt, a former Major League Baseball player who played in 1969 with the Cubs and 1975 with the Yankees. When Bernt decided to stay in the U.S., he changed his last name to Jonzzon.

Jonzzon is a biomedical sciences major at Quinnipiac and has applied to a handful of medical schools. He has been named to the ECAC All­Academic Team three times (this season's list will be announced in the coming months).

"As hard as [not playing] was, I never felt I was being shunned or mistreated," Jonzzon said. "I never thought about transferring. The other thing is, outside of hockey, I've loved being at QU. Even though I wasn't playing, it wasn't like I was an extra player. The team is one big unit."

So there was satisfaction for Jonzzon in Quinnipiac's Frozen Four run, even while wearing a suit. There would be even more satisfaction in matching that run as the captain.

"I'm enjoying every second of it," Jonzzon said. "Hopefully we can make a push like we did my freshman year."

Copyright © 2016, Hartford Courant

This article is related to: Ice Hockey, College Sports, Ohio Bobcats, NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Major League Baseball, Providence Friars

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc­quinnipiac­hockey­0323­20160322­story.html 3/3 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Pecknold Named CHN Coach of the Year

March 23, 2016

PECKNOLD NAMED CHN COACH OF THE YEAR

Recommend 52 people recommend this.

CHN Staff Report

PRINCETON, N.J. — Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold, leader of the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, has been named College Hockey News' 2015­16 Coach of the Year.

Pecknold guided the Bobcats to the No. 1 spot in the Pairwise this season, with a 29­3­7 record. Quinnipiac will face RIT in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in Albany.

Quinnipiac has made the NCAAs the last four seasons, and has the most wins in college hockey in that span. It was a Frozen Four participant in 2013. In that span, the Bobcats have also won three ECAC regular­season championships, and this year won their first ECAC tournament championship, defeating Harvard in Lake Placid last Saturday.

Quinnipiac started the season with 11 straight wins and a 17­ game unbeaten streak. Its losses this year have come to Boston University, at St. Lawrence in overtime, and to Cornell in Game 2 of the ECAC quarterfinals.

Pecknold took over at Quinnipiac in 1994, when the program still played as a Division II independent. It moved into the fledgling MAAC in 1999, which changed its name to Atlantic Hockey in 2003. In 2005, Quinnipiac accepted an invitation to join the ECAC after Vermont had departed. (photo: Neil Ament) A list of past CHN Coach of the Year Award winners:

2015 Mel Pearson, Michigan Tech 2014 Rick Bennett, Union 2013 Mike Hastings, Minnesota State 2012 Norm Bazin, Massachusetts­Lowell 2011 tie: Mark Dennehy, Merrimack / Jeff Blashill, Western Michigan 2010 Enrico Blasi, Miami 2009 Keith Allain, Yale 2008 Red Berenson, Michigan 2007 Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame

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March 24, 2016 | Joshua Kloke (//sports.vice.com/ca/contributor/joshua­kloke) HOW QUINNIPIAC BECAME THE TOP COLLEGE HOCKEY TEAM IN AMERICA It's not a strange occurrence for Canadians to play college hockey in the United States. Providence College, last year's NCAA champion, iced a roster with players from Toronto, Montreal and other parts of the country. But Quinnipiac University, the No. 1 ranked team in America and favourite to win the upcoming Frozen Four tournament, does things differently.

There are nine Canadians on the roster, six of whom are from lower and northern British Columbia and played Jr. A hockey in the B.C. Hockey League before enrolling at the university. In total, a whopping 13 players—nearly half the Bobcats roster—made the jump from the BCHL to Quinnipiac.

There are three from Trail, B.C., a small city that sits in the southeastern tip of the province and is a mere 4,400­plus KM from Hamden, Connecticut, and Quinnipiac University. If there's a pipeline that extends between the BCHL and Quinnipiac, it runs east through nearly the entire continent, passing by a number of other top college hockey programs on its path, including Minnesota's No. 2 ranked St. Cloud State, which has only two Canadians on its roster.

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"We've taken more guys out of the BCHL than any other team in Division I," boasts Quinnipiac hockey head coach Rand Pecknold, who has coached the team since 1994. "I don't even think there's a close second.

"There's no question the BCHL is our bread and butter. It's been a phenomenal league for us."

The Bobcats, the Whitelaw Cup champions of ECAC hockey for the first time in team history, enter this weekend's 16­team NCAA tournament with a 29­3­7 record, having lost just one regular season contest since Dec. 12. Pecknold's team featured the best offence in the ECAC with a whopping 3.93 goals scored per game. Quinnipiac is looking to make more history and capture its first NCAA championship.

When Pecknold took over the team in 1994, however, Quinnipiac was not the dominant college hockey force it is today. The Bobcats were a middling Division II team and remained that way for four seasons until the 1998­99 campaign when Quinnipiac made the leap to Division I and posted a 22­4­2 record in its first season.

The jump to Division I would be notable for any school, but for Pecknold the 1998­99 season was especially remarkable in the roster changes that would ultimately alter the course of the university's hockey program for the next two decades.

"When we went Division I we knew we needed to get into Canada in addition to recruiting American kids," Pecknold tells VICE Sports. So they got to work, bringing in Ryan Olson of the Merritt Centennials and Dan Ennis from the Penticton Panthers, two of the first Quinnipiac recruits from the BCHL. How Pecknold found these two players and began mining the BCHL for recruits is the very embodiment of university life: equal parts ingenious thinking and being forced to live on the cheap.

"My parents are both from Vancouver," says Pecknold. "Back then I didn't have any full­time assistants so it was a way for me to go visit my family and also look for players. The flight time to B.C. is about the same as getting in the car and driving to Ontario. Our budget was so low back then—I could stay at my uncle's house or my mom's house and we could save money on the trip, too."

So off Pecknold would go, under the guise of visiting his parents but also to load up the Quinnipiac roster with high­end talent. It was a slow grind at first, as Quinnipiac University didn't have the name brand that many of the established, traditional Division I schools did. But Pecknold aimed for the cream of the crop in the BCHL and hoped once he secured some recruits that others in the league would follow. His plan worked.

Rand Pecknold and his staff have found a gold mine of hockey talent in British Columbia. "We always have high­end kids," he says. "We maybe don't have the depth that some of the established powers do. For us, we need to develop players."

Pecknold has continued making recruiting trips to B.C. but assistant coaches Bill Riga and Reid Cashman now share the load. They really hit pay dirt with Brandon Wong, who started as a freshman at Quinnipiac in 2006 after a BCHL­leading 116­point season. Like wildfire, word began to spread. Wong played with the Bobcats until the 2009­10 season and the following year they welcomed Montrose, B.C.­born identical twins Connor and Kellen Jones, who were fresh off playing for the back­to­back Royal Bank Cup­winning Vernon Vipers. Connor Jones used to marvel at watching Wong as a teenager and was more than happy to follow him to Quinnipiac.

"Going anywhere where you know a lot of people makes you feel more comfortable," says Jones, who now plays for the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers. "Everyone was saying good things so you know you're going to a good program."

Jones and his twin brother were part of a number of British Columbia­bred players on a Quinnipiac team that was really starting to find its stride. In 2012­13, Jones' junior year, the Bobcats lost 4­0 in the NCAA final to Yale University but a firmly­entrenched culture had been established at Quinnipiac: this was now a team led by a core of British Columbia players.

"We really understood each other and that made us closer on and off the ice," says Jones.

"We weren't afraid to call people out," Jones continues, speaking of the team's core. "I don't want to say ruthless, but we told it how it was. If you weren't going to do things the way the core group of guys did then you weren't going to fit in."

Today, many players are more than willing to fall in line. Among them is Travis St. Denis, a Trail, B.C. senior who points to the Jones twins for inspiration in choosing Quinnipiac. St. Denis was part of the 2012 RBC Cup­winning Penticton Vees and was a freshman during the 2013 loss to Yale. Team captain Soren Jonzzon gets another chance for the top prize in his senior year.

"It was the toughest loss of my career," he says. "To get a chance to go back to the Frozen Four is something myself and the other seniors are looking forward to. We still have a sour taste in our mouths from that loss."

It will be St. Denis' last tournament and a chance for him to leave his mark on the program. He finished second on the team in scoring but is just one of many in a long line of British Columbia­ raised players to change the course of this program. Before he leaves Quinnipiac, St. Denis will have done his part as well.

During their most recent round of recruiting, the Bobcats attempted to land 6'1", 205­pound forward and fellow Trail native Scott Davidson, who grew up with St. Denis. Davidson stayed at St. Denis' dorm room when he first came to take a look at the school, and eventually committed to Quinnipiac.

"With the feedback we gave him, I think he made the right decision to come here," says St. Denis. Together, St. Denis, Davidson and the slew of other players born thousands of kilometres away from Quinnipiac University are just four wins shy from bringing the school its first NCAA hockey championship.

"If we play to our identity," Pecknold says, "we will be rewarded."

It took many cross­continent trips and years of positive word of mouth but coach Pecknold's team has established an identity all their own.

All photos courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics

­

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RECOMMENDED 3/30/2016 The Quinnipiac Way: How a college hockey power was born | SI.com

The Quinnipiac Way: How a college hockey power was born

Photo: Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics

by Jeremy Fuchs Posted: Fri Mar. 25, 2016 Updated: Sat Mar. 26, 2016

HAMDEN, CT — Rand Pecknold took the job as men's hockey coach at the school that’s hard to pronounce (KWIN­uh­pe­ack) because it meant $6,700 and a position in the sport.

"I easily could’ve quit," he says. "Nobody would’ve blamed me. We had nothing. I couldn’t feed the guys when we went on the road. We didn’t have a budget to play a full schedule. This was about as Mickey Mouse as it gets."

So he slogged through midnight practices at the town rink in Northford, CT. He got home at 2:30 a.m., slept until 6 a.m., woke up, taught at a local high school and came home for a three­hour nap. At 6 p.m. he'd drive 71 miles to the Quinnipiac University campus to recruit players and try to figure out how to bolster his team. Then he started it all over again with practice at midnight.

“It was one of the hardest years of my life,” Pecknold told SI.com while sitting in his office at the TD Bank Sports Center, under a whiteboard with not­quite­erased diagrams. “And there we were with one win, and I’m like, ‘What am I doing?’”

Now, 22 years later, Pecknold has taken his team from the bowels of a public rink that had a curtain separating the home and visiting locker rooms to the top of the NCAA rankings, the number one seed heading into this weekend’s national tournament. It’s been the turnaround of a lifetime, from 1­12­1 in his first 14 games as coach to 29­3­7 this season and the cusp of the national championship. But this is not just about the boys. It turns out the program that started in the town rink now has something http://www.si.com/nhl/2016/03/25/qunnipiac­hockey­2016­ncaa­hockey­tournament 1/6 3/30/2016 The Quinnipiac Way: How a college hockey power was born | SI.com else: a pretty damn good women’s team.

Photo: Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics

Pecknold kickstarted the rise of Quinnipiac hockey, but it was turbo­ charged by a new arena. Home games were played at the Northford Ice Pavilion, some eight miles from campus, even after Quinnipiac moved from NCAA Division II to Division I in 1998 before joining hockey heavyweights like Harvard, Yale and Cornell in the ECAC in 2005. The Bobcats used to play Yale at the Bulldogs’ Ingalls Rink in New Haven, as the home team. The full transformation of this afterthought hockey program finally came with the opening in 2007 of the $52 million TD Bank Sports Center. Built as part of a larger $360 million investment in a second campus, the arena proved to be an invaluable draw for top recruits who otherwise wouldn't have heard of the school with the funny name.

“It’s amazing,” says Cydney Roesler, a senior defenseman and captain of the women’s team. “Coming in and seeing it for the first time was a huge eye opener. We’re spoiled.”

The arena also hosts the basketball program and is state of the art in every way. There are weight rooms with every machine imaginable, and recovery and rehab areas with trainers flowing in and out. There are lounges for both men and women and a locker room that’s bigger than most professional teams use. It’s a full city in the midst of a bustling campus.

“Before we had this, we couldn’t have elite players,” Pecknold says.

The first­rate arena also helped to galvanize Quinnipiac's students into supporting the hockey teams. But it doesn’t fully explain how the men’s team is now the best in the country, and the women’s squad finished the season at a respectable No. 5. No, to fully understand how that happened, you need to know about the Quinnipiac Way.

By the book

Pecknold and first year women’s coach Cassie Turner may have arrived at http://www.si.com/nhl/2016/03/25/qunnipiac­hockey­2016­ncaa­hockey­tournament 2/6 3/30/2016 The Quinnipiac Way: How a college hockey power was born | SI.com the school at different times, but they are eerily similar. Independent of each other and unprompted, they both bring up the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck as something that’s had a major influence on their coaching styles and they discuss the importance of creating a supportive culture. They both mention their obsessive video watching habits and talk about how they want their teams to be incredibly hard to play against.

The two coaches have worked relentlessly to create a culture that puts the team above everything else, but it’s so welcoming that once they get a recruit on campus, the kid rarely decides to go elsewhere. Take men’s team captain and senior forward Soren Jonzzon, for example, who grew up in California. “I didn’t know what Quinnipiac was,” he says in the women’s lounge, a scruffy blonde beard covering his face. “But when I came out on my official visit, the school was gorgeous, the rink was top notch. The vibe I got was something I wanted to be a part of.”

Or consider sophomore forward Taylar Cianfarano, the most outstanding forward at the U­18 championships in Hungary in 2014. Powerhouses like Wisconsin and Minnesota wanted her services. “I absolutely fell in love with the campus,” she says. “I felt I was at home right away.”

Then there's freshman forward Melissa Samoskevich, who was named the All­USA Girls Hockey Player of the Year in 2015. “I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with it like I did,” she says. “Once I stepped on campus, I got that feeling. It was awesome. I knew right away.”

The culture at Quinnipiac is simple: Both teams have a close bond. They travel in packs, with 28 of the 30 men’s players attending a recent Florida Georgia Line concert together. Freshmen, like “Samo,” are comfortable chirping at the seniors. That togetherness is a crucial element in recruiting. The men’s team scours far­flung leagues like the BCHL for players who might be a bit slow, a bit small, like junior defenseman Devon Toews—no relation to Jonathan, the Chicago Blackhawks captain—who was only 5’2”, 102 pounds during his bantam draft year. Once he grew a little and found his niche at Quinnipiac, he became a fourth­round draft pick of the New York Islanders in 2014. http://www.si.com/nhl/2016/03/25/qunnipiac­hockey­2016­ncaa­hockey­tournament 3/6 3/30/2016 The Quinnipiac Way: How a college hockey power was born | SI.com Even as Toews and his stock grew, he turned down a chance to play for the Vancouver Giants in the WHL. “I didn’t want to leave,” he says.

Photo: Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics

Turner’s style has been critical for a women’s team that could have fallen into turmoil. After last season, the school fired coach Rick Seeley, who then filed a wrongful termination suit, citing a five­year contract extension he signed in February, according to court documents. The case remains on the docket at the New Haven County Courthouse. With cloud of the lawsuit hovering over the school, Turner took over after seven years as an assistant and made the program her own.

“We talked about being hard to play against,” she says in her spare office a few doors down from Pecknold’s. “We very quickly created an environment where we were working towards the same goal. It’s a really honest culture, a supportive culture.”

Turner, who played college hockey at Brown, works with her husband, Paul Nemetz­Carlson, the director of women’s hockey operations with whom she recruited most of the team's current players. “I’ve never had a coach that works that hard,” Samoskevich says. “She told us she was up until 5 a.m. looking at video. It’s mind­blowing.”

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To Turner, it's all a labor of love. “I’m lucky,” she says. “I really am. I drive up that hill and I take a deep breath and acknowledge the fact that, ‘wow, I get to be a part of this.’ I feel refreshed every day when I come to work. I’ve felt that way for the eight years I’ve been here. What they’ve provided for the men and us is a recipe for success. Just when I think I have it all, they do something to support us in a different way.”

Though it lost to rival Clarkson in the first round of this year's NCAA tournament, the women’s team still had its best year in program history, http://www.si.com/nhl/2016/03/25/qunnipiac­hockey­2016­ncaa­hockey­tournament 4/6 3/30/2016 The Quinnipiac Way: How a college hockey power was born | SI.com posting a 30­3­5 record. When told of her success, Turner shrugged. “I don’t think I accomplished something that is ridiculously amazing,” she says. “I think I did my job.”

Photo: Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics

In 2013, out of nowhere, Quinnipiac's men's team ended up in the NCAA championship game against Yale. The Bobcats had beaten their neighbors seven miles to the south three times. Pecknold still believes he had the best team in college hockey that year. But it lost 4–0, a case of the big boys beating up on little brother. This year is different. The Bobcats have lost only three games all season. They have the fourth­ranked offense, the sixth­ranked defense. They have the fifth­ranked power play, the third­ ranked penalty kill. But they’re not thinking about winning the crown, not yet. Their focus is on that first­round matchup against RIT.

When the subject of the championship is brought up, Jonzzon knocks on wood. If the Bobcats prevail in the Frozen Four in Tampa on April 7­9, he will lead them in a song with lyrics we can’t disclose on a family website, a rendition that's likely to be so loud the ghosts of those midnight practices will hear it back at the old rink in Northford.

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Heart of a Transfer: Switching to Quinnipiac just may have saved life of Long Island’s K.J. Tiefenwerth

BY BERNIE AUGUSTINE Follow / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS / Updated: Saturday, March 26, 2016, 10:38 PM A A A

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JOHN HASSETT 860­918­0648 K.J. Tiefenwerth’s journey to playing for No. 1 overall seed Quinnipiac in NCAA hockey tournament includes having open­heart surgery to remove tumor. Vacchiano's Giants Mailbag: The NFL Draft and No. 10 pick High school hockey Nancy Tiefenwerth sat in the parking lot, looked at her son and cried. hero scores winner after father's death It was supposed to be a routine doctor’s visit for her son, K.J., who was transferring Giants prospect Jake from UMass to Quinnipiac and needed to take what was supposed to be a simple Raissman: Francesa two­faced on Knicks Smith worked way up Melo­Dolan drama from grounds crew physical.

SEE IT: Undefeated Mass. wrestler gives It wasn’t. opponent a big win Tom Coughlin not doing ‘very well’ without http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 1/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News The transfer documents from Quinnipiac required a cardiac clearance. She asked the football family doctor to refer her to a cardiologist.

They made an appointment and an EKG was performed. The results were normal, but High school basketball guard can’t stop the doctor noticed that the documents included language about an optional staring at reporter echocardiogram, which offers a more precise picture of a heart’s health. It was up to K.J. if he wanted to take the test. Bosox reporter Moran resigns amid John OAKLAND U.'S MAX HOOPER ABLE TO SHARE SENIOR NIGHT WITH DAD Farrell dating rumors

“So the doctor says, ‘Do you have five minutes?’” Nancy Tiefenwerth remembers. Prosecutors move to drop charges against In those five minutes, life changed for K.J. Tiefenwerth, of Bellmore, L.I. Picabo Street

The doctor came back and told them that there was a tumor, most likely benign, on the valve of his heart; a papillary fibroelastoma. Five Carmelo Anthony trade scenarios that could work “I took the test and it was there, clear as day. It looked like an M&M on a string wobbling off the valve of my heart,” K.J. says of the initial scan.

“They showed me and my husband and we saw this tumor hanging off of this part of his heart, and just as he breathed it would move,” Nancy says. PROMOTED STORIES

The doctor recommended that they get some opinions and consult a surgeon. 12 Mysterious Photos That Cannot be Explained “What do you mean a surgeon,” Nancy remembers asking. Definition

9­YEAR­OLD WITH CEREBRAL PALSY WINS EVERTON'S GOAL OF MONTH What the 'Perfect' Female Body Looks Like Around the World (PHOTOS) While shaken by the initial news, The Stir she thought that they would be able to treat it with medicine, or 22 Co­Stars That Hated Each Other Bustle maybe go in arthroscopically to remove the mass. The doctor told them that, normally, open­heart The World Was Not Ready For Her Emmys surgery was needed in cases like After Party Dress K.J.’s. Livingly

“I looked at my mom and her face kinda dropped,” K.J. says.

They contacted a doctor that the family knew and scheduled an Editor's Picks appointment for the following Isola: Mega­deal that would send Melo to morning. After a sleepless night in Cavs still possible the Tiefenworth household, Dr. Ezra Deutsch confirmed the diagnosis and agreed with the Bills LB Tony Steward releases statement recommendation for surgery. There on death of fiancée were more visits with doctors and additional confirmations of the initial diagnosis. Of the four heart Ray Lewis is charged with the fatal http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 2/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News doctors he met with over the next stabbing two men in 2000 two days, K.J. says three recommended immediate surgery. Dr. Robert Kalimi ultimately Sore­loser Coach K lectures Oregon's performed the surgery at Southside Brooks after Duke loss Hospital in Bayshore, L.I., on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, five days after the initial diagnosis. Yankees Insider: Tanaka takes Larry’s advice, turns up heat “He ran his forefingers down my chest and he said: ‘We’re gonna

split you open, we’re going to snip Yankees turn ruthless in Twitter beef with it, we’re going to sew you back up Cubs over rings and you’re going to be good to go,’” K.J. Tiefenwerth remembers. “I cringed when he ran his fingers Mets Insider: Starlin Castro fears Noah down my chest.” Syndergaard

* * *

Jay Glazer has YUGE revelation about Mike The Tiefenwerths are a hockey Francesa family.

K.J. grew up playing hockey, Raissman: Walt 'Clyde' Frazier goes after tracing his older brother C.J.’s LeBron James grooves in the ice. Their younger JOHN HASSETT 860­918­0648 K.J. Tiefenwerth sister, Allee, plays high school lacrosse. Joe Montana paints bleak picture of his post­football life Any family with a hockey player in it knows the sacrifices that have to be made in order to play and improve. Rinks are scarce and ice time is hard to find. Weekends are spent shuttling back and forth from the house, or hotel, to the games. Sports stars lost in 2016 And as K.J. began to show promise, the car’s odometer got a workout. Before long, K.J.’s dad Dennis was driving him to Connecticut twice a week for practice. He’d do his homework at the rink, or in the car, go through practice and then get back in the car for the two­hour ride home. Home games were in Connecticut, and they’d routinely The life and career of baseball legend Joe play at rinks around the tristate. DiMaggio

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“We never had a home game that was close to home,” Nancy Tiefenwerth says.

Following two years of prep school and two years playing junior hockey in Boston, Tiefenwerth enrolled at UMass in 2012.

But something wasn’t right. The coach he had committed to, Don http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 3/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News (Toot) Cahoon, stepped down before his freshman year and Tiefenwerth clashed with his replacement, John Micheletto. He had a meeting with Micheletto and told him that he planned to transfer. Quinnipiac had recruited Tiefenwerth before he committed to UMass, and the Bobcats pounced THE 2016 on the opportunity to bring him to NISSAN MAXIMA ® *More Loan Information Hamden, Conn.

“The main thing that I liked was his hockey IQ,” Rand Pecknold, Quinnipiac’s head coach of 22 MOST POPULAR years, says of Tiefenwerth. “There are a lot of kids at this level that MOST READ MOST SHARED can make plays in practice, but 1 Mehta's Jets Draft Preview: 4 players that when the pace picks up in games make sense at 20 they struggle a little bit. K.J. has 2 Masahiro Tanaka 'dialed it up' in four that unique ability to make plays innings vs. Phillies when the pressure is on.” 3 Odell Beckham gets massive back tattoo with NY skyline

* * * 4 Doc: Harvey's 'holding it in' could explain K.J. Tiefenwerth has open­heart surgery just three weeks before blood in urine being best man at brother C.J.'s wedding. Carmelo still pumped to play in Olympics For 30 minutes, K.J. Tiefenwerth’s 5 despite Paul's call heart did not beat. 6 Knicks coach, Afflalo have miscommunication over demotion The entire surgery took somewhere between two­and­a­half to three hours, Kalimi 7 Harvey had blood clot in bladder, will start remembers, with an hour on each end for K.J. to go under anesthesia and to come out Opening Day of it, and another hour for the blood to recirculate through the body once the procedure 8 Raissman: Walt 'Clyde' Frazier goes after was done. LeBron James 9 Melo not mad at security after hug from kid He opened K.J. at the breastbone and attached his heart to a heart­lung machine, or in New Orleans CPB (cardiopulmonary bypass), which maintains blood and oxygen flow during 10 Rangers let Eric Staal travel early to be with family surgery.

“As a heart surgeon, it’s not as complicated as it sounds,” says Kalimi, the vice chairman of cardiovasclar and thoracic surgery at Southside Hospital. “We stop the heart from beating for about 30 minutes so we can open the chamber, remove the tumor and restart the heart.”

While surgeries like K.J.’s are routine for Kalimi, he did say that K.J.’s tumor was “very rare” and that papillary fibroelastomas make up “only one out of every 10 tumors.”

“Heart tumors are rare in general,” he said, adding that the success rate in cases like THE 2015 K.J.’s is very high. ® NISSAN VERSA NOTE ® *More Cash Back Information That said, there were still obvious concerns heading into the surgery, including the possibility that K.J. might not be able to play hockey again. If, for some reason, the valve where the tumor was resting needed to be removed, his days playing hockey http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 4/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News would be over.

Naturally, when he woke up, it was his only concern.

“He wasn’t even coherent and he was trying to ask the doctor a question, but we $ 509.40 couldn’t even hear him. We weren’t sure if he was in pain or what. We didn’t even know what he was trying to say,” Nancy Tiefenwerth says. “Finally he wrote down ‘DID YOU REPLACE VALVE?’ That’s all that was on his mind, because hockey is his life.” Westinghouse 18.0 Cu. Ft. Top Freezer Refrigerator ­ White

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K.J. Tiefenwerth delivers his best­man speech at his brother's wedding.

The recovery was grueling, both physically and mentally.

It would be a week before he could walk, and longer still before he could take the ice again. Tiefenwerth said it was a good year before he began to feel normal again.

But before putting on his blue and gold sweater, Tiefenwerth wore a black tie.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 5/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News His older brother, C.J., who wouldn’t leave K.J.’s bedside following the surgery, got married a few weeks later and K.J. was there as the best man.

“The doctor said before the surgery, ‘Listen, he is going to be at that wedding. I can’t tell you that he’ll be dancing, but he will be there,’” Nancy Tiefenwerth recalls.

K.J. stood at his brother’s side and gave his speech.

“There were 200 people in the room and you could hear a pin drop,” Nancy Tiefenwerth says, choking back tears.

And K.J. danced.

* * *

When he arrived at Quinnipiac in the fall, it was uncharted waters for everyone.

Tiefenwerth had no idea how his body would respond following the surgery, and Pecknold had never coached a player who had gone through anything remotely similar. The learning curve was steep.

“It’s a very unique situation and I would say that I had to adapt in terms of allowing the athletic trainer to do his job,” Pecknold says. “First and foremost we want K.J. to be healthy and safe. There were times in the first year where they would say ‘Hey, he’s done for the day’ and I would have to say ‘OK’ and adjust and adapt.

“Now, I treat him like any other player. Unless they tell me, ‘Hey we have to modify something’ — and they haven’t — I’m not gonna cut any corners for him and I don’t think he wants me to cut any corners for him. He wants to be treated like an elite Division I athlete, which he is. We push him hard and I don’t think K.J. would want me to treat him differently from any other player.”

K.J. Tiefenwerth with his nephew Carter. While Tiefenwerth has emerged as a key contributor this season for the Bobcats — who won their NCAA Tournament opener 4­0 over RIT on Saturday as the No. 1 overall seed — it was a long time getting here.

Adjusting to a new program as a transfer can be tricky. NCAA rules force transfers to sit out for a year, so there’s a natural feeling of isolation. Tiefenwerth’s heart condition http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 6/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News compounded that; he’d spend as much time with trainers, if not more, than with his teammates.

“Any time you take a transfer and they have to sit for a year, it’s really difficult mentally,” Pecknold said. “They don’t feel fully engaged and part of the team. It’s a hard year to endure and it’s hard thing to keep working every day in practice to realize, hey, this is gonna make me better for next year.”

But Tiefenwerth did put in the work, and his teammates noticed.

“Guys would hop on the ice early so I wouldn’t feel like I was out there by myself,” he said of the things teammates would do to make him feel included. “They took some notice that I was out there on my own and they would come out there and help me out.”

Tiefenwerth wore a heart monitor and the red, non­contact jersey during practices. There were times he would have to pull himself out of practice because he was pushing himself “to kinda try to keep up with the guys and prove myself,” which in turn elevated his heart rate. He and Pecknold would meet often during his redshirt season, as both were going through something that was completely foreign. He’d get extra work in with Brijesh Patel, the strength and conditioning coach, three or four days a week as he began to ramp up his recovery, and by the end of that first year could feel himself regaining his pre­surgery form.

“There were several times working out where I felt a difference. It was night and day from when I got into Quinnipiac from when I left,” Tiefenwerth said. “I knew I would be able to compete again after I left campus at the end of my first year.”

* * *

JOHN HASSETT 860­918­0648 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 7/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News

K.J. Tiefenwerth has played in every game this season for the top­ranked Bobcats.

Tiefenwerth made his Quinnipiac debut at UMass­Lowell on Oct. 17, 2014. Had he not transferred, Tiefenwerth might not have been playing hockey that day, or in this NCAA Tournament.

The doctors couldn’t tell Nancy Tiefenwerth exactly how the tumor developed on her son’s heart. He could have been born with it or it could have been hereditary, though she says there’s no history of heart disease in her family. They just know that they caught it just in time.

“The key in this thing is to find it before it causes a real problem,” Kalimi says. “If it grows, it can become very mobile. It can travel into the brain and cause a stroke. Or it could lead to a heart attack. It could block an artery.”

“I try not to think about it,” K.J. says.

The NCAA does not require student­athletes to undergo electrocardiograms, and instead follows the American Heart Association’s recommendation of a 14­point checklist to help determine cardiac health; high blood pressure, chest pains, and heart murmurs are among the warning signs on the screening process. The organization cautions that EKGs can miss conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart’s muscles that can lead to sudden cardiac death. A 2014 study by the AHA found that cardiovascular issues were to blame for the deaths of four NCAA athletes that year.

Quinnipiac follows the NCAA’s guidelines on EKGs and recommends that transfer athletes have their personal doctors perform physical exams. The fact that Tiefenwerth’s doctor spotted the optional echo scan, and that Tiefenwerth wanted to be thorough upon entering a new school and opted for it, was “absolute blind luck,” says Ken Sweeten, the school’s assistant athletic director.

“I’ve gotten physicals every year, since I can remember, just to play hockey,” Tiefenwerth said. “UMass required one as well and it just didn’t happen that way. I guess you could look at it and say that transferring saved my life. It could have been a lot worse and I could’ve suffered a stroke or a heart attack or something along those lines if I hadn’t transferred here. A lot of things had to fall in line for it to happen. It’s somewhat of a blessing in disguise.”

* * *

Now at full strength, Tiefenwerth is fulfilling the promise he showed that had programs like Boston College, UMass and Quinnipiac interested in him in the first place.

He’s played in all 39 games for the 29­3­7 Bobcats, with seven goals (sixth­best on the team) and 20 points. He scored a goal at Madison Square Garden, a dream come true even for an Islanders fan who grew up 10 minutes from the Coliseum. “Uncle K” is a hero to his brother’s 18­month­old son, Carter.

“Proud,” C.J. Tiefenwerth says. “It’s supposed to be the other way around. He’s http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 8/11 3/30/2016 Transfer to Quinnipiac may have saved Tiefenwerth's life ­ NY Daily News supposed to be looking up to me but I’m looking up to him.”

“He’s still the brother that I knew before the surgery; kind, loving and wants to make everybody happy. If it did change him, it changed him for the better.”

On the ice, Pecknold sees more than points and plus­minus ratings in Tiefenwerth.

His team plays a demanding, shot­blocking style of play. Pecknold calls it “a 200­foot game,” which requires every player to be a two­way player, and Tiefenwerth, who Pecknold says was always a gifted offensive player but has worked to become an all­ around one, has come to embody that style.

“I remember that early this season he had a couple of huge shot blocks in some pivotal games,” Pecknold says. “You don’t get written up in the papers for that. That’s something that your coaches and teammates see, that, hey, you’re willing to make a sacrifice to help us win. We talk about eating pucks. It’s coming at you 80, 90, 95 mph. It’s a big part of the game if you want to win. We do it all year long and it’s part of our DNA. It hurts to block shots! You gotta have an edge to ya to do it.”

Or heart.

TAGS: umass , long island , upstate new york , connecticut , uplifting stories , quinnipiac , college hockey

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10 Homely TV Characters and How the Actresses Really Look The Stir http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/transfer­quinnipiac­saved­tiefenwerth­life­article­1.2578630 9/11 3/30/2016 Sam Anas Returns With A Vengeance, Sends Quinnipiac To Frozen Four ­ Hartford Courant Sports Sam Anas Returns With A Vengeance, Sends Quinnipiac To Frozen Four

Quinnipiac's Sam Anas (7) celebrates his goal against UMass Lowell during the second period of the NCAA men's East Regional championship hockey game on Sunday, March 27, 2016, in Albany, N.Y. (Mike Groll / Associated Press)

By Jeff Jacobs • Contact Reporter Jeff Jacobs

MARCH 28, 2016, 12:08 AM

LBANY — He took two penalties, and the first put his team in an early hole. He took a second A minor and midway through the second period Sam Anas jumped out of the penalty box and decided to do something about it.

Anas has been a man of some mystery since Harvard's Luke Esposito crushed the junior forward into the boards last weekend in the finals of the ECAC Tournament. The exact nature of his injury and how much he could play in the East Regional was a carefully guarded secret.

This is no mystery: Quinnipiac is returning to the Frozen Four for the second time in four seasons.

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc­jacobs­column­0328­20160327­column.html 1/5 3/30/2016 Sam Anas Returns With A Vengeance, Sends Quinnipiac To Frozen Four ­ Hartford Courant The Bobcats listed Anas as a game­time decision in both games of the NCAA East Regional over the weekend. After a trip to Tampa, Fla., for a showdown with Boston College was ensured Sunday night with an emotional 4­1 victory over UMass Lowell at Times Union Arena, it also was clear that Anas had no intention of sitting out this night.

"It was kind of a stressful weekend," Anas said. "But in the end it was playoff hockey and the chance to go to Tampa at the best time of the year. I don't think there was any way I wasn't going to allow myself not play. The doctors did a great job getting me ready."

Anas took a hooking penalty only 105 seconds into the game and Dylan Zink made him pay, driving a one­timer from the right point past goalie Michael Garteig at 3:01.

"It's the walk of shame [returning to the bench] when they score and you are in the box," Anas said. "Definitely to start the game, especially in such a big game as this, it didn't feel good."

The Bobcats grew stronger as the first period went on, but what they couldn't do was put one behind Hockey East co­player of the year Kevin Boyle. The Quinnipiac seniors have more wins than any in the nation. They have secured 112 victories. What they don't have is a national championship. Garteig, Soren Jonzzon, Travis St. Denis, Alex Miner­Barron helped produce the most consistent season in college hockey, a season that was put in some peril by that early power­play goal.

"There was no panic," Anas said. "We were outplaying them. We knew if we kept it up in the second period we've be rewarded."

That's when Anas went off for his second penalty, tripping at 8:21.

"I have a pretty active stick, I try to pick guy's pockets," Anas said. "The first one my stick got caught up in his arm and he got twisted up. They have to call that. The second one I'm getting in [forechecking deep], I tried to get my stick on the puck and clipped the back of his leg and he goes down. That's hockey.

"I only had three penalties all season. I had three this weekend."

That's when Anas jumped back on the ice two minutes later determined to do something about that 1­0 deficit. There are few players better than ones with a guilty conscience.

"To get another penalty, I was really glad the team was able to bail me out there and kill it off," Anas said. "Coming out of the box, you've got so much emotion."

Landon Smith chipped a clearing pass ahead through the neutral zone and there was Anas getting the

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc­jacobs­column­0328­20160327­column.html 2/5 3/30/2016 Sam Anas Returns With A Vengeance, Sends Quinnipiac To Frozen Four ­ Hartford Courant puck back to Smith for a shot that beat Boyle. Tie game.

"I don't know what happened, the way the puck bounced it went right to Landon," Anas said. "His release is awesome. That's a pro shot right there. He caught the goalie off guard, beautiful shot low blocker. It started everything for us."

The tie didn't last for long, only for 1:38 to be exact.

Anas grew up in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. He will never be confused for the Washington Monument. Standing only 5­8 and weighing 165 pounds — hey, he showed up at Quinnipiac weighing 150, arguably the lightest player in major college hockey at that point — Anas has long relied on his skating, his skill and his hockey IQ.

They were all on display on his goal at 12:11 of the second period. Anas poked the puck behind defenseman Chris Forney as he stepped up at the red line. Anas chased it down himself and broke in 2­ on­1 with Smith against Tommy Panico.

"I knew their defenseman [Panico] took away Landon, so I basically had a little mini­breakaway," Anas said. "Looking at the video, Boyle really likes to challenge. I figured if I gave a little shot fake he'd probably go down. So it did it and pulled to my backhand. I've done that move a couple of times before and trusted myself."

Yes, trusted himself to score a spectacular goal, the puck rising over Boyle into the top shelf. The last time he pulled the move?

"It might have been juniors," Anas said, smiling. "A couple of times in practice. The heat of the moment, I don't know how I pulled it off and didn't miss the net.'

Anas figured he weighed 120 pounds his junior year in high school and got up to 130 his senior year. The little guy obviously has never shied away from the big moment. Back when he played for Youngstown of the USHL, he got on ESPN's top 10 plays on a between­the­legs, backhand­to­forehand goal in a shootout. The little guy knows how to put on a big show.

"To see him battle through an injury and do the things he does really picks up the boys," Smith said. "It's like, hey, if he's battling the way he is, we've got to step it up, too. It's huge for our team."

"It takes a lot of courage not only to play but to show up perform the way he did this weekend," Garteig said. "It's pretty special."

Scott Davidson scored from what appeared to be an impossible angle late in the second to make it 3­1

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc­jacobs­column­0328­20160327­column.html 3/5 3/30/2016 Sam Anas Returns With A Vengeance, Sends Quinnipiac To Frozen Four ­ Hartford Courant and St. Denis added another in the third period.

The Bobcats, who finished with a 35­15 shot bulge, took control of this one. They showed why they entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. They showed why they are ranked No. 1 in both polls.

"We don't comment on injuries," was Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold's go­to quote this past week. He could comment on getting to the Frozen Four.

"We're thrilled," he said.

He could comment on Anas' play.

"He's a phenomenal hockey player and even better person," Pecknold said. "He has a letter on his shirt for a reason."

There had been sort of an eerie deja vu hanging around the Bobcats after Esposito went off for that boarding major last weekend. Anas went out last year with a knee injury when Quinnipiac lost in the ECAC semifinals to Colgate. Anas played, but at considerably less than full tilt in the NCAA first­round loss to North Dakota.

If it is a shoulder injury this time as many assume, well, he certainly knows how to use that part of his body to shoulder Quinnipiac's offensive load.

"He's somebody who probably at 60 percent is as good as some guys at 100 percent," UMass Lowell coach Norm Bazin said. "Tonight, he showed why."

Pecknold said he had a player ready to go Friday for the 4­0 victory over RIT just in case Anas couldn't play. Sunday, he said he thought he had a player ready to go but he wasn't ready to suit up yet. It was OK.

"It obvious is sore from playing the game yesterday but it feels pretty good right now that we're headed to Tampa," said Anas, who picked up an assist against RIT.

Anas was able to get from Youngstown, where he was still playing for the Phantoms of the USHL, to Pittsburgh for the 2013 Frozen Four semifinal games. That night culminated with a Bobcats victory over St. Cloud. But he had a game the same day as the national championship and he missed the final.

He dearly wants to be there this time.

"We're not going there to get a tan," Anas said. "We're going there to bring back some hardware." http://www.courant.com/sports/hc­jacobs­column­0328­20160327­column.html 4/5 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Thrills and Redemption

March 28, 2016

THRILLS AND REDEMPTION

Anas' Special Moment Helps Lift Quinnipiac to Frozen Four

Sam Anas roofs a backhander past Lowell goalie Kevin Boyle, putting his team on top to stay. (photo: Gabrielle Dungan)

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by Joshua Seguin/Staff Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. — The last time Quinnipiac made the Frozen Four, a special performance from its "undersized" star forward carried the way. Matthew Peca, then a junior, had four goals on the weekend, including the fastest hat trick in NCAA tournament history, to lift Quinnipiac to Pittsburgh in 2013.

In many ways, Sam Anas was brought in to be the heir apparent to Peca, a similarly­sized, similarly­gifted forward. And Anas continued that legacy this Related Articles weekend, setting up the tying goal and scoring a brilliant winning goal, all while playing hurt, leading Quinnipiac back to See all of Sam Anas the Frozen Four with a 4­1 win over Massachusetts­Lowell on Sunday night. CHN's http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2016/03/28_thrills_and_redemption.php 1/3 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Thrills and Redemption But it was also about redemption. After Anas Contributes in Win Anas took two hooking penalties in the Tournament Game Changer first two periods, the first of which led to Anas Still the Spark For No. 1 Lowell's only goal, there was some coverage: Quinnipiac question as to whether Anas was doing articles, Anas Out For ECACs, Possibly any good even being in the lineup. Beyond brackets, "It was definitely like the walk of shame, when they score and you're in the box," history and Quinnipiac Anas said. "It didn't feel good." more. The question was whether his injury was College Hockey News a factor in him taking penalties. Anas Announces All­CHN Teams said not. Mental Block Deep Breaths "Whether I am hurt or not, I have a pretty active stick," Anas said. "I Anas Contributes in Win try to pick guys pockets. I understand they had to call the first one and the second one I clipped the back of his leg, he went down. That is hockey. It had nothing to do with injury, just how it happened."

After he got out of the box the second time, he answered all those questions.

First, Anas caused a turnover that sent linemate Landon Smith into the zone. Smith buried it with a nice wrister. Redemption number one.

"That one was more of just a bouncing puck," Anas said. "The way it bounced, it went right to Landon. His shot, went low blocker. That really got us going."

Soon thereafter came Anas' true moment — he broke out on a 2­on­1 with Smith. As everyone waited for him to pass, he deked a shot, pulled the puck to his left, got in tight, and top­shelfed a backhand that dropped onlookers' jaws. Quinnipiac had a 2­1 lead and never looked back.

"I have seen Sam do (that move) in practice," Qunnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. "He is such a smart player. We talked a lot about how (Lowell goalie Kevin) Boyle challenges, I think he challenges more than any goalie in the country. Being the goal­scorer Sam is, he faked the shot and brought it around him. It was pretty impressive by him."

Just as impressive, perhaps, was what started the play. Quinnipiac broke up a play and the puck bounced into the neutral zone. Anas and Lowell's Chris Forney went after it, and Anas exposed his injured right shoulder to poke the puck past Forney just enough to enable himself to skate around and get behind him, causing a 2­on­1. If the timing was a little end, it could easily have ended Anas' season.

"I just kind of came down the wing, because the defenseman took away the chance to pass it to Landon (Smith)," Anas said. "We had a mini breakaway. We looked at video before the game and Boyle likes to challenge. I knew if I gave a little shot­fake, he might go down.

"I have made that move a couple of times before. I trusted myself and it worked out well. The last time may have been in juniors, but a couple of times in practice. In the heat of the moment, I don't know how I actually got it in the net."

Few people would have.

"Everyone knows that Sam is a huge part of our team," Smith said. "To see him come out how he did, given the circumstances, it is really big. Once the rest of the guys saw that, we realized we had to step our game up as well."

Though Quinnipiac was coy about the exact nature of the injury, everyone knew that Sam Anas was playing injured this weekend. Last weekend he was checked hard in the ECAC championship game, going down favoring his right shoulder. This weekend it was bothering him, but not enough to keep him out of the lineup.

"For us, it was a lot of momentum just to get him to play," Pecknold said. "We didn't know how much he would be able to play. I thought he would be able to play all three periods today, but he was done after the second. He may have played one shift.

"I thought I over­played him in the first and second, because I thought we need to win this game now. In hindsight I should have saved him, but we won the game so we move on. So I guess not."

In the second game of the weekend, it was bothering him more but it didn't keep him out.

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2016/03/28_thrills_and_redemption.php 2/3 3/30/2016 College Hockey News: Thrills and Redemption "It obviously was a little sore today after playing the game yesterday," Anas said. "It sure feels better now seeing we are heading to Tampa. That is all that matters to me."

Anas is probably the life­blood of this Quinnipiac team. When the goings were rough, he bailed his team out. It wasn't just tonight, it was all season, as he racked up timely goal after timely goal.

"That's the player he is, he's going to battle night in and night out, whether he's scoring goals or whether he's not, he's going to play his best hockey," Quinnipiac defenseman Devon Toews said. "That's what we love about him, that's what we need from him, and the fact that he was able to play was huge for us, and he stepped up big time."

For Anas to even play this weekend, it was probably a stretch. He was hardly 100 percent. For Anas to be named to the all­regional team and to be the deciding factor in the game that sends the Bobcats to the Frozen Four, it is just special.

"Sam does, what Sam always does," QU forward Tim Clifton said. "He leaves everything on the ice. He plays his best every time he steps on the ice. You saw it, that play was smooth and beautiful. Must be nice to be able to do that."

"Sam is a special player," QU defenseman Connor Clifton said. "He brings the best out of everyone and he is unbelievable. We want Sam out there, we want to see him play his best game. He didn't play much in the third period, but every time I got off the ice he was the first there, saying 'good job.'"

Quinnipiac was the dominant team in NCAA hockey for the entirety of the season. Its resume includes an ECAC regular­season title, an ECAC tournament Championship and now it will head to Tampa to play in the Frozen Four.

"This is the most special team I have ever been a part of," Connor Clifton said. "We are all so close and we battle so hard together at practice day in and day out. We have each other's backs. That is exactly how this season has panned out."

Special players make moments out of nothing. Now Quinnipiac will have a chance at the ultimate prize, a national championship.

Adam Wodon contributed to this report.

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FROZEN FOUR NOTEBOOK Quinnipiac is not out of place at Frozen Four

MIKE GROLL/ASSOCIATED PRESS Quinnipiac advanced to the Frozen Four for the second time in program history and is looking for its first title.

By Michael Whitmer GLOBE S TAFF MARCH 29, 201 6

Three of college hockey’s bluest bloods will converge in Tampa for next week’s Frozen Four, with Boston College (25), North Dakota (22), and Denver (15) combining for 62 appearances and 19 national championships. 5 of 5 free articles. Subscribe now Then there’s Quinnipiac, a small private university in Hamden, Conn., with an enrollment of fewer than 10,000 students and very little history to its men’s hockey program, at least on the Division 1 level. The Bobcats made the move to college hockey’s top line in 1998, and before this season had just one trip to the Frozen Four, in 2013.

Naturally, one of the story lines next week will be the relative newcomer trying to win a national title against three traditional powers. But this isn’t some long­shot upstart. Quinnipiac is ranked No. 1 in the national polls, and has been for most of the past two months. The question now is whether the Bobcats (31­3­7) can win two more games — starting with a 5 p.m. national semifinal against BC (28­7­5) next Thursday — and take that next big step.

“We’re a young puppy when it comes to Division 1; we’re only 18 years in,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said Tuesday during a conference call. “We are a young program, and we’re in there with some of the big boys. And that’s OK. We don’t mind being the underdog. CONTINUE READING

“I think it’s unusual that we’re the No. 1 team in the country, but we all still

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