JULIA TIERNAN/YH Nick Deschenes, MC '03, and the offense must step up their play.

Elis try to regroup after string of league losses

"Making an 11-0 run would be ideal. We know we can. We have all seen what kind of hockey we can play," forward Ben Stafford, BR '01, said on Mon., Jan. 24.

"I'm not sure exactly what the problem is. I'm not sure anyone is. It's been a frustrating few weeks. I've never experienced a run like this. I wish I knew what was wrong. If I did, I'd fix it," Stafford said on Thurs., Feb. 24.

It is amazing how one month can change the outlook of a single player—and an entire team. Four weeks ago, the Yale hockey team seemed to be a serious threat to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) crown. The club sat in the top half of the conference at 5-3-2, and faced the daunting, but exciting challenge of playing its final 11 games against league competition. But after a February that has seen them post a 1-4-0 ECAC record and drop to seventh place, hope and optimism have been replaced by the harsh reality of their fall. "It's ridiculous, it's embarrassing," defenseman Keith Fitzpatrick, TD '00, said. "Changes should be made. Changes will be made."

Although the club has failed in its mission to win the ECAC, it realizes that the season is not lost, especially with college hockey's second season—the playoffs—just around the corner. "Even two weeks ago, we were in pretty good position," Coach Tim Taylor said. "Our destiny was pretty much in our own hands. The goals of home ice and being among the elite teams are still there. They are just a little farther on the horizon."

To realize these goals, the Bulldogs must concern themselves less with what awaits them on the distant horizon and more with what faces them in the next two weekends. Indeed, to casual observers, this weekend might appear to be merely the second half of Yale and Harvard's annual rivalry, a chance at redemption for the Elis after January's disappointing loss to the Crimson. But for Yale, it signals something more: the beginning of the long journey back to ECAC respectability.

It is a four game journey that begins with two tough ECAC contests on Fri., Feb. 25 and Sat., Feb. 26, the first coming against 11th-place Brown followed by a date with ninth-place Harvard. "We don't look at this as a package," Taylor explained. "We first have to deal with Brown Friday night. It's a home weekend. It's a terrific opportunity to come out of the funk we're in."

Reversing the course of this ride to the ECAC cellar surpasses all other team concerns. If Yale is to be successful in the postseason, the team needs to build momentum in the remaining games. "People are watching the standings closely," Stafford said. "More importantly, we want to start playing great hockey. When we go into the first round of the playoffs, we want to be confident we can beat the other team."

M. Hockey

Record: 9-11-4, 6-8-3 ECAC Recent Results: Lost vs. Dartmouth, 1-2. Coming Up: Fri., Feb. 25 vs. Brown, 7 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 26 vs. Harvard, 7 p.m.

After the way the squad has played over the last month, it would seem difficult to be confident about any game, regardless of the matchup. The team not only has lacked offensive output, but it also, more importantly, has needed an attitude re-adjustment. For Taylor, two things have changed: "A) Our ability to get the first goal, to score early and get ourselves a bit of a lead, which we are good at protecting," he explained. "B) Our attitude has changed. We're more easily discouraged and taken off our game by what the other team is doing."

In some sense, the two are largely a function of each other. "It's amazing what happens to a team when you score a few goals," Stafford said. "You play better when you are scoring goals." Unfortunately, scoring goals is a task easier said than done. Unlike the early stages of the season when the club struggled to finish on its many offensive opportunities, those very chances have come few and far between over the last seven games. "We're a very easy team to neutralize and keep on the perimeter," Taylor said. "I don't know if we're sharp enough."

The lack of offense, the team's fatal flaw all season, has finally taken its toll on the defense, which has been forced to hold opponents to two goals or less in order to give Yale a chance to win. "When opposing teams manage to score fast, the team just seems to deflate," Taylor said. "There's a lot of pressure on team defense, and the task becomes that much harder."

This weekend, Yale has the chance to regain some of what has been lost over the past few weeks. Wins have a remarkable way of helping people forget. "If you don't make things better, they are not going to get better," Fitzpatrick said. "We need to put the puck in the net, and we need to tighten up defensively."

Do not be fooled: Yale will not be satisfied simply with a win versus Harvard; a victory Saturday would mean little if the team proved unable to translate that success to the following weekend. "A Harvard win would be great because it's Harvard," Stafford said. "But it would be better because we could take that into the next weekend." It may be Yale-Harvard weekend, but it seems someone forgot to tell the Yale men's hockey team.

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