Lake Placid bound: a Bulldog hockey odyssey

By Andrew Krause and Matt Matros

Friday, March 20

5:50 a.m.: The ungodly hour would ordinarily seem...ungodly--but it doesn't. Yale is about to make its first appearance in the ECAC semifinals since 1987. Furthermore, the Elis are coming off an incredible three-game first round series against the St. Lawrence Saints. The heavily-favored Bulldogs needed last-minute goals from captain and ECAC Player of the Year Ray Giroux, BR '98, and Jay Quenville, SY '00, to salvage ties in games one and two. Both of Yale's game-tying goals came with goalie Alex Westlund, SM '99, pulled. On Sun., Mar. 15,Yale put away the first-to-three-points series with a 4-1 victory.

We start the car, pop in Billy Joel's Greatest Hits. We arrive at Albany in record time; that's when we switch drivers. Two hours and 15 minutes later, we pull into the Carriage House Motor Inn, one mile from the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, NY.

11:30: Many of the media personnel covering the ECAC championships are staying at the Holiday Inn or the Hilton; our accomodations are not quite as lavish. The room has been doused in potpourri; the bathroom features ripped towels as drapes; there are stains on the shower curtain and the sheets; and the ceiling is lower in some places than others since the snow on the roof has caused it to sink. We call the arena in attempt to locate our media credentials--which we know will provide us with free admission to the arena, press box, press room, and possibly other places--we had reserved a few weeks back. The receptionist tells us where to find these coveted passes.

Andrew Krause/YH This sign outside the Olympic Arena welcomed the regular season ECAC champs to Lake Placid, but the Bulldogs would leave with two disappointing losses.

After a short drive, we walk under the electronic sign for the Olympic Center which says, among other things, "Welcome Yale University Bulldogs." We find our passes sitting on a desk just waiting for their owners to arrive.

1:00 p.m. We head for the Black Bear restaurant, where we order "suicide wings" as an appetizer. The waitress describes them as " really, really, really hot." Believe her. You haven't eaten hot wings until you've sampled these.

3:20: Arriving early for the 4 p.m. face-off with Princeton, we casually but excitedly flash our media passes and proceed into the 1980 Olympic Arena. The rink is almost empty except for a few early arriving parents, five die-hard students (including four in full-fledged blue-and-white face paint), and the omnipresent Yale Precision Marching Band.

4:05: The Bulldogs come out on fire, peppering the net with shots until Keith McCullough, BR '99, scores from the left wing at 8:00. But Princeton's leading scorer, Jeff Halpern '99, ties the game with a power play goal at the 12:07 mark, and the Tigers go ahead 2-1 with another score less than three minutes later. The Bulldogs, who had so dominated the first half of the period, are now trailing. The most crushing blow of the first period for the Blue is still to come. At 16:53, Princeton forward Syl Apps '99 is whistled for a boarding penalty against Yale's leading scorer, Jeff Hamilton, SM '00.

4:42: It doesn't take long to realize something is wrong with Hamilton. Number 10 doesn't appear for the entire second period, and the Elis are completely out of rhythm. Yale manages just three shots on goal in the period, and only a stellar effort by Westlund keeps the Bulldogs close. Putting those passes to work, we waltz into the press box where we learn that Hamilton has separated his shoulder. The first-team all-ECAC standout will not be back. Though Yale is more inspired in the third frame, the offense continues to struggle without its leading scorer. Stymied by the larger Lake Placid ice surface and Princeton's defensive style, the Bulldogs come away with a 2-1 loss. The top seed has been ousted.

6:15: Media passes in hand, we make our way to the postgame press conference, where dejected Yale Head Coach Tim Taylor looks ahead to the NCAA tournament. "We're in danger," he says. "I'm not sure what goes on behind those closed doors, but I would say there's a good chance that we'll be shipped [to Ann Arbor]."

6:40: Food in the hospitality room raises our spirits. There's nothing like a good snack, especially when it's free with those trusty passes. We relax until one minute before the Clarkson-Harvard face-off. With Clarkson's campus located less than an hour away, the Lake Placid arena feels like the Golden Knights' home ice. Led by the obnoxious Clarkson band, the fans pepper Harvard goalie J.R. Prestifilippo '00 with a mocking chant of "Pres-ti-fil-ip-po," which was answered by the entire crowd's screaming "sieve!" at the top of its lungs. The chant is catchy--we would repeat it ourselves for the rest of the weekend.

9:09: Clarkson jumps out to a 3-0 lead, and when Ben Maidment '99 makes it 5-1 5:19 into the third period, we take off in search of dinner. You know you're in the North Country when the local pizza place is showing college hockey on TV during the NCAA basketball tournament. We watch Clarkson close out its 6-2 win and look ahead to tomorrow's consolation game against Harvard.

10:20: After scraping the ice off the car, we head back to the Carriage House to watch some basketball.

1:02 a.m.: Rhode Island knocks off Valparaiso and we are disappointed by our third straight sporting event of the evening. We go to sleep, a solid 18 hours after our day began.

Saturday, March 21

10:45 a.m.: When they say it's snowing in Lake Placid, they don't mean flurries. An inch coats the car when we awake, and it's still coming down. Welcome to the first day of spring.

1:05 p.m.: Once again the Bulldogs dominate at the outset, even without Hamilton, and Matt Cumming, JE '98, puts one past Prestifilippo just 2:25 into the game. Harvard, however, takes over from there. Crimson captain Jeremiah McCarthy '98 ties the game at one at the 15:22 mark of the first period, and Harvard goes on to score three more times and cruise to a 4-1 triumph. The final blow is delivered by Doug Sproule '98, older brother of Bulldog winger Mark Sproule, SY '00, who tallies a short-handed goal at 4:32 of the third period.

4:10: We settle in for the Clarkson coronation party. The Golden Knights looked impressive against Harvard, and Princeton was playing its sixth game in nine days, but Princeton hangs in. Halpern scores the Tigers' third goal on a penalty shot, and Princeton inexplicably has a 3-2 lead. The Tigers push ahead 4-2 before Clarkson evens the count at four late in the third stanza.

7:07: With less than a minute gone in the second overtime, Apps picks up a loose puck and flies in uncontested for the game-winning score, giving Princeton its first ever ECAC tournament title. We race out of the arena as quickly as possible. The Clarkson band had showered Yale fans and players with chants of "o-ver-ra-ted" at the end of the consolation matchup, and the vastly outnumbered Yale band and remaining supporters return the taunt amid the hostile environment. We aren't looking for trouble--we are just looking for dinner.

12:25 a.m.: By the time we go to bed, eight inches of snow cover the ground, and the Weather Channel is not making us happy about our drive home.

Sunday, March 22

8:10 a.m.: After checking out of the hotel, we hit the road. Fourteen inches of snow blanket the region, and we make our way over the mountain roads in a blizzard. Six hours and one hearty breakfast later, we pull into the Krause house, change cars, and turn north toward New Haven.

5:20 p.m.: Already 20 minutes late for our Herald editorial board meeting, we are horribly frustrated by the lack of parking in the Elm City. Welcome home.

As Taylor predicted, the Bulldogs will travel to Ann Arbor as the fifth seed in the NCAA's West region. On Fri., Mar. 27, Yale, who has officially set an NCAA record for longest span between tournament appearances (46 years), will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes, who have never played a tournament game. Andrew and Matt will not make this trip, but will be glued to the simulcast. Despite last weekend's struggles, this season has been a memorable one, perhaps the best in Yale hockey history--for players and fans alike.

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