Men's hockey has formula for success

Don't call it a miracle on ice.

Most people expected the Yale men's ice hockey team to be fighting for its playoff life at this time of year. Instead, the Bulldogs are surging toward their first ever Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) regular season title and have a chance to earn their first NCAA bid in 46 years. The team that was ranked 10th in the ECAC's preseason Coaches Poll clinched the Ivy League title on Sat., Feb. 21, with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

In one year the Bulldogs (20-6-1, 15-4-1 ECAC) have become a legitimate powerhouse, ranked seventh in the country by U.S. College Hockey Online. But this transformation has not come completely out of the blue. Head coach Tim Taylor has brought together a nucleus of solid players to produce the most complete Yale team in years. There may be no formula to describe the Elis' meteoric rise, but there are some concrete explanations for this Taylor-made success.

Taylor's First Law: A team in motion...

For the past four years, the casual observer might have labeled the Yale team at rest. Seemingly stagnant, the Bulldogs never finished higher than 10th. Still, coaches and players saw steady hints of improvement and scoffed at prognosticators who expected Yale's losing ways to continue. "People just expect you to stay at the bottom. We were quietly confident," Daryl Jones, PC '98, said.

Princeton head coach Don Cahoon saw signs of life in Taylor's squad. "I think a lot of people that know the different teams in the league had a sense even last year that [Yale was] moving in a real positive direction. Tim had a real complement of players that seemed to be supporting each other," he said.

The 1996-97 win total of ten was a deceptive measure of the team's prowess. Yale played eight overtime games, and 15 of its 32 contests were decided by one goal. The program was only a lucky break or two away from snapping out of its funk, and that attracted Ben Stafford, BR '01. "I knew that Taylor was a good coach and that there was a good core group of players here. This team had a lot of one-goal games last year. I could tell it was dedicated to winning," he said.

"Last year, we were on the verge of breaking out of a trend of the past three or four years," Josh Rabjohns, MC '97, last year's captain, said. "You get used to losing; it becomes a habit. You start losing and you start second-guessing yourself." The pattern began to change when the Bulldogs went to Colgate, won a playoff game, and followed that performance by playing a tough game against perennial powerhouse Clarkson on the road in the ECAC quarterfinal round. "Last year, we knew we could win every game. This year we know we should be winning," Rabjohns said.

This season appears to be a case of history repeating itself. The 1985-86 squad--which shares the Yale single-season record for wins with this year's team, and graduated three players to the National Hockey League--was also plagued by narrow defeats before its breakout season. During one stretch in the 1983-84 season, the squad lost nine in a row. "We found ways to lose all the time. We were always close," Bob Logan, PC '86, who went on to play for the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, said.

The difference for Logan's team was attitude. "We won eight in a row in that same season. All of a sudden, you're like, `We can do this,' and that belief carries you through if you have that great nucleus," he said.

Taylor's Second Law: Parts is parts

Taylor's team's nucleus, which has been years in the making, gelled this season after several offseasons of intense recruiting by assistant coaches C.J. Marottolo and Bruce Wolanin. Finally, Yale emerged with all the elements of a great hockey team. There are three factors for a successful squad, according to former captain Prescott Logan, CC '96: great goaltending, good defensemen, and pure scorers. "The three put together give you a chance to win every night," he said. This year's Blue icers have each of these things with Alex Westlund, SM '99, in net, Jones, captain Ray Giroux, BK '98, and Jeff Glew, BR '98, on the blue line, and Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, up front. "The one thing Yale has been missing since Mark Kaufmann, PC '93, is a pure scorer," Prescott Logan said.

Indeed, Westlund, Giroux, and Hamilton have all emerged as bona fide Division I All-America candidates. Westlund has been solid between the pipes and leads the ECAC in almost every goaltending category. He is fifth in the nation in wins (17), fourth in save percentage (.919), and seventh in goals against average (2.31). Giroux leads all ECAC defensemen in scoring, and his 28 assists are eighth best in the nation for any position.

And then there's Hamilton. An offensive machine, the sophomore has the ability to light the lamp every time he touches the puck--he has netted 24 for the Blue this season. Only five players in the country have scored more goals. With one weekend remaining in the regular season, Hamilton already has 41 points--17 more than last year's team leader, Keith McCullough, BR '99--and leads the ECAC in four of five offensive categories.

How much more talented this squad is than past ones is difficult to assess, but everyone agrees that these Elis are more cohesive as a team and rely less on individual showmanship. "There are better building blocks to work with," Taylor said. "It's like a puzzle. Everything fits a little nicer."

Known for getting the most out of his players, Taylor is credited by Elis past and present with rejuvenating team spirit and being an unceasing motivator. "Taylor works harder than any other coach," Prescott Logan said. "The difficult thing about losing was knowing he would be watching film at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. His players want to win so badly and produce for him. His players mean a lot to him."

Taylor's Third Law: For every impact player, there is an equal and contributing player

Still, these are the same players who lost 19 games last season--sort of. While something must be said for the added year of experience, this would not have made such a difference if many of the players had not taken the initiative to improve themselves physically and mentally in the offseason. A number of of players remained in New Haven over the summer. "We realize we were ranked 10th coming into the season, and that we were not going to win every game on talent alone," Matt Cumming, JE '98, said. "We have to give everything we have. Our success has come from this work ethic."

Rabjohns explained that the development of former backup players into solid contributors had a tremendous impact on the Bulldogs' success. "Players who were behind the scenes last year--playing only six or seven minutes a game--are now making the difference," he said. Mark Turco, DC '99, Dan Peraza, SM '98, Mark Sproule, SY '00, and Keith Fitzpatrick, TD '00, played fewer than half last season's games, but are now making significant contributions. Last year they combined for seven points; this season they already have 20.

This kind of improvement is what coaches always expect, but do not always get. "You can have a freshman who can score 20 goals as a freshman and 20 for the next three years, or you can have a kid like Hamilton who scores 20 as a freshman and this year has over 40 points. That kind of step forward, quantum leap forward, is the big factor for improvement," Taylor explained.

When everyone on the team makes such a quantum leap, it automatically brings the team to a higher level by giving it depth. Instead of one or two strong lines, Yale has four solid ones, all of which can produce. "The reason that we win games is because we have 20 guys doing their jobs," Jones said. "It's important to remember the third- and fourth-line guys. They're really the reason for our success."

This kind of balance is exactly what got Yale to the NCAA tournament in 1952 and just might get it back. Pete Cruikshank, CC '52, remembered, "It was a very well-integrated team. There were no superstars. There was just an awful lot of teamwork and people played very well together." Cruikshank anchored the team in goal as the Blue lost a close game to Colorado College in the national semifinal, 4-3, before winning the consolation game against St. Lawrence, 4-1.

Taylor's Fourth Law: Defense wins championships

Things have changed since 1952. Back then, there were no Canadians on the Yale squad, and the name of the game was offense. Of all people, Cruikshank--Yale's winningest goalie--appreciates Taylor's emphasis on defense. "If the goaltender is playing well, it gives the team a sense that they can go about the business of being offensive," Cruikshank said.

Taylor has always preached the importance of defense, and this year Yale is blessed to have two of the finer defensive players in the nation in Giroux and Westlund. Yale is the toughest team to score on in the ECAC, allowing only 2.05 goals per game, and has killed over 85 percent of its penalties, second best in the league.

The most telling statistic is the goal differential. Last year, the Blue scored 90 goals while opponents netted 114. This year, the margin is 102 to 60 in favor of Yale.

"[Westlund has] also really come into his own," Taylor said. "He's always had good stats, but going back to the playoff game where he shutout Colgate at Colgate, he really started to believe that he can win games for us."

One key element that distinguishes this team from those of years past is consistency on defense. Prior squads have been plagued by inconsistent performances, outplaying a national powerhouse and then coming out flat the next night against the league cellar-dweller, and many expected this season to follow that pattern. "I'm surprised," Cahoon said. "They seem to go out and play at the same level week after week and you don't see that as much in any other team."

Taylor's Fifth Law: Attitude is everything

Confidence seems to be the handmaid of consistency. The Bulldogs began the season with their first home ECAC sweep in five years and convinced themselves that by working together, they could win every game. "They are all playing with a lot of confidence. College hockey is a confidence game, and they got that momentum early, and they've been riding that wave for the rest of the season," Mark Morris, Clarkson head coach, said.

This positive attitude reflects the team chemistry that has not been present in recent years. "One of the big reasons behind our success is because we're so close as a team," Jones said. "It's like having a family of 30 brothers.... Everybody on the team to a man gets along."

Taylor attributed this team unity to the captain. "A lot of credit goes to Ray Giroux and the job he's done as captain. The whole process of being a tight team started last year. That's something you have to create and you have to build a little bit," Taylor said.

Of course, too much of anything can be a problem. Last weekend, the Blue experienced a disappointing 2-2 tie to Dartmouth and a 4-3 loss to Vermont, both tied for eighth place and possible opponents in the first round of the upcoming ECAC Tournament. While both contests were very close and could have gone either way, the team may have been a casualty of overconfidence. "Maybe we just got comfortable with winning at home and thought if we went through the motions we would win," Hamilton said.

Taylor's Sixth Law: Win the whole damn thing

Nonetheless, the Bulldogs remain confident that they can sweep Union and Rennsselaer Polytechnic Institute on Fri., Mar. 6 and Sat., Mar. 7 on the road to close out the regular season as ECAC champs and Yale's winningest team in history. Every member of the squad knows that this season will not be complete until they take care of the business they set out to achieve nearly four months ago.

Considering whether a second-place finish would invalidate the incredible season, Jones said, "To be quite honest, I think it does to me personally. The bottom line is that we're still in first place and it's our position to lose."

Taylor agreed with these sentiments, noting that many people have already congratulated the Bulldogs on a great season. "That has to be amended: to date, it's been a great season," he said. A six-point lead over second-place Clark-son has dwindled to one with two games to play after a 1-2-1 skid, and the league champ will likely be determined in the season's final game.

The Bulldogs know they have a chance to make history, and they also feel the responsibility to do their best for those who have gone before them. "The past few years, we've fallen on tough times but always worked hard as a team.... You feel for the seniors who didn't make the playoffs, and we don't want that to happen again," Giroux said.

A similar must-win situation arose during the final weekend last year, and the Elis rose to the occasion to clinch a playoff spot. However, while that experience and confidence may help this weekend, the stakes are now much higher. "[Last year's experience] will help to an extent, but this weekend's situation is much different. There's not much there to give us experience," Westlund said.

It is hard to predict, therefore, how the Bulldogs will respond to the pressure this weekend, since no player on the current squad has ever played for an ECAC title or NCAA berth. Cruikshank, who has faced such pressure before, offered advice: "Don't get hung up on all the stuff that might happen, and play the game you know."

Bob Logan, whose team fell just short in 1986, added that the secret to success is entirely mental. "I think it's in the head. It's the belief that you can win," he said. "You smell it, you know you can win."

Every Yale hockey player since Malcolm Chase, Class of 1896, and Arthur Foote, Class of 1896, brought intercollegiate hockey to America in 1895 has smelled it. For the first time in history, Giroux and the rest of the men's hockey team have a chance to own it.

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