Ray Giroux

JULIA TIERNAN/YH

Head coach Tim Taylor said, "He was the captain, leader, and best player on a team that captured the spirit and support of the entire Yale and New Haven communities." Nationally, Taylor said, "[Giroux's] contributions had a great deal to do with Yale being put at the forefront of a major sport." Forward Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, explained that Giroux was the type of player who inspired other students to come out to watch. "We've set a record for average attendance. Players like Ray help to ignite the community."

Hamilton said Giroux helped inspire the team to its phenomenal success in 1997. "Mentally and physically, Ray matured a lot at Yale, which carried through to the team," he said. "His hard work was contagious."

When playing for Yale, Giroux, arguably Yale's finest defenseman ever, received the 1997-98 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the NCAA's best hockey player. Taylor described Giroux as "one of Yale's best male athletes, who led [our team] to one of the best seasons in history."

The New York Islanders drafted Giroux and sent him to their minor-league team, the Lowell Lock Monsters. "He's on the bubble in terms of playing time," Taylor said. "If there's ever an injured defenseman, or if [the Islanders] lose one of their guys, he will be one of the first call-ups." Hamilton added that Giroux is one of the Lock Monsters' best scorers.

While Giroux's awards will be remembered, his immediate legacy is his rejuvenation of the ice hockey program—and Yale athletics in general. "There's been some roll-off from our success," Hamilton said. "I think the whole campus got behind us [in 1997-1998]. It was contagious."

—Sangeetha Ramaswamy

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