The Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Princeton University. The Tigers are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1999, future NHL player Jeff Halpern scored 22 goals to tie for the most goals in the ECAC and was co-winner of Princeton's Roper Trophy for athletic and academic achievement.Jeff Halpern In 2010–11, Andrew Calof was ECAC Rookie of the Year.

History

Princeton University had an ice hockey team organized already during the 1894–95 season, when the school still went by the name of College of New Jersey. On March 3, 1895 the university ice hockey team faced a Baltimore aggregation at the North Avenue Ice Palace in Baltimore, Maryland and won by a score of 5–0. The players on the 1895 team were Chester Derr, John Brooks, Howard Colby, James Blair, Frederick Allen, Ralph Hoagland and Art Wheeler.The Baltimore Sun, March 4, 1895, pg. 7

For the 1899–1900 season the Princeton University ice hockey team became a member of the Intercollegiate Hockey League (ICHL) where they played organized league games against other Ivy League school teams such as Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Yale.

Princeton's most famous ice hockey player Hobey Baker (1892–1918) played for the school team between 1911 and 1914, before he graduated and went on to play for the New York City based St. Nicholas Hockey Club.

As many college programs did, Princeton's ice hockey squad suspended operations for the 1917–18 season due to the United States entering World War I but the icers returned after the armistice was signed. A few years later the Tigers hired their first head coach, Russell O. Ellis, but they would go through several more before they could find someone to lead the program for more than a few years. Despite the tumult behind the bench Princeton was still producing some of the best teams in college hockey, setting a program record of 15 wins that would stand for 76 years.

In the midst of the Great Depression Richard Vaughan came to Princeton and would helm the team for the next quarter-century. Vaughan would keep the Tigers competitive through much of his tenure and his 159 wins remains a program high 60 years after his retirement. Princeton found it difficult to replace Vaughan, going through 5 coaches in 18 years while producing only two winning records in that time. The team's nadir came under Bill Quackenbush who, despite ending up in the Hall of Fame as a player, was the program's worst coach as far as records go. Quackenbush's tenure began well with Princeton making the ECAC tournament for the first time, but the following season the team slid to 16th in the conference and would not win more than 5 games a year for the next 5 seasons. Quackenbush remained with the program even after a 1–22 season but resigned in 1973 with the Tigers an afterthought in ECAC Hockey. Princeton would not play another postseason game until 1985, the year after 7 teams left to form Hockey East, and they would not win a playoff game until 1992 under first-year head coach Don Cahoon.

During Cahoon's time at Princeton the program recovered from decades as a bottom-feeder and in 1995 produced their first winning season in 27 years. Three seasons later the Tigers won their first conference tournament and made the NCAA tournament for the first time. After Cahoon left to head Massachusetts in 2000, he was replaced by long-time assistant Len Quesnelle but after four years the team was back at the bottom of the conference and he was swiftly replaced by Guy Gadowsky.

It took Gadowsky a few years to get the Tigers back on their feet but he led the team to its second conference championship in 2008, setting a program high with 21 wins that he bested by 1 the following year. Two years later Gadowsky left and was replaced by Bob Prier but just as had happened with Cahoon, the successor did not last long and after a dismal third season Ron Fogarty was hired as the 17th head coach in program history. As of 2019 Fogarty's best season came in 2018 when he led an underdog Tigers squad to their 3rd conference title.

Season-by-season results

Records vs. current ECAC Hockey teams As of the completion of 2018–19 season School Team Away Arena Overall record Win % Home Away Last Result 72–90–11 35–39–6 33–46–6 5-6 L (3OT) 34–84–7 24–35–5 6–45–1 1-1 T 48–59–8 28–26–6 15–32–2 3-4 L 53–91–8 25–39–6 16–50–2 2-3 L 89–104–16 45–44–8 34–46–8 0-5 L 58–158–12 27–60–5 18–75–6 4-2 W 12–17–1 4–10–1 8–7–0 3-6 L 37–69–11 19–26–5 18–40–6 2-6 L 25–70–11 16–33–5 9–36–4 5-3 W 25–36–7 16–15–3 8–21–4 2-3 L 109–141–11 51–47–4 32–69–3 3-2 W

All-time coaching records

As of completion of 2024–25 season Tenure Coach Years Record Pct. 1899–1917, 1918–1920 No Coach 20 103–87–6 1920–1921 Russell O. Ellis 1 4–4–0 1921–1922 Moylan McDonnell 1 3–6–1 1922–1924 Chippy Gaw 2 24–11–1 1924–1927 Beattie Ramsay 3 20–25–1 1927–1933 Lloyd Neidlinger 6 71–31–3 1933–1935 Frank Fredrickson 2 15–18–0 1935–1943, 1945–1959 Richard Vaughan 22 159–211–14 1959–1965 R. Norman Wood 6 49–88–1 1965–1967 Johnny Wilson 2 14–27–1 1967–1973 Bill Quackenbush 6 34–104–2 1973–1977 Jack Semler 4 25–66–5 1977–1991 Jim Higgins 14 130–219–21 1991–2000 Don Cahoon 9 122–129–32 2000–2004 Len Quesnelle 4 29–84–11 2004–2011 Guy Gadowsky 7 105–109–15 2011–2014 Bob Prier 3 25–58–12 2014–2024 Ron Fogarty 9 90–169–27 2024–present Ben Syer 1 12–15–3 Totals 17 coaches 122 Seasons 1,034–1,461–156

Statistical leaders The team's statistical leaders are as follows.

Career points leaders

Player Years GP G A Pts PIM 1985–1989 110 60 118 178 2015–2019 132 75 77 152 1988–1992 106 62 88 150 2015–2019 130 52 92 144 1995–1999 132 60 82 142 1960–1963 67 65 132 2010–2014 117 44 79 123 1986–1990 96 64 57 121 1995–1999 130 41 77 118 1957–1960 60 57 117

Career goaltending leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 30 games Player Years GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA 1947–1949 34 2.38 2006–2010 108 6267 57 44 5 257 9 .912 2.46 2009–2013 53 2969 18 22 8 288 3 .917 2.67 2010–2014 63 3457 17 33 6 182 2 .898 2.84 1994–1998 76 3975 29 24 11 196 5 .896 2.94 Statistics current through the start of the 2019–20 season.

Roster As of August 8, 2025.

Awards and honors

Hockey Hall of Fame

Hobey Baker (1945)

US Hockey Hall of Fame

Hobey Baker (1973)

NCAA

All-Americans AHCA First Team All-Americans

1952-53: Hank Bothfeld, F 1985-86: Cliff Abrecht, D 2007-08: Mike Moore, D; Lee Jubinville, F 2018-19: Ryan Kuffner, F

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

1997-98: Steve Shirreffs, D 2008-09: Zane Kalemba, G 2010-11: Taylor Fedun, D 2017-18: Ryan Kuffner, F; Max Véronneau, F

ECAC Hockey

Individual awards

Player of the Year Lee Jubinville: 2008 Zane Kalemba: 2009

Rookie of the Year John Messuri: 1986 Andre Faust: 1989 Andrew Calof: 2011

Best Defensive Defenseman Mike Moore: 2008 Danny Biega: 2012

Best Defensive Forward Ian Sharp: 1994, 1995 Syl Apps III: 1999

Ken Dryden Award Zane Kalemba: 2009

Student-Athlete of the Year Landis Stankievech: 2008

Tim Taylor Award Guy Gadowsky: 2008

Most Outstanding Player in tournament Jeff Halpern: 1998 Zane Kalemba: 2008 Ryan Ferland: 2018

All-Conference First Team All-ECAC Hockey

1985–86: Cliff Abrecht, D 1987–88: John Messuri, F 1997–98: Steve Shirreffs, F 2004–05: Luc Paquin, D 2007–08: Mike Moore, D; Lee Jubinville, F 2008–09: Zane Kalemba, G 2010–11: Taylor Fedun, D 2017–18: Max Véronneau, F 2018–19: Ryan Kuffner, F

Second Team All-ECAC Hockey

1961–62: John Cook, F 1962–63: John Cook, F 1967–68: Thomas Rawls, D 1986–87: John Messuri, F 1989–90: Mike McKee, D; Andre Faust, F; Greg Polaski, F 1991–92: Andre Faust, F 1993–94: Sean O'Brien, D 1997–98: Jeff Halpern, F 1998–99: Steve Shirreffs, D; Jeff Halpern, F 1999–2000: Kirk Lamb, F 2004–05: Dustin Sproat, F 2007–08: Brett Wilson, F 2009–10: Taylor Fedun, D 2011–12: Michael Sdao, D 2012–13: Andrew Calof, F 2016–17: Max Véronneau, F 2017–18: Ryan Kuffner, F 2018–19: Max Véronneau, F

Third Team All-ECAC Hockey

2005–06: Eric Leroux, G; Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, F 2008–09: Jody Peterson, D 2010–11: Andrew Calof, F 2017–18: Josh Teves, D 2018–19: Josh Teves, D

ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team

1987–88: Mark Salsbury, G; Andy Cesarski, D 1988–89: Mike McKee, D; Andre Faust, F 1990–91: Rob Laferriere, F 1992–93: Jason Smith, D 1994–95: Casson Masters, D 1996–97: Dominique Auger, D 2005–06: Brett Wilson, F 2010–11: Andrew Calof, F 2015–16: Ryan Kuffner, F 2016–17: Jackson Cressey, F

Olympians This is a list of Princeton alumni who have played on an Olympic team.

NamePositionPrinceton TenureTeamYearFinish Gerard Hallock Defenseman 1923–1926 USA 1932 Robert Livingston Defenseman 1928–1931 USA 1932 Fred Kammer Right Wing 1931–1934 USA 1936 Malcolm McAlpin Center 1930–1932 USA 1936 Christopher Rodgers Goaltender 1941–1942 USA† 1948 DQ Jim Sloane Right Wing 1940–1943 USA† 1948 DQ † denotes the AAU team that marched in the opening ceremony but did not participate.

Tigers in the NHL

As of July 1, 2025. = NHL All-Star team= NHL All-StarPlayers are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career. = NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star team= Hall of Famers

Player Position Team(s) Years Games Syl Apps Jr.CenterNYR, PIT, LAK1970–19807270Mike CondonGoaltenderMTL, PIT, OTT2015–20191290Chris CorrinetWingWSH2001–200280Andre FaustLeft WingPHI1992–1994470Taylor FedunDefensemanEDM, SJS, VAN, BUF, DAL, PIT2013–20231310Jeff HalpernCenterWSH, DAL, TBL, LAK, MTL, NYR, PHO1999–20149761†Ryan KuffnerLeft WingDET2018–2019100Ed LeeWingQUE1984–198520

Player Position Team(s) Years Games Mike McKeeDefenseman QUE1993–1994480Mike MooreDefensemanSJS2010–201160George ParrosRight WingLAK, COL, , FLA, MTL2005–20144741Darroll PoweCenterPHI, MIN, NYR2008–20143290Eric RobinsonLeft WingCBJ, BUF, CAR2017–Present3880Josh TevesDefensemanVAN2018–201910Max VéronneauRight WingOTT2018–2020160Kevin WestgarthRight Wing, CAR, CGY2008–20141691

† Jeff Halpern won a Stanley Cup as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

See also Princeton Tigers women's ice hockey Princeton Tigers Hobey Baker Award

References

External links