The Brown Bears men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Brown University. The Bears are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Meehan Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island.
History
The men's ice hockey team at Brown is one of the country's oldest programs, having played their first game in 1898. That season, the team helped to form the first informal conference, the Intercollegiate Hockey Association, and wound up winning the league championship. While there was no formal declaration at the time, Brown's title is sometimes referred to as the first ice hockey national championship. Brown nearly repeated the feat three years later but ultimately fell to Yale in the first two playoff games ever contested for college ice hockey.
The program swiftly declined after that near miss and the Bears became one of the worst teams in the nation. By 1906 the team had lost 16 straight contests, failing to score a goal in 9 games during that stretch. The program suspended operations after 1906 and remained shuttered for 20 years. When they returned to the ice they debuted with their first official head coach. Though James Gardner only lasted one season behind the bench the team performed much better with a hand at the tiller and quickly built up to be a respected program. In 1939 the team again suspended operations, though this time it was due to the onset of World War II. Brown's team remained out of commission for the entire duration of the war and didn't return until several years after its conclusion, finally hitting the ice again in 1947.
In only 4 years the team climbed all the way to 17–5 record, receiving the top eastern seed for the 1951 NCAA tournament. Though they ultimately fell in the title game, Brown had become one of the better teams in college hockey and, excluding a brief period in the early '60s, would remain so for the next 30 years. When the 1980s rolled around the Bears results started turning sour and Brown found itself looking up at the rest of college hockey. Since 1981 Brown has produced only six winning seasons and more than half of their campaigns have ended with single-digit win totals. The Bears had a brief resurgence in the mid-1990s, managing to make the tournament in 1993 but bowed out after only 1 game.
Season-by-season results
All-time coaching records
As of the completion of 2025–26 season Tenure Coach Years Record Pct. 1897–1906 No coach 10 16–39–3 1926–27 Jimmy Gardner 1 4–4–0 1927–29 Jean Dubuc 2 12–13–0 1929–31, 1933–38 Thomas Taylor 7 50–32–1 1931–33 Robert Taylor 2 11–12–1 1938–39 Arthur Lesieur 1 6–7–0 1947–52 Westcott Moulton 5 54–38–1 1952–55 Donald Whiston 3 27–27–1 1955–70 James Fullerton 15 176–168–9 1970–74 J. Allan Soares 4 44–47–1 1974–78 Richard Toomey 4 68–41–2 1978–82 Paul Schilling 4 34–66–3 1982–88 Herb Hammond 6 36–114–3 1988–97 Bob Gaudet 9 93–142–31 1997–2009 Roger Grillo 12 120–205–52 2009–2026 Brendan Whittet 15 150–299–61 2026Jason Smith (interim)10-5-0.000 Totals 15 coaches 98 seasons 896–1,230–166
Brown Olympians Brown has sent five members of its team to the Olympics. Three former players, Donald Whiston (Silver, 1952), Robert Gaudreau (1968) and Mike Mastrullo (1984 and 1992) represented their respective nations as players, former player Tim Bothwell was an assistant coach on the gold medal-winning 2006 Canadian women's team and former assistant coach Jack Ferreira was an assistant GM for the US men's team in 1998.
Awards and honors
US Hockey Hall of Fame James Fullerton (1992)
NCAA
Individual awards
Spencer Penrose Award James Fullerton: 1965
Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award Jordan Pietrus: 2010 Bobby Farnham: 2012
NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Donald Whiston: 1951
All-Americans First Team
1950–51: Donald Whiston, G 1951–52: Bob Wheeler, F 1964–65: Robert Gaudreau, D 1965–66: Robert Gaudreau, D 1967–68: Wayne Small, F 1969–70: Curt Bennett, F 1972–73: Keith Smith, D 1974–75: Bill Gilligan, F 1977–78: Mike Laycock, G 1979–80: Mark Holden, G 1991–92: Mike Brewer, D 2003–04: Yann Danis, G
Second Team
1989–90: Chris Harvey, G 2001–02: Yann Danis, G
ECAC Hockey
Individual awards
ECAC Hockey Player of the Year Wayne Small: 1967–68 Yann Danis: 2003–04
ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year Geoff Finch: 1990–91 Brian Ihnacak: 2003–04
Tim Taylor Award Bob Gaudet: 1994–95
ECAC Hockey Outstanding Defenseman Robert Gaudreau: 1965–66
ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman Mike Traggio: 1993–94, 1994–95 Scott Ford: 2003–04 Dennis Robertson: 2013–14
Ken Dryden Award Yann Danis: 2003–04
All-ECAC First Team
1963–64: Leon Bryant, F 1964–65: Robert Gaudreau, D 1965–66: Robert Gaudreau, D 1966–67: Wayne Small, F 1967–68: Wayne Small, F 1969–70: Curt Bennett, F 1976–77: Tim Bothwell, D 1977–78: Mike Laycock, G 1989–90: Mike Brewer, D 1991–92: Mike Brewer, D 1993–94: Geoff Finch, G 1994–95: Mike Traggio, D 1997–98: Damian Prescott, F 2003–04: Yann Danis, G 2015–16: Nick Lappin, F
Second team
1962–63: Leon Bryant, F 1963–64: Robert Gaudreau, D; Terry Chapman, F 1964–65: Terry Chapman, F 1966–67: Dennis Macks, D 1968–69: Curt Bennett, F 1969–70: Don McGinnis, G 1972–73: Keith Smith, D 1975–76: Kevin McCabe, G; Bill Gilligan, F 1978–79: Mike Mastrullo, D 1989–90: Chris Harvey, G 1990–91: Mike Brewer, D 1991–92: Derek Chauvette, F 1992–93: Scott Hanley, F 1993–94: Chris Kaban, F 1997–98: Jimmy Andersson, D 2001–02: Yann Danis, G 2002–03: Yann Danis, G 2006–07: Sean Hurley, D; Jeff Prough, F 2007–08: Sean Hurley, D 2010–11: Jack Maclellan, F 2011–12: Jack Maclellan, F 2012–13: Matt Lorito, F
Third Team
2009–10: Aaron Volpatti, F 2012–13: Anthony Borelli, G 2013–14: Dennis Robertson, D 2016–17: Sam Lafferty, F 2022–23: Mathieu Caron, G
All-Rookie Team
1989–90: Mike Ross, F 1990–91: Geoff Finch, G 1991–92: Mike Traggio, D 1992–93: Ryan Mulhern, F 1994–95: Jimmy Andersson, D 2003–04: Brian Ihnacak, F 2004–05: Sean Hurley, D 2008–09: Jeff Buvinow, D 2010–11: Dennis Robertson, D 2015–16: Max Gottlieb, D; Tommy Marchin, F
Brown Hall of Fame The following is a list of Brown's men's ice hockey players who were elected into the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame (graduating class in parentheses).
Philip Lingham (1930) Westcott Moulton (1931) Alden Walls (1931) G. Edward Crane (1931) Jackson Skillings (1937) Foster Davis Jr. (1939) George Menard (1950) Warren Priestly (1951) Anthony Malo (1951) Donald Whiston (1951) James M Sutherland (Captain)& his entire team of 1950-51 runner up in 1951 NCAA Tournament John Gilbert Jr. (1952) Albert Gubbins (1952) Jake Murphy (1952) Donald Sennott (1952) Bob Wheeler (1952) Robert Borah (1955) Daniel Keefe (1955) S. Russell Kingman Jr. (1956) Peter Tutless (1956) F. Rodney Dashnaw (1958) Harry Batchelder Jr. (1958) David Kelley (1960) J. Allan Soares (1960) Donald Eccleston (1965) Leon Bryant (1965) Terry Chapman (1965) W. Bruce Darling (1966) David Ferguson (1966) Robert Gaudreau (1966) R. Dennis Macks (1967) Wayne Small (1968) James Fullerton (1968, honorary) Robert Devaney (1969) Donald McGinnis (1970) Curt Bennett (1970) Keith Smith (1974) Bill Gilligan (1977) Kevin McCabe (1977) Robert McIntosh (1977) Tim Bothwell (1978) James Bennett (1979) Mike Laycock (1979) Michael Mastrullo (1979) Mark Holden (1980) Christopher Harvey (1990) Steven King (1991) Michael Brewer (1992) Derek Chauvette (1993) Scott Hanley (1993) Mike Traggio (1995) Ryan Mulhern (1996) Yann Danis (2004) John Dunham (2011)
Statistical leaders Source:
Career points leaders Bill Gilligan 1974–77 81 68 112 180 Bob McIntosh 1974–77 78 81 79 160 Don Sennott 1949–52 64 66 93 159 Bob Wheeler 1949–52 61 86 63 149 Wayne Small 1965–68 73 68 76 144 Curt Bennett 1967–70 71 50 85 135 Derek Chauvette 1989–93 117 34 99 133 Dennis Macks 1964–67 79 59 72 131 Leon Bryant 1963–65 77 55 75 130 Terry Chapman 1962–65 78 67 60 127
Career goaltending leaders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Minimum 10 games Anthony Borelli 2009–2013 35 1852 14 12 5 63 4 .935 2.04Yann Danis 2000–2004 100 6013 43 43 12 220 13 .930 2.20Adam D'Alba 2004–2006 54 3129 19 25 8 141 3 .917 2.70Lou Reycroft 1969–1970 0 .896 2.85Dave Ferguson 1963–1966 181 1 .901 2.86 Statistics current through the start of the 2022–23 season.
Roster As of July 30, 2024.
Bears in the NHL
The following is a list of Brown's men's ice hockey alumni who played in the NHL/WHA. 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 Player Position Team(s) Years Games Curt BennettCenterSTL, NYR, ATF1970–19805800Tim BothwellDefensemanNYR, STL, HFD1978–19895020Yann DanisGoaltenderMTL, NYI, NJD, EDM2005–2016550Brian EklundGoaltenderTBL2005–200610Bobby FarnhamRight wingPIT, NJD, MTL2014–2017670Ryan GarbuttLeft wingDAL, CHI, ANA2011–20173050Garnet HathawayRight wingCGY, WSH, BOS, PHI2015–Present6060Mark HoldenGoaltenderMTL, WPG1981–198580Steven KingRight wingNYR, ANA1992–1996670Neil LabatteDefensemanSTL1978–1982260Sam LaffertyRight wingPIT, CHI, TOR, VAN, BUF2019–Present3490Nick LappinRight wingNJD2016–2019600Matt LoritoLeft wingDET2016–201720Ryan MulhernRight wingWSH1997–199830Todd SimpsonDefensemanCGY, FLA, PHO, ANA, OTT, CHI, MTL1995–20065800Brian StapletonRight wingWSH1975–197610Aaron VolpattiLeft wingVAN, WSH2010–20151140Max WillmanCenterPHI, NJD2021–2024680Harry ZolnierczykLeft wingPHI, PIT, NYI, ANA, NSH2011–2017840
WHA Several players also were members of WHA teams.
Player Position Team(s) Years John BennettWing PHB1972–19730Bill GilliganRight wing CIN1977–19790Dave GivenForward VCB1974–19750
See also Brown Bears women's ice hockey Brown Bears
References
External links