The 2016–17 Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey season was the 122nd season of play for the program and the 56th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Bulldogs represented Yale University and were coached by Keith Allain, in his 11th season.
Season Despite losing two of its best defensive players to graduation, Yale entered the season ranked. After a bad week in mid-November, however, the team found itself outside of the top-20 and it quickly sank to the bottom of the conference. After finishing 3rd in the Shillelagh Tournament, Yale clawed its way back up to a .500 record and then promptly lost back-to-back matches to ranked teams.
After the disappointing start, Yale began the new year more focused and put together a strong stretch in the month of January. The Bulldogs went 6–1–2 with ties against #16 St. Lawrence and #6 Harvard, putting them in contention for the NCAA Tournament. In February, however, their fortunes reversed and the team won just one of its last eight games, finishing 8th in ECAC Hockey.
When the conference tournament began, Yale's only chance of reaching the national tournament was a conference championship. The team took care of business in the first round with a pair of wins over Dartmouth, which set up a showdown with arch-rival Harvard. By then the Crimson had risen to #2 in the country but they got a tougher challenge than they were expecting from the Bulldogs. Yale scored six goals in two games, but their defense wasn't able to hold back Harvard's attack. The Bulldogs dropped both games and abruptly ended a once-promising season.
Departures Player Position Nationality Cause Matthew Beattie Forward/Defenseman Graduation (signed with Étoile Noire de Strasbourg) Tim Bonner Forward Left program (retired) Carson Cooper Forward Graduation (signed with Étoile Noire de Strasbourg) Cody Learned Forward Graduation (retired) Alex Lyon Goaltender Graduation (signed with Philadelphia Flyers) Rob O'Gara Defenseman Graduation (signed with Boston Bruins) Ryan Obuchowski Defenseman Graduation (signed with Missouri Mavericks) Charles Orzetti Forward Graduation (retired) Stu Wilson Forward Graduation (signed with Rochester Americans) Mitch Witek Defenseman Graduation (signed with Étoile Noire de Strasbourg)
Recruiting Player Position Nationality Age Notes Will D'Orsi Forward 19 Sudbury, MA Robbie DeMontis Forward 20 Vaughan, ON Matt Foley Defenseman 21 Longmeadow, MA Corbin Kaczperski Goaltender 20 China Township, MI Chandler Lindstrand Defenseman 20 Medina, MN Evan Smith Forward 20 Markham, ON Mitchell Smith Forward 20 Markham, ON Luke Stevens Forward 19 Duxbury, MA; selected 126th overall in 2015 Billy Sweezey Forward 20 Hanson, MA
Roster As of August 1, 2016.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#00356B" | Regular season
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#00356B" |
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#00356B" |
|- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Yale Won Series 2–0
|- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Yale Lost Series 0–2
Scoring statistics Name Position Games Goals Assists Points LW 33 14 25 39 34 C/RW 33 21 13 34 62 LW 30 10 11 21 28 C/LW 17 3 16 19 8 C/RW 33 11 5 16 12 LW/RW 33 7 9 16 20 D 32 3 11 14 18 D 32 2 12 14 14 F 31 5 8 13 22 RW 32 6 6 12 8 C/LW 33 4 6 10 30 F 27 1 9 10 12 LW 33 1 9 10 6 D/F 18 2 6 8 18 D 33 1 7 8 18 D 21 1 5 6 7 D 33 1 5 6 40 LW 17 2 3 5 4 LW 30 3 1 4 12 F 7 1 1 2 0 C 13 0 2 2 6 F 15 0 1 1 7 D 8 0 0 0 2 G 15 0 0 0 0 G 20 0 0 0 0 Bench - 33 - - - 4 Total 99 171 270 392
Goaltending statistics Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals against Saves Shut outs 20 1155 8 7 4 52 485 1 .903 2.70 15 847 5 8 1 43 382 1 .899 3.05 Empty Net - 16 - - - 3 - - - - Total 33 2019 13 15 5 98 867 2 .898 2.91
Rankings
PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 (Final) USCHO.com181716171619NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR *USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.
Awards and honors Player Award Ref John Hayden ECAC Hockey Second Team
Players drafted into the NHL 2017 NHL entry draft Round Pick Player NHL team 7 208 Phil Kemp† Edmonton Oilers † incoming freshman
References