A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey | |
|---|---|
 Current season | |
 | |
| University | Princeton University |
| Conference | ECAC Hockey |
| First season | 1899–1900 |
| Head coach | Ben Syer 1st season, 0–0–0 |
| Arena | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink Princeton, New Jersey |
| Colors | Black and orange[1] |
| NCAA Tournament appearances | |
| 1998, 2008, 2009, 2018 | |
| Conference Tournament championships | |
| 1998, 2008, 2018 | |
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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown University | Bears | Meehan Auditorium | 72–90–11 | .448 | 35–39–6 | 33–46–6 | 5-6 L (3OT) |
| Clarkson University | Golden Knights | Cheel Arena | 34–84–7 | .300 | 24–35–5 | 6–45–1 | 1-1 T |
| Colgate University | Raiders | Class of 1965 Arena | 48–59–8 | .452 | 28–26–6 | 15–32–2 | 3-4 L |
| Cornell University | Big Red | Lynah Rink | 53–91–8 | .375 | 25–39–6 | 16–50–2 | 2-3 L |
| Dartmouth College | Big Green | Thompson Arena | 89–104–16 | .464 | 45–44–8 | 34–46–8 | 0-5 L |
| Harvard University | Crimson | Bright-Landry Hockey Center | 58–158–12 | .281 | 27–60–5 | 18–75–6 | 4-2 W |
| Quinnipiac University | Bobcats | People's United Center | 12–17–1 | .417 | 4–10–1 | 8–7–0 | 3-6 L |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Engineers | Houston Field House | 37–69–11 | .363 | 19–26–5 | 18–40–6 | 2-6 L |
| St. Lawrence University | Saints | Appleton Arena | 25–70–11 | .288 | 16–33–5 | 9–36–4 | 5-3 W |
| Union College | Dutchmen | Achilles Rink | 25–36–7 | .419 | 16–15–3 | 8–21–4 | 2-3 L |
| Yale University | Bulldogs | Ingalls Rink | 109–141–11 | .439 | 51–47–4 | 32–69–3 | 3-2 W |
All-time coaching records
As of completion of 2023–24 season[5]
| Tenure | Coach | Years | Record | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1899–1917, 1918–1920 | No Coach | 20 | 103–87–6 | .541 |
| 1920–1921 | Russell O. Ellis | 1 | 4–4–0 | .500 |
| 1921–1922 | Moylan McDonnell | 1 | 3–6–1 | .350 |
| 1922–1924 | Chippy Gaw | 2 | 24–11–1 | .681 |
| 1924–1927 | Beattie Ramsay | 3 | 19–25–1 | .433 |
| 1927–1933 | Lloyd Neidlinger | 6 | 71–31–3 | .690 |
| 1933–1935 | Frank Fredrickson | 2 | 15–18–0 | .455 |
| 1935–1943, 1945–1959 | Richard Vaughan | 22 | 159–211–14 | .432 |
| 1959–1965 | R. Norman Wood | 6 | 49–88–1 | .359 |
| 1965–1967 | Johnny Wilson | 2 | 14–27–1 | .345 |
| 1967–1973 | Bill Quackenbush | 6 | 34–104–2 | .250 |
| 1973–1977 | Jack Semler | 4 | 25–66–5 | .286 |
| 1977–1991 | Jim Higgins | 14 | 130–219–21 | .380 |
| 1991–2000 | Don Cahoon | 9 | 122–129–32 | .488 |
| 2000–2004 | Len Quesnelle | 4 | 29–84–11 | .278 |
| 2004–2011 | Guy Gadowsky | 7 | 105–109–15 | .491 |
| 2011–2014 | Bob Prier | 3 | 25–58–12 | .326 |
| 2014–2024 | Ron Fogarty | 9 | 90–169–27 | .362 |
| Totals | 17 coaches | 121 Seasons | 1021–1,446–153 | .419 |
Statistical leaders
The team's statistical leaders are as follows.[6]
Career points leaders
| Player | Years | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Messuri | 1985–1989 | 110 | 60 | 118 | 178 | |
| Ryan Kuffner | 2015–2019 | 132 | 75 | 77 | 152 | |
| Andre Faust | 1988–1992 | 106 | 62 | 88 | 150 | |
| Max Véronneau | 2015–2019 | 130 | 52 | 92 | 144 | |
| Jeff Halpern | 1995–1999 | 132 | 60 | 82 | 142 | |
| John Cook | 1960–1963 | 67 | 65 | 132 | ||
| Andrew Calof | 2010–2014 | 117 | 44 | 79 | 123 | |
| Greg Polaski | 1986–1990 | 96 | 64 | 57 | 121 | |
| Scott Bertoli | 1995–1999 | 130 | 41 | 77 | 118 | |
| John McBride | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert O'Connor | 1947–1949 | 34 | 2.38 | |||||||
| Zane Kalemba | 2006–2010 | 108 | 6267 | 57 | 44 | 5 | 257 | 9 | .912 | 2.46 |
| Mike Condon | 2009–2013 | 53 | 2969 | 18 | 22 | 8 | 288 | 3 | .917 | 2.67 |
| Sean Bonar | 2010–2014 | 63 | 3457 | 17 | 33 | 6 | 182 | 2 | .898 | 2.84 |
| Erasmo Saltarelli | 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 2, 2023.[7]