Mark Your Calendars

Now that the season is approaching rapidly, I figured it would be a good time to write about some of the most intriguing and exciting games Brown will play this season. Some of the obvious rivalries will be included, as well as some potentially-overlooked games and any with an interesting twist, either on the ice or off. This is the first installment, with more to follow in the coming days. 

Right off the bat, Brown faces an interesting first weekend of play. On Friday, October 26th, the Bears host Princeton in the first game of the Ivy Shootout at Meehan Auditorium. While Princeton is an Ivy League rival, the two potential matchups on Saturday really grab my attention. Brown will play either Dartmouth or Yale, depending on Friday's results. 

Ever since Bobby Gaudet was left Brown to coach Dartmouth following the 1996-97 season, Dartmouth has essentially owned the Bruno. The Bears have an absurdly abysmal record of 6-19-3 against the Green since the 1998-99 season (I couldn't find a record of the 1997-98 season online, though I remember a 6-5 home overtime win and I believe a 4-2 loss on the road. Don't quote me on that). Gaudet has had no problem mercilessly beating his former employer, and his success has extended into the Whittet era. The Bears just cannot seem to buy a win against Dartmouth, which is frustrating because they always seem to play a somewhat dirty game (against Brown, anyway- I admittedly haven't seen them play anyone else). 

James Mello was a thorn in Brown's side.
Thankfully,he is now a Dartmouth alumnus.

Photo Credit to New England Hockey Journal

Goalie James Mello, while struggling at times against the rest of the league, always seemed to have Brown's number, coming up with huge performance after huge performance against the Bears. Fortunately for Bruno, he graduated in the spring of 2012, meaning we'll never have to see him wearing Green again. 

If Brown ends up facing Yale, it should be a barn-burner of a game. This has turned into one of the more exciting series in the league in the past few years. When Vermont headed to Hockey East and Quinnipiac replaced them, the Brown-Yale series was certain to pick up in intensity, as the schools became each others' travel partners (to my dismay; I relished having Harvard as our travel partner, and Princeton-Yale had great history). 

The two teams faced off in the 2009 playoffs, with nationally-ranked Yale staving off a hearty attempt from a last-place Brown squad in Roger Grillo's final season. The following season, Yale swept the season series after winning a thrilling overtime game in Providence (in which the Bears trailed 5-2 in the second period, before mounting a comeback and tying the game at five. Yale would eventually break the hometown crowd's collective heart, winning 6-5 in OT), as well as an 8-5 track meet in New Haven which is a sparkling example of defensive and goaltending futility. 

The Bears and Elis weren't done yet. After 11th-seeded Brown upset RPI in the opening round of the ECAC Playoffs, a second consecutive playoff trip to New Haven - and a perceived imminent doom - awaited them. Despite the widespread expectation that the Bulldogs would roll over the Bears, Bruno pulled together the biggest upset in ECAC Playoff history (in terms of seeding differential). 

Brown took to a 2-0 lead in Game 1, and held on for a 3-2 victory on the strength of 37 Mike Clemente saves. Yale saw to it that there would be no such result in Game 2, as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two periods and cruised to a 6-3 win. In Game 3, Jack Maclellan put Brown up 1-0 just nine minutes into the game, and the defense and Mike Clemente held down the fort for the remaining 51 minutes of the contest, hanging on for a 1-0 win despite 44 Eli shots. Brown would eventually claim 3rd place in the ECAC Tournament, falling to red-hot Cornell in the semi-finals before beating St. Lawrence, 3-0, in the consolation match. 

The 2010-11 season saw another wild Brown-Yale game, as the Bears upset the top-ranked team in the country in Providence just a night after losing to the same team in New Haven the night before. Yale held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, before Garnet Hathaway tied the game with seven minutes remaining in the third, and Harry Zolnierczyk tallied the game winner with 46 seconds left. 

While the Bulldogs lost a lot of talent from their national contending team of 2010-11, the 2011-12 version still retained some weapons, albeit young ones for the most part. After falling 5-3 on the road, the Bears won a riveting 6-4 contest to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Meehan Auditorium. Though the win looked less impressive as Yale faltered down the stretch, it was still an action-packed, statement victory at the time for the Bears. 


No matter who the Bears end up playing Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium, it should be a fascinating game. Will Bruno have to overcome its longtime nemesis, that has dominated it for over a decade now? Or will Brown get the chance to further its budding rivalry with the Elis in what would almost certainly be another high-scoring, gripping, edge-of-the-seat encounter?