Red Wings Sign Kuffner, Hirose

The Detroit Red Wings picked up a couple of players on Tuesday in signing a pair of free agent NCAA skaters to two-year entry-level contracts each.

Left wing Ryan Kuffner (Princeton) just completed his fourth and final season with the Tigers. An All-America choice in 2017-18 when he set a new Princeton school record with a 29-goal campaign, he completed his NCAA career on Saturday with two goals and two assists in a 6-5 triple-overtime ECAC Hockey tournament loss at Brown. The Ottawa native finished his college career with a school-record 75 goals in four seasons, and 152 points in 132 career games that leaves him second all-time in school scoring. Kuffner also paced Princeton with 44 points in 31 outings as a senior this season.

Detroit then delved within the state to sign junior forward Taro Hirose (Michigan State), who currently holds the NCAA Division I scoring lead with both 35 assists and 50 points. Hirose also completed his college season/career on Saturday, as the Spartans fell to Notre Dame in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. Part of MSU's renowned "KHL" line the last two seasons with Patrick Khodorenko and Mitchell Lewandowski, the Calgary native finished his three years in Green and White with 33 goals and 83 assists for 116 points in 106 career outings. Hirose also led the Big Ten in scoring this season, with 10-24--34 points in 24 conference contests.

Other NCAA players who left school early to sign NHL/professional contracts this week included defenseman Quinn Hughes (Michigan) with the Vancouver Canucks, defenseman Joseph Duszak
(Mercyhurst) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, defenseman Cooper Zech (Ferris State) with the Providnce (AHL) Bruins, and goaltender Ryan Huska (Connecticut) with the New York Rangers.

Princeton's 2018-19 Season Ends in ECAC First Round

 

Princeton University's 2018-19 men's ice hockey season came to an an end tonight in Providence. Alex Brink scored 3:30 into the third overtime session to boost host Brown University to a

6-5 victory in Game 2 of its best-of-three ECAC Hockey first-round series with the Tigers at Meehan Auditorium. At a total time of 103:30, it was the longest game in the history of both schools.

Coupled with Brown's 3-0 win on Friday, Princeton has been eliminated from the conference tournament, while the Bears will travel to either Quinnipiac or Cornell next weekend for a best-of-three quarterfinal series. Princeton eliminated Brown in two games in the first round of the ECACs last spring in New Jersey, en route to the league title.

The two Ivy League rivals played to a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes on Saturday, before Brown scored three times in the first 14:12 of the third stanza to take a 5-2 lead. Princeton pulled within 5-3 just a minute later on Alex Riche's second goal of the night, before Ryan Kuffner scored his second goal of the evening and team-leading 22nd goal of the campaign at 17:41. Kuffner then assisted on Jackson Cressey's tying marker with 49 seconds remaining in regulation. All three goals were scored in a span of 2:47, and all with Princeton's goaltender pulled for an extra attacker.

The teams then played through two scoreless 20-minute overtime periods before Brink ended it. Ryan Ferland took the loss in goal for the Tigers (10-18-3 overall, 8-12-2 ECAC) despite stopping 31 shots. Gavin Nieto earned the win for the Bears (13-13-5, 8-9-5) in making 35 stops.

Kuffner, ECAC Hockey's Player of the Month for February 2019, finished his college career with a school record 75 goals in four seasons, among his 152 points in 132 career games that leave him second all-time in school scoring behind John Messuri's 178 points. Kuffner also paced Princeton with 44 points in 31 outings as a senior this season.

Longtime linemate Max Veronneau was kept off the scoresheet on Friday and Saturday, but scored two goals in a 3-2 regular-season finale victory at Brown on March 2. He completed his college career with 52-91—143 points in 130 appearances, which ranks hims fourth all-time in Princeton points, and finished second to Kuffner on this year's Tiger scoring scroll with 13-23—36 points in 31 games.

Riche posted two goals and two assists in his Tigers swansong Saturday, and placed third among all Princeton scorers this season with 11-15—26 points in 31 games, plus 26-49—75 points in 122 career contests. Finishing in fourth place was senior defenseman Josh Teves with 3-17—20 points in 31 games, and 16-69—85 points in 126 career appearances. Together the foursome led Princeton to the ECAC Hockey tournament championship last year in Lake Placid, plus a berth in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Allentown, Pa. where the Tigers fell to eventual Frozen Four participant Ohio State. Also finishing their Princeton careers on Saturday were senior forward Spencer Kryczka (19 GP, 1-1—2) and senior goaltender Austin Shaw (9 GP, 2-1-1, 2.93, .904).

Other NCAA Division I men's schools that saw their seasons end on Saturday included Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska Fairbanks, Bemidji State, Colgate, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, and Rensselaer.

Princeton Downs St. Lawrence, 5-3, in Home Finale

Princeton University closed out the home portion of its 2018-19 schedule on Saturday night with a 5-3 victory over ECAC Hockey rival St. Lawrence.

Ryan Kuffner led the host Tigers with two goal and an assist, including his team-leading 20th goal of the season, after setting a new single-season school record with 29 tallies a year ago. Jackson Cressey tallied one goal and set up two others, while Alex Riche and Max Veronneau scored Princeton's other goals. Ryan Ferland picked up the win with 21 saves over 59 minutes before giving way to backup Austin Shaw, who played in his final home game at Hobey Baker Rink, as did senior classmates Riche, Kuffner, Verroneau, Spencer Kryczka and Josh Teves.

Keenan Suthers, Zach Risteau and Bo Hanson scored for the visiting Saints, who went 2-for-5 on the power play. Emil Zetterquist finished with 25 saves for St. Lawrence, which was outshot, 30-24, overall.

Princeton (8-16-3 overall, 6-12-2 ECAC), in 11th place in ECAC Hockey, will skate next weekend at Brown and Yale, while 12th place St. Lawrence (4-26-2, 2-16-2) will host Cornell and Colgate as the league closes out its regular-season slate.

Princeton, Penn State Skate to Tie in Philadelphia

Max Veronneau and Ryan Kuffner posted four points apiece, including Kuffner's tying goal with 1:08 remaining in regulation, as Princeton knotted Penn State, 4-4, in the 2018 Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff at the Wells Fargo Center.

Veronneau scored two goals for Princeton, which got the game-opening goal from Josh Teves. Brandon Biro, Chase Berger and Nate Sucese scored in the first period for Penn State (11-5-2 overall), which outshot host Princeton, 13-3 in the first period, and 37-35 on the night. Alec Marsh scored Penn State’s fourth goal 17 seconds into the second period to put the Nittany Lions up, 4-1, at the time.

Peyton Jones finished with 31 saves for Penn State, including a stop on Veronneau in overtime. Veronneau posted two goals and two assists on the night, while Kuffner had a goal and three assists. Austin Smith stopped all 21 shots he faced in the Princeton net, after relieving starter Ryan Ferland (12 saves) following Marsh’s goal.

Princeton (3-8-2) went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Penn State was 0-for-2.

Adrian Edges Princeton in Exhibition

NCAA Division III Adrian (Mich.) topped NCAA Division I host Princeton in an exhibition men's ice hockey contest on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink. Individual statistics and team records from the contest will not count in either school’s official totals.

After Ryan Kuffner and Jake Paganelli staked the Tigers to a 2-0 second-period lead, Dino Balsamo got the visiting Bulldogs on the board. Adrian would then tie the contest late in regulation before Austin Bottrell put home a rebound on a power play with 6.2 seconds remaining in overtime for the win.

Kevin Entmaa went the distance in goal for Adrian, and finished with 23 saves. Ryan Ferland, Andrew Shaw and Jay Forget split netminding chores for Princeton in playing one period apiece,
with Forget also playing the overtime, and combined for 30 stops. Save totals were partially skewed by several 5-on-3 and 5-on-4 power play practice situations exchanged by the two teams prior to the start of the second stanza.

Adrian, which finished 24-6-0 overall last season and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament's quarterfinal round, will begin its 2018-19 regular season at Utica on Oct. 26-27.
Princeton, which claimed the 2018 ECAC Hockey Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009, went 19-13-4 overall last season and will open its new
campaign at Penn State on Oct. 26.

Three Tigers Make Preseason 2018-19 ECAC Hockey Team

Three Princeton University seniors were named to the 2018-19 ECAC Hockey All-League Team, as reported on the league website.

Princeton forward Max Véronneau joined longtime linemate Ryan Kuffner up front, while defenseman Josh Teves was chosen on the blueline. Véronneau finished second among all NCAA Division I men's hockey players last season with 55 points, while Kuffner set a new single-season Princeton standard by scoring 29 goals. Teves led all NCAA Division I defensemen last season with 1.06 points per game, notching 33 points in 31 outings, while all three players helped the Tigers to their first ECAC Hockey Championship and automatic NCAA Tournament berth since 2008.

Rounding out the preseason All-League Team was Yale University senior forward Joe Snively, Harvard University junior defenseman Adam Fox, and Cornell University sophomore goaltender Matthew Galajda. Cornell also topped both the preseason ECAC Hockey media and coaches polls as the projected top team in the conference for the upcoming campaign, while Princeton was tabbed for second place in both polls.

Princeton's Véronneau, Kuffner Earn 2018 All-America Accolades

Princeton University rising junior forwards and Ottawa natives Max Véronneau and Ryan Kuffner have been named as Second Team CCM/AHCA Hockey All-Americans by the American Hockey Coaches Association, as announced over the weekend at the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn.

Véronneau (No. 15 in photo) finished second in the nation with 55 points, on 17 goals and 38 assists, in 2017-18, five points behind Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Gaudette of Northeastern. Véronneau also established a new Princeton single-season superlative for total points, while Kuffner (No. 21) set a new school standard with 29 goals. Kuffner also registered 23 assists and was tied for fourth in NCAA Division I with 52 points with former University of Denver forward Henrik Borgström.

Véronneau and Kuffner, who played junior hockey together with Gloucester (CCHL) before enrolling at Princeton, are both undrafted and expected to return to the Tigers in the fall for their senior seasons. Each also recorded his 100th career collegiate point in 2017-18.

Véronneau and Kuffner led the Tigers to a 19-13-4 overall mark, including Princeton's first ECAC Hockey championship since 2008 and its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2009. The Tigers won six straight playoff games to earn their league’s title, before ultimately bowing out with a 4-2 loss to Ohio State University in an NCAA Midwest regional semifinal.

Princeton Ousts Brown in ECAC Men's First Round

Princeton University has advanced to the quarterfinals of the ECAC Tournament for the second straight year. The Tigers completed a two-step sweep of visiting Brown University with a 7-1 win on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink, one night after an 8-2 victory over the Bears in the opener of the best-of-three series.

The Tigers got goals from seven different players on the evening, and 27 saves from Ryan Ferland, after breaking open a 1-0 game with four goals in the middle period. Ryan Kuffner’s second-period score, his 28^th goal of the season, stood up as the game-winner. It also tied a 20-year-old Princeton single-season record, set by retired NHL player Jeff Halpern in 1998 when the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever.

Kuffner finished the night with a goal and two assists, as did linemate Max Veronneau, who recorded his 100^th career point on Kuffner’s goal. Reid Yochim and Eric Robinson also posted two assists apiece for Princeton, which finished 2-for-6 on the power play.

The Tigers ended the game with six seniors on the ice, including relief goaltender Ben Halford, in their final appearance as a class at Baker Rink. Senior defenseman Matt Nelson closed out the scoring with a power-play goal with 34 seconds remaining in regulation, assisted by classmates Robinson and Joe Grabowski. Also on ice were seniors Max Becker and David Hallisey. Princeton outshot Brown, 44-30, over three periods.

Brown (8-19-4), which defeated both Dartmouth and Harvard last week in its regular-season finale, got its lone goal Saturday from Zach Giuttari, on a power play early in the third period. The Bears also received 37 saves overall from Luke Kania in Brown’s final game of the 2017-18 campaign.

Princeton (15-12-2), which now is assured of its first winning record since 2010-11, will play on the road next week in a best-of-three series at an opponent yet to be determined. The winner of that series will advance to the ECAC Tournament semifinals on March 16 in Lake Placid.

Princeton and St. Cloud Skate to Second Straight Tie

One night after skating to a 3-3 tie in non-conference NCAA Division I men's hockey action, Princeton and No. 1 St. Cloud State did it again. The host Tigers and visiting Huskies played to a 2-2 affair at Hobey Baker Rink on Saturday, as SCSU scored the tying goal with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Ryan Ferland made 43 saves for Princeton, one night after he posted a 37-stop effort that included 14 saves in a five-minute overtime period. SCSU netminder Jeff Smith made 40 stops on Saturday as the Huskies, who now have three ties in their last four outings to date, outshot the Tigers overall, 45-42. The two teams combined to go 2-for-12 on the power play in the rematch.

Judd Peterson open the scoring for SCSU (12-2-3 overall) just under seven minutes into the second period, on a goal in front of the net. Princeton (6-7-3) responded with less than three minutes left in the period when Jake Paganelli whirled around at the left post and whipped a backhander between Smith’s pads.

The Tigers took their first lead of the night in the first minute of the third period, when Ryan Kuffner scored on the doorstep as the Huskies were trying to kill off the final 20 seconds of a penalty. SCSU came back with a power play goal of its own with 12:18 elapsed in the third when Jacob Benson put the puck home from behind the Princeton cage. The Tigers then had three power plays following Benson’s goal, including one on a too many men on the ice penalty against the Huskies, but couldn’t cash in

Saturday’s deadlock came 20 years to the day that Princeton defeated No. 1 Boston University at Baker Rink by a 3-2 count. The Tigers will visit ECAC opponents Cornell and Colgate next week, while SCSU will play a home-and-home series with in-state rival Minnesota.

Princeton Splits with Bemidji State

 

Princeton University gave up a goal just 17 seconds into Friday's game, but then didn't look back in scoring twice in each of the next two periods on to best Bemidji State, 4-1, at Hobey Baker Rink. The Tigers thus gained a split in the two-game series, which began on Wednesday with a 5-3 victory by the visiting Beavers.

After BSU's Jay Dickman one-timed home a puck from the slot in the first minute of play, the score remained unchanged until Ryan Kuffner connected on a Princeton power play with just over three minutes left in the second period. The Tigers then went ahead for good less than two minutes later,  when Alex Riche backhanded a puck from behind the goal line that glanced off the inside of BSU goaltender Jack Burgart's pad and slid into the net.

David Hallisey scored from the left side just under five minutes into the third stanza to make it 3-1 for Princeton, and the goal stood following an official review after BSU challenged that the play had been offside. Princeton freshman and New Jersey native Jake Paganelli closed out the scoring on a breakaway at 14:18 for his first career collegiate goal.

Ryan Ferland finished with 26 saves for the Tigers, while Burgart made 36 stops for the Beavers in his first starts of the 2017-18 season. Josh Teves recorded two assists for Princeton, while Kuffner had a goal and an assist. The all-time series between the two schools is now tied at three wins apiece.

Princeton (4-4-1 overall) will now host ECAC opponent Quinnipiac on Tuesday night and will then visit Arizona State for two games next weekend, while BSU (5-5-2) will visit WCHA opponent Bowling Green next Friday and Saturday.

Princeton Outlasts Colgate to Advance

For the first time in seven years, Princeton University has advanced in the ECAC Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament.

Derek Topatigh (power play) and Ryan Kauffman each scored goals, and Colton Phinney finished with 35 saves as the Tigers edged Colgate University, 2-1, in the deciding game Sunday night at Hobey Baker Rink. Princeton won the best-of-three first-round series, two games to one, after losing the first game in overtime, 3-2, on Friday. The Tigers rebounded last night with a 4-3 overtime victory of their own, after tying the game in the final second of regulation.

Princeton (15-14-3 overall), the seventh seed in this year’s tournament, will now visit second-seeded Union College next weekend in a best-of-three series in Schenectady, N.Y. Princeton’s last series win in ECAC Tournament play came in 2009 when the Tigers defeated Union, two games to one, and advanced to the ECAC semifinals and later the NCAA Tournament.

Colgate, which got its lone goal Sunday from senior captain Jake Kulevich to open the scoring, finished the 2016-17 campaign at 9-22-6 overall.

Princeton Tops Quinnipiac, 5-3

Princeton made it four wins in its last five outings overall as the Tigers defeated No. 7 Quinnipiac, 5-3, on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink.

Princeton, which took three one-goal leads on the night, went ahead for good with just over four minutes remaining in regulation when an unassisted shot from the blueline by defenseman Matt Nelson found the back of the Quinnipiac net. Eric Robinson then fired an insurance goal into an empty net with 15 seconds left, after Bobcats netminder Chris Truehl (24 saves) had been pulled for an extra attacker. Princeton last won four of five games from Jan. 4-27, 2013.

Max Veronneau set up three of Princeton goals and now has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in his last three games, after starting the season with four points over his first nine contests. Ryan Kuffner, Jackson Cressey (power-play goal) and Alex Riche also scored for the Tigers (4-7-1 overall, 2-6-1 ECAC), who got 33 stops on the evening from Colton Phinney, including a pad save on a shot late in regulation with Quinnipiac threatening to tie the game on a power play.

The Bobcats’ goals came from Kevin Duane (PPG), Landon Smith and Thomas Aldworth, in the first second and third periods, respectively, with each one forging a tie. Quinnipiac (10-6-2, 6-3-1) finished 1-for-5 on the power play while outshooting Princeton, 36-29, overall. The Tigers, who were 1-for-3 with the man advantage, defeated Quinnipiac for the first time since Nov. 23, 2013, a span of four games, and for the first time at home since Jan. 4, 2010.

An altercation after the final whistle resulted in 10-minute misconduct penalties being issued to both teams, and no traditional postgame handshake was held. The two ECAC travel partners will conclude their home-and home series tomorrow at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.