Risin’ Tigers: How Princeton turned its program around

To put Princeton hockey’s run to the NCAAs in proper perspective, you have to travel back in time nearly two years to fathom its intensely steep curve from the abyss. How the Tigers did not succumb to the culture of losing is a testimony to their character, and their coach.

The Boast

Princeton athletics was kicking off its 2016 Memorial Day weekend’s five-day graduation bash with a big-time sports banquet. Vibrant young athletic director Mollie Marcoux (Ithaca, N.Y.) clutched a microphone under the big tent and was listing all the Tigerstriped Ivy League champions from 2015-16. There must have been more than a dozen: swimming and hoops and archery, a multitude of sports featuring both genders standing up and taking bows. Under Marcoux’s firm guidance, Ol’ Nassau had become Title Town of the Ancient Eight. It had become the Stanford of the East.

Second-year coach Ron Fogarty was the head of the hockey table, parked at the south end of the tent, near the greensward of the Tiger golf facility, shimmering in the early evening sun. He was surrounded by seniors who had managed a mere nine wins in Fogarty’s two-season tenure, one at distinct odds with the room full of dream teams. The hockey boys had their collars open, and a mutual bottle of red wine to accompany the entree. They conveyed a sense of irreverent detachment, clearly apart from Marcoux’s flower shower to Princeton athletic greatness.

Coach Fogarty was projecting both camaraderie and confidence this night, a challenging feat considering that his Division 1 winning percentage hovered around the .200 mark. He spoke in a Canadian hockey accent, the unpolished vowels reminiscent of Minnesota, complemented by the word power he accrued during his four years at Colgate. There was nothing phony about Fogarty, a guy who extended his playing career by donning Rollerblades for two seasons. With his boss anointing yet another titlist 50 feet away, he leaned over to his guest on his left and uttered the following: “We’re going to win an Ivy League championship in the next couple of years, you’ll see.”

Rock Bottom

The math surely did not add up. Nine wins in a single season, let alone the two it took Fogarty, did not translate into contention against Ivy brass Cornell, Harvard and fellow New York metro school Yale. The writer smiled politely, choosing not to challenge the outrageous boast. To Fogarty, the close losses of the second season represented progress; to a cynical writer, it represented a pattern — losing.

To observers other than Coach Fogarty and his loyal troops, year three started off horrendously for Princeton hockey. As they prepared to depart for a Thanksgiving road trip to national No. 2 Bemidji, they found themselves as the only team in Division 1 without a victory. Nearing the midpoint in the third year of his Division 1 maiden voyage, Fogarty’s career winning percentage was .183, below the Mendoza Line, a threshold from which most coaches lose their jobs. Not so fast, said the A.D.

“We knew that competitive success would not happen overnight,” said Marcoux in hindsight. The former Princeton women’s hockey standout knew she had hired a special coach, regardless of his squad’s early results. She mentioned all the members of the loyal Princeton puck community who “supported the team in good times and bad.”

The extent of that loyalty would be severely tested. Who could blame anyone for jumping ship from a program that had endured two straight 23-loss seasons, only to go into Thanksgiving of year three winless, having earned a solitary point after seven games. From the outside, Princeton hockey looked like the Titantic, yet somehow, the stocky little fellow with the penetrating eyes had them believing in his “system.” That system that had produced a 9-52-7 record — a whopping 43 games under.500. Meanwhile, Bemidji State was sitting at 11-2-1, and must have viewed the Tigers as holiday dessert.

The Turn

And that’s where the Princeton hockey ocean liner pulled a complete 180. Princeton swept Bemidji, getting stronger toward the end of each game. Then it swept reigning ECAC champ Quinnipiac University. College hockey media sources, picking themselves up after having fallen from their chairs, began talking Tiger hockey. College Hockey News selected Princeton as its national team of the month in December 2016, less than a month after the Tigers scraped rock bottom. They went on to beat Yale at Ingalls, which, coupled with their win at Quinnipiac, completed the extraordinarily rare sweep of the pizza-loving Twin Cities, the two national powerhouses in Hamden and New Haven. ECAC Hockey media boss Ed Krajewski was now fielding calls about the last team to pull off the pizza-town double.

Suddenly, Fogarty’s Memorial Day claim did not appear so hare-brained. Princeton went 15-10-2 the rest of the way in 2016-17, including a miraculous (yes, miraculous) buzzer-beater to steal a road playoff series from Colgate, tripling the previous year’s win total with 15, and sending the Tigers into the offseason with hard-earned confidence. Fogarty appeared to be the only one not surprised. “Once the kids get used to the system, we’ll be fine,” has been his mantra throughout his mercurial reign at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink.

The system. What exactly is the system that turned a perennial doormat into the team no one wants to play in March? He has given clues throughout Princeton’s runs to the NCAAs, but it is based less on innovative X’s and O’s than it is on trust and belief. And without a disingenuous bone in his body, Fogarty has these sons of industry, men of privilege and higher intellect, believing in him and each other. Never was that more evident than in their extraordinary run to the ECAC championship in Lake Placid.

Keep in mind that Princeton’s hockey talent level, especially the goal scoring, has grown at an even faster rate than its impressive win total. Junior snipers Max Veronneau and Ryan Kuffner were re- cruited from Fogarty’s home province of Ontario and are now jostling toward the front of the line in Princeton’s all-time scoring charts. During the ECAC championships in Lake Placid, Veronneau caught and passed John McBride as the single-season record holder with 54 points, a Princeton mark that had stood for nearly six decades. The point is, while Fogarty has convinced his squad to play his system, he has collected the horses to power them into the winner’s circle. They are now a feared offensive team, one whose goal total went from 39 in year one to a school record 129 (and counting) in year four of the Fogarty era.

The Reckoning

While they were heading up the Northway for a semifinal meeting with top-seeded Cornell, one might be forgiven for presuming that the 2017-18 Tigers had arrived at their ceiling. They were taking the prescribed incremental steps to long-term hockey success: a single playoff series victory in Fogarty’s year three, two series captured in year four. Now up in the thin air of the snowbound Adirondacks, no one would blame Fogarty’s troops for taking a brief tour of the Division 1 championship setting, smelling the roses, and then humbly boarding the luxury bus for the six-hour return trip to Princeton. Their opponent from Ithaca had national championship aspirations; clearly Cinderella Princeton would be nothing more than a footnote in what promised to be another historic chapter of Big Red hockey.

Fogarty preached otherwise. He allowed a team videographer into his room for a stirring pregame speech. “We’ve earned every little bit of what we’ve done this year,” he said, facing each corner so every player got his message. “We deserve to be here!” Every Tiger eye was steeled. They marched out and leaped onto the miraculous ice of Herb Brooks Arena to face the Beast of the East, and then … laid an egg.

Although the scoreboard had Cornell leading only 1-0 after their semifinal’s first period, it sure looked like the naysayers and hockey traditionalists were correct: Midnight had struck for Fogarty and company. Cornell was the grand master of this hockey soiree: It had the fewest losses in the country and had annihilated Quinnipiac in the quarters, scoring seemingly at will.

Cornell’s next act was to send the Tigers home before the end of Friday Happy Hour in the quaint hamlet. After a single period of hockey, the Big Red army had outplayed, outchanced and outshot the Tigers by considerable margins. The only miracle on the Herb Brooks Arena at 4:45 p.m. Friday was that it was only a one-goal game. Fans at the Olympic Center were starting to look ahead to the prime-time show between Harvard and Clarkson. Coach Fogarty calmly closed the door on all the distractions, and regrouped.

“We don’t have any vision with us right now,” said the coach urgently, reminding his troops what had gotten them into the championships in the first place. “We can’t have one guy with the puck looking for two or three, way over there,” said Fogarty, sweeping his arms across the imaginary plains of the widest sheet in hockey. “Don’t get lost trying to do things by ourselves. Everything together.”

And Princeton stopped the bleeding. The aforementioned CHN claimed it benefitted from bounces, but Princeton created its own, powering to the net to capitalize on loose change to tie the game. Minutes later, a blocked shot led to an Eric Robinson (Bellmawr, N.J.) breakaway snipe. In a comeback that mirrored the career turn of Fogarty, Princeton had pulled another U-turn with its season on the line.

The Tigers systematically dismantled the superpower of Eastern hockey, the ECAC and the Ivy League, winning going away, 4-1. Princeton did it with will and skill, dominating the 50-50 pucks before incredulous Cornell coach Mike Schafer, a man not used to seeing his club summarily dismissed in battles for puck possession.

The Artistic Dagger

The game’s defining moment unfolded in artistic fashion at the midpoint of the third period. Fogarty’s original recruits, Veronneau and Kuffner, busted out of the east end of Herb Brooks Arena with all of Tiger hockey nation sweating out a 2-1 lead.

The two juniors flew across the blue line in a staggered two-on-two break into Cornell’s zone, Kuffner with the puck drawing defender No. 1 toward the far boards, the right-handed shooting Veronneau sprinting into the middle. His speed earned himself a closet full of open ice, and he opened up his hips for a possible one-timer. Kuffner curled toward the boards and fired a bullet pass, 50 feet across the vast white sheet. It connected to tape, softly corralled by his classmate, just like they had executed in thousands of practices over the past six seasons, including three years of junior together in Gloucester, Ontario. As soon as the disc latched onto his blade, Kuffner began the textbook kinetic chain, transferring his weight from back boot to front. He squeezed off a laser, topshelf twine over confounded Cornell netminder Matthew Galajda, the puck exiting as fast as it had arrived.

The ECAC’s most decorated goaltender had been proven mortal by these Tigers, getting torched for three tallies in 22 minutes. This was by far the sweetest of the bunch, hockey’s version of the beautiful game generating a breathtaking insurance dagger.

Princeton had wrested control of these championships from the mighty Big Red of Cornell, and Tigers hockey fans around the country were shrieking into their laptops and tablets over the stunning knockout blow. Cornell-killer Veronneau had just experienced his own Mike Eruzione moment, on nearly the exact patch of ice from where American hockey’s “Shot heard round the World” was fired.

Captain Robinson led the way with two goals, a four-year man who has experienced the lows and highs under Fogarty. He embodies the coach’s mantra. “We knew we’re a really good team, and that if we just stick to our systems, play hard, play the right way, we could make a little run here in the ECAC.”

The Banner

And like the Team USA Miracle bunch from a generation prior, following their stunning upset of the Big Red Machine, Princeton needed another win after to clinch its championship. It wasted no time in the ECAC title game, as All-Tournament defenseman Josh Teves jumped into the attack, getting assists from the dynamic duo of Kuffner and Veronneau, staking the Tigers to the early lead. The first-period goal nearly held up for the duration, as freshman netminder Ryan Ferland earned his MVP status with 30 pressure saves against a potent Clarkson arsenal that had de-throned Harvard the night before.

On at least six occasions, Princeton’s clever counter-attackers had grade-A chances to fatten the lead, each time denied, creating seeds of dread in the pits of Tiger stomachs. And with Princeton fans gleefully counting down the final seconds to a miraculous championship, Clarkson scored a cruel goal with less than seven ticks remaining, the puck pinballing in from the point. The nationally ranked Golden Knights had restored the tilt of college hockey to its proper axis, puncturing Princeton’s temporary bubble. At the conclusion of regulation, an arena full of giddy North Country fans was convinced that the Golden Knights would be heading into NCAAs wearing ECAC crowns shortly after overtime commenced. Fogarty needed the entire intermission to restore the mojo to his crestfallen Tigers.

“We’re still going to win this,” said Fogarty to his shell-shocked troops. “If someone told us, ‘You go to overtime for a championship,’ everyone would take it.” He looked around the room and saw imperceptible nods. “Do everything you do well, and we’re going to win this.” He had the boys’ attention, and he pressed on. “It just takes one shot and we’re going to go to the tournament. It just takes one shot.” The Tigers players picked up their heads. They had a room full of goal scorers, three lines worth, and the defensemen as well. Fogarty was rolling now. He went around the room and started naming names, to see who would score the game-winner. By the time Princeton went out for overtime, Clarkson never had a chance.

Princeton players swarmed Clarkson’s net with a barrage of offense, forcing the puck along the goal line to the pipes, winning draws for grade-A wristers and making themselves a nuisance in front of the Knights net. For the coup de grace, the Ivy Leaguers outsmarted the Knights. Jeremy Germain convinced the entire building that he was powering toward a far side wraparound, and in mid-stride, slipped the disc onto the Clarkson doorstep for his unchaperoned linemate Max Becker. The senior center had not one, but two point-blank whacks at the puck, and the second found the back of the net, and the Tigers found euphoria.

Fogarty was busy prepping the next shift when the joint erupted. “I didn’t see Max’s goal. I was ready for the next line and everyone jumped, and I jumped too.” Cameras showed Fogarty yanking off his tie and leaping into the fray. The next 10 minutes were a nonstop sequence of joyous movie scenes: Young men transformed into gleeful boys at Christmas, delirious hugging, a yard sale of gloves, sticks and helmets strewn about the royal sheet of ice, a freshman goalie hoisting an MVP award, capped off by a coach ripping off his headset on live TV with these words trailing behind him, “Boys, I gotta go, this is too good …” Senior captains Robinson and Joe Grabowski (Lawrenceville, N.J.), a couple of Jersey boys who had suffered through consecutive 23-loss seasons to start their careers, together shouldered the immense Scotty Whitelaw Trophy as ECAC Hockey champions. The night ended with Princeton hockey’s band of brothers receiving a standing ovation from friends and family as they entered the Crowne Plaza hotel, brimming with hardware and good cheer.

Beyond Ivy

‘This team is living proof of the importance of being growth minded, being consistent and focusing on the little things each day that lead to success,” said Princeton A.D. Marcoux, who displayed ample patience waiting for Fogarty’s charges to make their remarkable turn. She should reserve a special place for her hockey Tigers at Princeton’s 2018 sports banquet.

Unlike so many of the other sports, Ivy League hockey has no tournament, no crowning moment. The winner of hockey’s Ivy League is not granted an automatic NCAA bid; few outside the “Ancient Eight” even recognize the title. The 2018 ECACs in Lake Placid were the de facto Ivy League tournament, with historic powerhouses Cornell and Harvard joining upstart Princeton in the last four. Princeton outlasted them all, defeating Ivy brothers Brown and kingpin Cornell along the way. To have won the ECAC title, to hang that banner, is to have defeated the best of the Ivies and six other schools, including powerhouses like Union and Clarkson, both slayed by Princeton in a storybook run. Marcoux should place the hockey table front and center under the tent this spring, having won a tournament with twice the degree of difficulty as just the Ivy League.

The Old Guard

Thanks to Princeton coach Ron Fogarty, Princeton employed a vigorous outreach program with former Tigers hockey champions. In the final regular-season home series of the 2017-18 season, Princeton hockey brought in nearly every member from the 1998 and 2008 ECAC champions to reconnect with the current 2017-18 squad. In addition, two Tigers alums who captured the Stanley Cup as NHL players, George Parros and Kevin Westgarth, shared some inspirational wisdom.

2003 Princeton grad Parros, a 13-year pro who hoisted Lord Stanley with Anaheim, attended the Princeton hockey reunion in February and is understandably proud of his alma mater. “Claiming the ECAC championship is a remarkable feat for any Ivy League squad. Putting Princeton in the national spotlight is something we alumni will always take great pride in,” he said.

Toot Cahoon, coach of the 1998 champions, the first Tigers club to participate in the NCAA hockey tournament, made a point of coming down from Boston for the reunion. “He (Fogarty) treated everyone like a million dollars,” said Cahoon, who saw Union defeat Princeton on Saturday, then visited with Fogarty at the Nassua Inn shortly thereafter. “Coaching is hard. You have so much going on. To come back and visit afterward … his people skills are impressive. He is really good at compartmentalizing.”

The uncanny parallel between Cahoon’s 1998 squad, and the 2018 team, were not lost on the former coach. Both squads played Brown in the first round, both beat Cornell, both had to win the championship in overtime against Clarkson at Lake Placid. “It’s quite a coincidence, remarkable,” said Cahoon. For the record, Cahoon’s squad required double overtime to win its title, one that still resonates with Cahoon. “I think about it every day. Most mornings I wake up thinking about it.”

Cahoon is bullish on Fogarty’s tenure at Princeton: “He’s in a real good place, capable of repeating. It’s a tremendous fit. He has a nice little home for himself.”

The name John McBride came up during Princeton’s remarkable run to the ECAC title; it was his single-season scoring record of 54 points from 1960-61 that was broken by junior Max Veronneau in the 2018 championship game. “I’m awfully proud of him. It should have been broken a long time ago,” said the vibrant Mc-Bride from his home in Colorado. “Of course he didn’t really break it, because we played fewer games … ha ha.”

“I’ve seen this team. They are better than we were. Stronger, faster, better athletes.”

The system

The system. There appear to be several elements in Fogarty’s “system,” one he frequently has emphasized during his four-year tenure at Princeton. When the Tigers were in danger of being run out of Herb Brooks Arena in their ECAC semifinal with Cornell, Fogarty stressed that his team return to playing “inside the dots,” a team system of full-player support, ignoring the temptation to try “Hail Mary” stretch passes that concede numerical advantage to the opponent. With every Tiger battling at maximum intensity, they won well over half of the 50-50 pucks the remainder of the way and won convincingly over the Big Red.

In his final press conference in Lake Placid, Fogarty outlined his three-pronged system.

1. “The neutral zone is so key in college hockey. We started having that third guy pushing, preventing a lot of the clean skates through the neutral zone.

2. “With an offensive team, there are a lot of players that want to make a move at the blue line. And we were turning over a lot of pucks at the blue line midway through the season. We started to take care of the puck, learning how to manage the puck, learning how to win by doing those three things.

“We’re ECAC champions because of it.” By my count, coach only has two items in “the system.” I guess a “system” has to have some mystery to it, or everyone would be using it, winning conference titles and going to NCAAs.

Crazy Eights

Numerologists love Princeton hockey. The Tigers captured ECAC titles in 1998, 2008 and 2018. The 2018 championship-winning goal was scored by, who else, No. 8, Max Becker. But based on the talent being brought in by Fogarty, most experts don’t believe Princeton fans will have to wait for 2028 for the Tigers to capture another flag.

Kudos to Princeton’s “Tigerblog” and its media division for its terrific “Sights and Sounds” videos. Both provided quality intel with their ECAC reporting. The salient fact that in 2016-17 Princeton was the last Division 1 team to win a game came from the Tigerblog.