Above the Boardwalk

Here at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. for today's open practices and media session. Quite an interesting facility, this is. It's big, and the seats all seem to have great sight lines. The backdrop and architecture is slightly odd, not necessarily in a bad way. It's very Atlantic City turn of the century (1900s, not 2000s), with murals and intricate detailing. There's a real Vaudeville vibe going on, and it kind of reminds me of "Boardwalk Empire" on HBO. But the venue also seems a little run down and dirty.

Practices are moving quickly. Here's a few notes from the Yale end of things.

• Jeff Anderson and Brendan Mason are both practicing. No word yet on whether either will be in the lineup. Injured defenseman Jesse Hudkins is the only player on the roster who didn't make the trip with the team.
• Sports Illustrated has been hanging around Yale the last couple of days for a story to run soon. Expect to see something in next week's issue.
• Most players weren't thrilled with the ice at Boardwalk Hall, but it may have been because Yale had the fourth practice of the afternoon.
• Word is this will not be a well-attended tournament. And in a big building like this (capacity 9,800 for hockey), it will look even worse.
• The league award winners are in. RPI's Chase Polacek is the player of the year, winning over Yale's Brian O'Neill and Dartmouth's James Mello, who, for some reason, was listed as one of three finalists for player of the year by the league despite being only a second-team goaltender. Would have loved to hear the explanation if Mello won the league player of the year.
• Here are the rest of the award winners. Busy night for Union. Union's Keith Kinkade, who would have made more sense as a player of the year finalist, is the Dryden Award winner as top goaltender. Princeton's Andrew Calof is the rookie of the year; Union's Nate Leaman wins the Tim Taylor Award as coach of the year; Union's Adam Presizniuk is the best defensive forward; Union's Brock Matheson is the best defensive defenseman (Yale's Jimmy Martin was a finalist) and Union's Stephane Boileau is the student athlete of the year.
• This was released yesterday, but it never made it to the blog...O'Neill and Yale linemate Andrew Miller were both first-team All-ECAC forwards, and Chris Cahill was a third-team forward.