Quinnipiac, Yale ready for big game Saturday

A typical week during the season in New Haven includes a media session on Thursdays before a hockey weekend. This week both schools made themselves available today, so here's a few notes in advance of the big game on Saturday.

• The buzz is back on campus at Quinnipiac. Students returned to classes from winter break last Tuesday but the team, save for a sold out non-league game against UConn, hasn't seen any game action the past two weekends. Plenty of talk about the national polls on Monday, with students obviously disappointed the Bobcats weren't able to overtake Minnesota for the top spot. "They were pretty excited, they thought we were going to be No. 1," senior defenseman Zach Davies said. "To us, it would be a very nice achievement. But we're more worried about finishing off the season strong." 
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• Media coverage has spiked at Quinnipiac as more television stations and news outlets are making their way to Hamden. Boston and New York papers have run stories and on Monday the Associated Press stopped by for a feature story to hit the national wire service. Coach Rand Pecknold is as media savvy and accommodating a coach as there is, always on an even keel. "I don't think we've ever had anything to this level, this is a whole different thing being No. 1 in the Pairwise for a while," Pecknold said. "It is a little overwhelming, but it's great for the university and the hockey program. It's why we went Division I in athletics, it's why we built this facility. We want this exposure. It's great for the school."
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• The three-week lull (no offense, UConn) in the schedule is a by-product of having Princeton as a travel partner. The Tigers academic schedule runs a little differently, and it affects their athletic program, and Quinnipiac. Pecknold said he has games to fill the void over the next couple of seasons, including a Friday-Sunday home-and-away series with Merrimack next year to help keep his team sharp.
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• Quinnipiac will open next season in Alaska, playing a game at Alaska-Anchorage and another at Alaska-Fairbanks the first weekend in October. Non-conference games played at the Alaska schools are considered exempt, even though they count in the official schedule, meaning the Bobcats will play two-games beyond the 34-game NCAA limit. 
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• Get the frequent flyer cards ready in Hamden. The Bobcats are also taking a summer trip to Austria and Italy.
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• Yale is healthy, aside from sophomore Bennett Carroccio, who is no longer on the roster and not believed to be enrolled in classes. Yale coach Keith Allain said it was a personal issue with Carroccio, though he believes his plan is to return to the team next season.
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• Yale had a pair of goals reviewed last weekend. One at Cornell, which NBC Sports cameras showed was a clear goal, was upheld despite a long delay as Big Red coach Mike Schafer bent a referee's ear. A night later at Colgate, a possible goal was disallowed because officials couldn't determine whether it went in the net before time expired in the second period. The video and the clock were not synched up together on the review. The ECAC office is looking into the matter.
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• While Saturday's game with Quinnipiac is sold out, a handful of tickets remain for the Friday game between Yale and Princeton.
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• Yale's student radio station, WYBC-1340, expects its broadcasts to air on AM radio soon -- possibly by Saturday. Broadcasts currently air on Internet only, but demand to return to the traditional airwaves has been high. Expect an official announcement by Wednesday.
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• CPTV Sports will broadcast Saturday's game live with Ron Vaccaro on play-by-play and Steve Conn doing color. Don Boyle will be the third man, conducting between period interviews.
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• Yale will play at least two games in an NHL arena next season, possibly three. The Ivy Shootout, a rotating annual tournament with Yale, Brown, Princeton and Dartmouth, was slated for Princeton's Hobey Baker Rink this October. But the Prudential Center in Newark, home to the New Jersey Devils, is interested in an annual tournament itself. The building offered to play host to the Shootout this year to get its feet wet, with the ultimate goal a showcase college hockey tournament featuring teams from various conferences.
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• The other NHL arena? Madison Square Garden. No contracts have been signed, but Yale and Harvard are in discussions to play a non-conference game at The World's Most Famous Arena this November.