Quinnipiac men’s hockey falls short once again

Motivation to win lies outside this year's team

Quinnipiac Chronicle

Since Quinnipiac University joined the ECAC Hockey in 2005-06, the Bobcats have won six Cleary Cups as regular season champions, one Whitelaw Cup in the conference championship and two Frozen Four appearances. Yet Quinnipiac has still yet to claim the coveted Division I trophy for itself. Years of frustration are building up with head coach Rand Pecknold attempting to recruit progressively better rosters in hopes of accomplishing the one goal he’s set for himself and the team.

Quinnipiac’s performance in the ECAC Hockey playoffs show how close it is to becoming a true contender, nearly defeating Harvard in the championship. Ultimately, the Bobcats fell in overtime despite outshooting the Crimson by over 30 shots.

“Not the result we were looking for,” senior forward T.J. Friedmann said.

This season represents something a little more important to Pecknold and his squad. Over the summer, the team lost one of its own when their Team IMPACT member in Michael Torello passed away from Kernicterus. Torello’s disease formed from untreated jaundice when he was a baby.

In 2017, Torello joined Team IMPACT which is a “national nonprofit that connects children facing serious and chronic illness with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes” according to Quinnipiac’s athletics site.

“First off, I’m thinking about Michael Torello today,” Pecknold said choked up. “He’s our Team IMPACT and we lost him this year. Got the Cleary, didn’t win him the Whitelaw. So, sorry Michael.”

It says a lot about Pecknold’s character and what truly motivates him in his career. The fact that immediately following an overtime loss in a championship game, the first thing he discusses is Torello.

To begin the season, Pecknold mentioned how the team had its eyes set on a Frozen Four appearance and that was the only one that mattered. After five students transferred from strong programs to play for Quinnipiac, it seemed like the Bobcats’ lineup had rounded out and appeared ready to contend.

Though the first media day the motivation seemed to be a collective response, that it was Frozen Four or bust. Now, it’s clear that this season is in honor of Torello.

Senior forward and captain Wyatt Bongiovanni also showed emotion in his responses following the Harvard loss. He had tears in his eyes during most of his responses, sharing in the disappointment that they couldn’t secure the Whitelaw Cup.

“It definitely hurts, the passion in our locker room is second to none,” Bongiovanni said. “It hurts.”

Now, the team is regrouped and are back to eyeing the one goal set back in October. The NCAA selection show on Sunday placed Quinnipiac in Allentown to face the previous runner-up in the 2021 Frozen Four, St. Cloud State.

“We’re thrilled to be back in the NCAA tournament, this is our seventh time in nine years if we take the one COVID year out,” Pecknold said. “We’re looking forward to Allentown. It’s a great regional. We were there in 2019.”

Backed by all-time goaltending, Quinnipiac has relied on freshman Yaniv Perets to get to this point. He’s on pace to set season-high records for Division I in all three major goaltending statistics.

In 29 starts, he’s hovered around a .950 save percentage and a sub-one goals against average along with 11 shutouts.

“We had Keith Petruzzelli here for the majority of my career, he was always the guy we had as the last line of defense,” Friedmann said. “We were very lucky to come into this year with (Perets) and he’s been great. He’s got great numbers, he’s making big time saves when we need them.”

Several Quinnipiac players are set to graduate this spring, depleting the roster of key pieces, both role players and stars. The collective experience remaining for next year is limited, as juniors had their freshman season cut short by COVID, and then were forced to play only three conference teams during the season.

Thus leaving sophomores and freshmen to experience their first true full college hockey season this year. Any experience gained from this year is crucial as Quinnipiac will need to revamp the roster if it still hopes to contend.

“They have an incredible buy-in, that’s a credit to our senior leadership,” Bongiovanni said. “They’re like a mini us, they fill our shoes, and I'm extremely proud of all the guys who step up and I have ultimate faith in those guys moving forward.”

The game this weekend will help develop the younger players, especially if Quinnipiac advances to play in the regional semifinal.

Even though the team plans to attack one game at a time, the goal remains unchanged. The Bobcats want to win the Frozen Four, for themselves, for the university and more importantly, for Michael Torello.