# Brown Bears men's ice hockey

The Brown Bears men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Brown University. The Bears are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Meehan Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island.

## History

The men's ice hockey team at Brown is one of the country's oldest programs, having played their first game in 1898. That season, the team helped to form the first informal conference, the Intercollegiate Hockey Association, and wound up winning the league championship. While there was no formal declaration at the time, Brown's title is sometimes referred to as the first ice hockey national championship. Brown nearly repeated the feat three years later but ultimately fell to Yale in the first two playoff games ever contested for college ice hockey.
The program swiftly declined after that near miss and the Bears became one of the worst teams in the nation. By 1906 the team had lost 16 straight contests, failing to score a goal in 9 games during that stretch. The program suspended operations after 1906 and remained shuttered for 20 years. When they returned to the ice they debuted with their first official head coach. Though James Gardner only lasted one season behind the bench the team performed much better with a hand at the tiller and quickly built up to be a respected program. In 1939 the team again suspended operations, though this time it was due to the onset of World War II. Brown's team remained out of commission for the entire duration of the war and didn't return until several years after its conclusion, finally hitting the ice again in 1947.
In only 4 years the team climbed all the way to 17–5 record, receiving the top eastern seed for the 1951 NCAA tournament. Though they ultimately fell in the title game, Brown had become one of the better teams in college hockey and, excluding a brief period in the early '60s, would remain so for the next 30 years. When the 1980s rolled around the Bears results started turning sour and Brown found itself looking up at the rest of college hockey. Since 1981 Brown has produced only six winning seasons and more than half of their campaigns have ended with single-digit win totals. The Bears had a brief resurgence in the mid-1990s, managing to make the tournament in 1993 but bowed out after only 1 game.

### Team photo
## All-time coaching records

As of the completion of 2023–24 season
| Tenure | Coach | Years | Record | Pct. |
| 2009–Present | Brendan Whittet | 14 | 131–260–56 | .356 |
| 1997–2009 | Roger Grillo | 12 | 120–205–52 | .387 |
| 1988–97 | Bob Gaudet | 9 | 93–142–31 | .408 |
| 1982–88 | Herb Hammond | 6 | 36–114–3 | .245 |
| 1978–82 | Paul Schilling | 4 | 34–66–3 | .345 |
| 1974–78 | Richard Toomey | 4 | 68–41–2 | .622 |
| 1970–74 | J. Allan Soares | 4 | 44–47–1 | .484 |
| 1955–70 | James Fullerton | 15 | 176–168–9 | .511 |
| 1952–55 | Donald Whiston | 3 | 27–27–1 | .500 |
| 1947–52 | Westcott Moulton | 5 | 54–38–1 | .586 |
| 1938–39 | Arthur Lesieur | 1 | 6–7–0 | .462 |
| 1931–33 | Robert Taylor | 2 | 11–12–1 | .479 |
| 1929–31, 1933–38 | Thomas Taylor | 7 | 50–32–1 | .608 |
| 1927–29 | Jean Dubuc | 2 | 12–13–0 | .480 |
| 1926–27 | Jimmy Gardner | 1 | 4–4–0 | .500 |
| 1897–1906 | No coach | 10 | 16–39–3 | .302 |
| Totals | 15 coaches | 97 seasons | 882–1,215–163 | .426 |

## Brown Olympians

Brown has sent five members of its team to the Olympics. Three former players, Donald Whiston (Silver, 1952), Robert Gaudreau (1968) and Mike Mastrullo (1984 and 1992) represented their respective nations as players, former player Tim Bothwell was an assistant coach on the gold medal-winning 2006 Canadian women's team and former assistant coach Jack Ferreira was an assistant GM for the US men's team in 1998.

## Awards and honors
### US Hockey Hall of Fame

* James Fullerton (1992)

### NCAA
#### All-Americans

First Team
* 1950–51: Donald Whiston, G
* 1951–52: Bob Wheeler, F
* 1964–65: Robert Gaudreau, D
* 1965–66: Robert Gaudreau, D
* 1967–68: Wayne Small, F
* 1969–70: Curt Bennett, F
* 1972–73: Keith Smith, D
* 1974–75: Bill Gilligan, F
* 1977–78: Mike Laycock, G
* 1979–80: Mark Holden, G
* 1991–92: Mike Brewer, D
* 2003–04: Yann Danis, G
Second Team
* 1989–90: Chris Harvey, G
* 2001–02: Yann Danis, G

### ECAC Hockey
#### All-ECAC

First Team
* 1963–64: Leon Bryant, F
* 1964–65: Robert Gaudreau, D
* 1965–66: Robert Gaudreau, D
* 1966–67: Wayne Small, F
* 1967–68: Wayne Small, F
* 1969–70: Curt Bennett, F
* 1976–77: Tim Bothwell, D
* 1977–78: Mike Laycock, G
* 1989–90: Mike Brewer, D
* 1991–92: Mike Brewer, D
* 1993–94: Geoff Finch, G
* 1994–95: Mike Traggio, D
* 1997–98: Damian Prescott, F
* 2003–04: Yann Danis, G
* 2015–16: Nick Lappin, F
Second team
* 1962–63: Leon Bryant, F
* 1963–64: Robert Gaudreau, D; Terry Chapman, F
* 1964–65: Terry Chapman, F
* 1966–67: Dennis Macks, D
* 1968–69: Curt Bennett, F
* 1969–70: Don McGinnis, G
* 1972–73: Keith Smith, D
* 1975–76: Kevin McCabe, G; Bill Gilligan, F
* 1978–79: Mike Mastrullo, D
* 1989–90: Chris Harvey, G
* 1990–91: Mike Brewer, D
* 1991–92: Derek Chauvette, F
* 1992–93: Scott Hanley, F
* 1993–94: Chris Kaban, F
* 1997–98: Jimmy Andersson, D
* 2001–02: Yann Danis, G
* 2002–03: Yann Danis, G
* 2006–07: Sean Hurley, D; Jeff Prough, F
* 2007–08: Sean Hurley, D
* 2010–11: Jack Maclellan, F
* 2011–12: Jack Maclellan, F
* 2012–13: Matt Lorito, F
Third Team
* 2009–10: Aaron Volpatti, F
* 2012–13: Anthony Borelli, G
* 2013–14: Dennis Robertson, D
* 2016–17: Sam Lafferty, F
* 2022–23: Mathieu Caron, G
All-Rookie Team
* 1989–90: Mike Ross, F
* 1990–91: Geoff Finch, G
* 1991–92: Mike Traggio, D
* 1992–93: Ryan Mulhern, F
* 1994–95: Jimmy Andersson, D
* 2003–04: Brian Ihnacak, F
* 2004–05: Sean Hurley, D
* 2008–09: Jeff Buvinow, D
* 2010–11: Dennis Robertson, D
* 2015–16: Max Gottlieb, D; Tommy Marchin, F

## Brown Hall of Fame

The following is a list of Brown's men's ice hockey players who were elected into the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame (graduating class in parentheses).
* Philip Lingham (1930)
* Westcott Moulton (1931)
* Alden Walls (1931)
* G. Edward Crane (1931)
* Jackson Skillings (1937)
* Foster Davis Jr. (1939)
* George Menard (1950)
* Warren Priestly (1951)
* Anthony Malo (1951)
* Donald Whiston (1951)
* James M Sutherland (Captain)& his entire team of 1950-51 runner up in 1951 NCAA Tournament
* John Gilbert Jr. (1952)
* Albert Gubbins (1952)
* Jake Murphy (1952)
* Donald Sennott (1952)
* Bob Wheeler (1952)
* Robert Borah (1955)
* Daniel Keefe (1955)
* S. Russell Kingman Jr. (1956)
* Peter Tutless (1956)
* F. Rodney Dashnaw (1958)
* Harry Batchelder Jr. (1958)
* David Kelley (1960)
* J. Allan Soares (1960)
* Donald Eccleston (1965)
* Leon Bryant (1965)
* Terry Chapman (1965)
* W. Bruce Darling (1966)
* David Ferguson (1966)
* Robert Gaudreau (1966)
* R. Dennis Macks (1967)
* Wayne Small (1968)
* James Fullerton (1968, honorary)
* Robert Devaney (1969)
* Donald McGinnis (1970)
* Curt Bennett (1970)
* Keith Smith (1974)
* Bill Gilligan (1977)
* Kevin McCabe (1977)
* Robert McIntosh (1977)
* Tim Bothwell (1978)
* James Bennett (1979)
* Mike Laycock (1979)
* Michael Mastrullo (1979)
* Mark Holden (1980)
* Christopher Harvey (1990)
* Steven King (1991)
* Michael Brewer (1992)
* Derek Chauvette (1993)
* Scott Hanley (1993)
* Mike Traggio (1995)
* Ryan Mulhern (1996)
* Yann Danis (2004)
* John Dunham (2011)

## Statistical leaders

Source:

### Career points leaders

| Player | Years | GP | G | A | PTS |
| Bill Gilligan | 1974–77 | 81 | 68 | 112 | 180 |
| Bob McIntosh | 1974–77 | 78 | 81 | 79 | 160 |
| Don Sennott | 1949–52 | 64 | 66 | 93 | 159 |
| Bob Wheeler | 1949–52 | 61 | 86 | 63 | 149 |
| Wayne Small | 1965–68 | 73 | 68 | 76 | 144 |
| Curt Bennett | 1967–70 | 71 | 50 | 85 | 135 |
| Derek Chauvette | 1989–93 | 117 | 34 | 99 | 133 |
| Dennis Macks | 1964–67 | 79 | 59 | 72 | 131 |
| Leon Bryant | 1963–65 | 77 | 55 | 75 | 130 |
| Terry Chapman | 1962–65 | 78 | 67 | 60 | 127 |

### Career goaltending leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Minimum 10 games
| Player | Years | GP | MIN | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Anthony Borelli | 2009–2013 | 35 | 1852 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 63 | 4 | .935 | 2.04 |
| Yann Danis | 2000–2004 | 100 | 6013 | 43 | 43 | 12 | 220 | 13 | .930 | 2.20 |
| Adam D'Alba | 2004–2006 | 54 | 3129 | 19 | 25 | 8 | 141 | 3 | .917 | 2.70 |
| Lou Reycroft | 1969–1970 | | | | | | | 0 | .896 | 2.85 |
| Dave Ferguson | 1963–1966 | | | | | | 181 | 1 | .901 | 2.86 |
Statistics current through the start of the 2022–23 season.

## Roster

As of July 30, 2024.

## Bears in the NHL

The following is a list of Brown's men's ice hockey alumni who played in the NHL/WHA. As of July 1, 2023.
| = NHL All-Star team | = NHL All-Star | = NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star team |
| Player | Position | Team(s) | Years | Games | Stanley Cups |
| Curt Bennett | Center | STL, NYR, ATF | 1970–1980 | 580 | 0 |
| Tim Bothwell | Defenseman | NYR, STL, HFD | 1978–1989 | 502 | 0 |
| Yann Danis | Goaltender | MTL, NYI, NJD, EDM | 2005–2016 | 55 | 0 |
| Brian Eklund | Goaltender | TBL | 2005–2006 | 1 | 0 |
| Bobby Farnham | Right wing | PIT, NJD, MTL | 2014–2017 | 67 | 0 |
| Ryan Garbutt | Left wing | DAL, CHI, ANA | 2011–2017 | 305 | 0 |
| Garnet Hathaway | Right wing | CGY, WSH, BOS, PHI | 2015–Present | 539 | 0 |
| Mark Holden | Goaltender | MTL, WPG | 1981–1985 | 8 | 0 |
| Steven King | Right wing | NYR, ANA | 1992–1996 | 67 | 0 |
| Neil Labatte | Defenseman | STL | 1978–1982 | 26 | 0 |
| Sam Lafferty | Right wing | PIT, CHI, TOR, VAN, BUF | 2019–Present | 289 | 0 |
| Nick Lappin | Right wing | NJD | 2016–2019 | 60 | 0 |
| Matt Lorito | Left wing | DET | 2016–2017 | 2 | 0 |
| Ryan Mulhern | Right wing | WSH | 1997–1998 | 3 | 0 |
| Todd Simpson | Defenseman | CGY, FLA, PHO, ANA, OTT, CHI, MTL | 1995–2006 | 580 | 0 |
| Brian Stapleton | Right wing | WSH | 1975–1976 | 1 | 0 |
| Aaron Volpatti | Left wing | VAN, WSH | 2010–2015 | 114 | 0 |
| Max Willman | Center | PHI, NJD | 2021–Present | 68 | 0 |
| Harry Zolnierczyk | Left wing | PHI, PIT, NYI, ANA, NSH | 2011–2017 | 84 | 0 |
* Yann Danis
* Bobby Farnham
* Ryan Garbutt
* Garnet Hathaway
* Sam Lafferty
* Harry Zolnierczyk

### WHA

Several players also were members of WHA teams.
| Player | Position | Team(s) | Years | Avco Cups |
| John Bennett | Wing | PHB | 1972–1973 | 0 |
| Bill Gilligan | Right wing | CIN | 1977–1979 | 0 |
| Dave Given | Forward | VCB | 1974–1975 | 0 |