FINAL PUSH: Princeton University men’s hockey player David Hallisey tangles with a foe in a game earlier this season. Senior forward Hallisey is enjoying a big final campaign for the Tigers as he is tied with junior Ryan Kuffner for the team lead in goals with 11. Princeton, which fell 4-0 to No. 17 Colgate to drop to 6-9-3 overall and 3-7-1 ECAC Hockey, plays at Harvard on January 12 and at Dartmouth on January 13. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

David Hallisey is enjoying a big senior season for the Princeton University men’s hockey team, but he sees it as a matter of being at the right place at the right time more than anything else.

“I have to give all the credit to the junior class of [Max] Veronneau, [Ryan] Kuffner, and those guys,” said Hallisey who has tallied 11 goals so far this season to tie him with Kuffner for the team lead. “I just kind of stand in front of the net and they give me the puck.”

Having battled a wrist injury early in his career, Hallisey feels fortunate to be at full speed. “I wasn’t healthy the first two years,” said Hallisey, a 5’10, 180-pound native of Wethersfield, Conn. “I am healthy now so I am lucky enough to have that opportunity.”

In a  recent two-game set against No. 1 St. Cloud State, Hallisey was opportunistic around the goal, getting a goal and an assist in a 3-3 tie on December 29 and picking up an assist in a 2-2 tie the next night.

The game-tying assist in the second game was the product of a good connection on the ice between Hallisey and Kuffner.

“It is something we practice a lot. I tried doing it again in overtime, but I forced it,” said Hallisey, who has seven assists so far this season.

“I kind of look the other way and it opens up Ryan Kuffner there in front of the net. We have had two or three goals that way this season.”

Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty isn’t surprised to see that Hallisey is having a big senior season.

“Dave keeps going until the last ounce of breath is out of him,” said Fogarty. “He works so hard, he wants to win a championship before his time is up here at Princeton. He is someone who is very dependable, you know exactly what you are going get from him.”

Fogarty liked what he got from his players as they battled St. Cloud all over the ice on consecutive nights.

“It was great, I thoroughly enjoyed the 130 minutes of hockey,” said Fogarty.

“It shows where we can be when we are consistent in our play, consistent in our focus, and do all the smart things with the puck. You keep assessing as a coach on how to get better every day and today we got better. We pushed our ceiling of how good we can be higher than it ever was. We competed with a team that is very good and that has blemishes of two losses to Denver, one tie to North Dakota,
and two ties to Princeton.”

While the Tigers picked up some blemishes last weekend as they fell 7-1 to No. 5 Cornell on Friday and 4-0 to 17th-ranked Colgate a night later, Fogarty believes that focusing on each shift will pay dividends for the Tigers down the homestretch.

“I like where our team is going, it is making sure that they are consistent and not reading what is on Twitter of the expectations,” said Fogarty, whose squad, now 6-9-3 overall and 3-7-1 ECAC Hockey, heads to New England this weekend to play at Harvard on January 12 and at Dartmouth on January 13.

“Your expectation is that next shift and that is what we have to bring guys back down to earth and don’t read and listen to how good you should be, but how good you can be.”

Hallisey, for his part, believes that Princeton gave a good glimpse of how good it can be with the ties against St. Cloud.

“I think we proved ourselves by doing it two nights in a row,” said Hallisey.

“It is unfortunate that we didn’t get the win either time. It is good to prove to ourselves how consistent we can be, playing for 65 minutes straight there. In the past we have had small lapses, which have cost us games.”