With five consecutive games in the North Country, including four at Cheel Arena, the Clarkson University Hockey team will look use the familiar surroundings to its advantage to break out of a lengthy losing skid and make a move up in the ECAC Hockey standings in order to secure a home-ice berth in the upcoming conference playoffs.

Clarkson, guided by eighth-year head coach George Roll, associate coach Greg Drechsel and assistant coach Chris Rogles, will host Brown and national powerhouse Yale this weekend at Cheel Arena. Both games begin at 7:00 p.m. Clarkson, which last posted a win on January 22 at Brown (3-1), will need to pick up its play at home having gone just 4-7-2 at Cheel Arena this season. The Knights’ last victory in Potsdam was a 3-1 triumph over St. Lawrence on November 20. Following this weekend, Clarkson plays at St. Lawrence on Tuesday, February 15.

After rolling into the semester/holiday break with four consecutive wins to close out the 2010 portion of the schedule, the Golden Knights have struggled in the New Year going just 2-8 and have lost their last four games. The Green and Gold own a 12-13-2 overall record and stand in eighth-place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 6-8-1 league mark. Seven games remain in the regular season and Clarkson is seven points out of fourth and two points ahead of ninth-place Brown. The Knights, led by junior captain Mark Borowiecki (Kanata, ONT) and assistant captains, senior Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) and junior Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY), have a game in hand on every team in the conference other than St. Lawrence and Brown.

Slow starts, momentary lapses in focus, inability to finish scoring chances and injuries have played a role in the Knights’ current losing skid. Playing without their two top defensive-defensemen, Borowiecki and sophomore Nik Pokulok (Vaudreuil-Dorion, QUE) who were out with injuries, and consistent veteran forward senior Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT), who was sidelined with an illness, Clarkson dropped a pair of games in Central NY this weekend. On Friday, the Green and Gold lost 5-2 to Cornell at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, and on Saturday, the Knights, who lost Morley to a first-period injury, fell to Colgate 4-2 at Starr Rink in Hamilton.

Brown, which has also lost four consecutive games starting with the setback to Clarkson in Providence, is challenging the Knights for one of the final postseason home-ice spots. Guided by second-year head coach Brendan Whittet, the Bears own a 7-11-4 overall record and a ninth-place 5-9-1 league slate. Brown has struggled offensively since the loss to Clarkson and has been outscored 13-3 over its past four outings. In its only action last week, the Bears were shut out by 17th-ranked Dartmouth 3-0 at Meehan Auditorium on Friday. The Bears’ last win was a 2-1 victory over St. Lawrence in Providence on January 21. Brown, which is 3-5-2 on opponents’ home ice, starts a four-game road trip with Friday’s contest at Clarkson.

One of the top teams in the country throughout the season, and currently ranked number two in the national polls, Yale brings a 19-4 overall record into the North Country, prior to playing at St. Lawrence on Friday. As dominant as the Bulldogs have been nationally, they are clinging to just a one-point lead in the ECAC Hockey standings. Guided by fifth-year head coach Keith Allain, Yale owns a 13-3 league mark and is just ahead of Union in the standings. After suffering a weekend sweep on the road at Union (3-2) and Rensselaer (5-2) to close out January, the Bulldogs got back on the winning track with wins over Harvard (1-0) and Dartmouth (4-2) at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, CT this past weekend. Perfect at home (14-0), Yale is just 5-4 on the road this season.

The Series:

Clarkson leads Brown in their all-time series, which began in 1953, by a commanding 56-15-6 margin. The Knights, who have won eight of the last 10 meetings, snapped a two-game losing skid in the series with a 3-1 victory over the Bears in Providence on January 22. Brown swept two games from the Green and Gold in 2009-10 by 3-2 scores, winning at Cheel Arena (1/23/10) and at Meehan Auditorium (2/19/10). The Knights are 17-4-3 all-tine against Brown at Cheel Arena.

Brandon DeFazio (2-2) and Scott Freeman (1-3) both have a team-high four points against Brown through seven games. Paul Karpowich posts a .917 save percentage, a 2.59 GAA and a 3-2 mark through 255 minutes in five games of the series. George Roll is 9-6 against Brown, while Brendan Whittet is 2-1.

Clarkson leads the all-time series against Yale, which began in 1929-30, 68-33-4. The Bulldogs, however, have won five of the last six meetings, including the last three. Yale, ranked number-one in the country at the time, blew open a tight game midway through the third period to gain a 5-2 victory in New Haven in the last meeting on January 21. The Bulldogs also swept the Golden Knights during the 2009-10 campaign, winning 3-2 at Cheel (1/22/10) and 5-4 in overtime at Ingalls Rink (2/20/10). Clarkson’s last win in the series was a 4-3 triumph in New Haven on January 16, 2009. The Knights are 16-5 against Yale at Cheel Arena, but the Bulldogs have won the last two seasons in Potsdam.

Lauri Tuohimaa has a team-high five points against Yale with one goal and four assists through six games. Julien Cayer has scored a team-high two goals against the Bulldogs. Paul Karpowich posts a .909 save percentage, a 3.75 GAA and a 0-4 mark in the series. Richie LaVeau is 1-0 against the Bulldogs with a .906 save percentage and a 3.00 goals against average. George Roll is 8-8 against the Bulldogs, while Yale head coach Keith Allain is 5-4 against Clarkson.

Knight Notes:

The Golden Knights play their next five games in the North Country, including four at Cheel Arena … Brandon DeFazio, who scored a goal in each game over the weekend, leads the Knights in scoring with 20 points, including 11 goals … Junior Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE), who saw his point-scoring streak come to an end at eight games after being held off the score sheet at Colgate, has 19 points (9-10) this season … The Knights’ leading playmaker Jake Morley has 13 assists and 18 points … Clarkson’s freshman class has accounted for 23 of the Knights’ 75 goals this season and has recorded 43 assists … Allan McPherson (Kinburn, ONT) leads Clarkson Class of 2014 with 16 points (7-9) … Junior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) has started 26 of the 27 games this season, including the last 14. He posts a .911 save percentage and a 3.05 goals against average. Karpowich has recorded 15 games with 30-or-more saves this year .

Alumni Notes: Clarkson’s all-time leading scorer from the blueline, Bill Blackwood ’78, is the latest Golden Knight named to ECAC Hockey’s Top 50 All-Time team. A two-time All-American defenseman, Blackwood recorded 52 goals and 117 assists for 169 points through 123 games, He joins Brian Muller ‘95, Dave Fretz ’85 and Dave Taylor ’77 currently named to the all-star team. More former Clarkson players are expected to be added as the league announces installments until the conference championship tournament in mid-March … Former Clarkson All-Star Craig Conroy ‘94 announced his retirement from the NHL on February 4. The veteran Calgary Flames forward played 1,009 games over 16 seasons in his NHL career and scored 542 points. His best season came in 2001-2002 with the Flames when he scored 27 goals and added 48 assists. He played his first NHL game on February 15, 1995 with the Montreal Canadiens.