Courtesy of muscosportsphotos.com

Yale men’s hockey forward Curtis Hall ’22 signed a one-year contract with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, the AHL affiliate and development team for the Boston Bruins.

Signing the contract means Hall will forego the chance to play at the NCAA level in his two remaining years of eligibility. Hall was the Bulldogs’ lead scorer in the 2019-20 season and also dominated the ice his rookie year donning the Blue and White.

“I’m really thankful for the two-and-a-half years I’ve had at Yale — I wish it could’ve been four,” Hall told the News. “The friends that I’ve made there will be my friends forever. … I’m looking forward to this opportunity that I have now.”

Hall spoke to the News from Providence after a Sunday preseason game his team won 3–1, saying that while his goal is to eventually join the NHL, he plans to complete his Yale degree by taking online and summer courses. He is currently enrolled online to take classes this semester and said that “getting a degree is a big priority.”

After the Ivy League announced that they would not be hosting a winter season, Hall was contacted by Boston to discuss signing a contract. He referred to this as a pivotal moment in his hockey career, citing the winter season cancellation as a propelling factor in choosing to sign a professional contract.

“Curtis will be greatly missed,” Yale men’s hockey head coach Keith Allain wrote to the News in an email. “As a sophomore he was our team’s Most Valuable Player and was poised to become one of the top players not only in our league but across the country. Curtis is not only an elite hockey player, he is an elite human being. He has been and always will be a valued and respected member of the Yale Hockey Family.”

Fellow forward Kyle Johnson ’22 noted that he has seen more players within the Ivy League signing contracts in order to play following the winter season’s cancellation. Despite this, he noted that the Yale hockey team is staying in touch through online events and “doing [their] best to stay close.”

“Losing Curtis is a big loss,” Johnson said. “You can’t really replace players like him. … We’ll compete for our opportunity next season.”

Allain told the News that the team continues to stay in shape through leadership within the team. And players with junior hockey eligibility have joined junior teams and are thus able to continue to compete, Allain said. He said that Yale’s team is full of “passionate, committed, self-motivated players who feel a need to hone their skills in any way they are able.”

“I don’t have much to lose but I definitely have a lot of experience to learn,” Hall said. “I’m just trying to prove myself every day here.”

Hall was a fourth-round pick for the Bruins in the 2018 NHL entry draft.

Ángela Pérez | angela.perez@yale.edu