Courtesy: Washington CapitalsFormer Princeton men's hockey player Jeff Halpern '99 has been signed to a one-year contract with the New York Rangers, it was announced on Monday, July 9.
Halpern spent this past season with the Washington Capitals, as the team's best face-off man. He won 58.3 percent of his draws while scoring four goals and 12 assists in 69 games this season.
After graduating from Princeton, Halpern signed with the Capitals and played for that club through 2006. Between his Capitals stints, Halpern played for the Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and the Montreal Canadiens during his 12-year NHL career. He has also been a member of five US World Championship teams.
Halpern played in a program record 132 games at Princeton and averaged at least one point per game. He totaled 60 goals and 82 assists for 142 points and is the Tigers' third all-time leading scorer. Halpern was a two-time All-ECAC forward and was twice named to the ECAC All-Tournament team. He was tournament's Most Outstanding Player in 1998 as Princeton, a seventh seed for the playoffs ran the table to win its first-ever ECAC Championship and earn its first NCAA tournament berth.
Halpern is Princeton's record holder for goals in a single season and was the ECAC goal-scoring champion on two occasions. His 53 points in 1998 also led all ECAC players. Halpern was a three-time winner of the men's hockey team's Blackwell Trophy and was awarded Princeton's Roper Trophy as a senior, the highest honor for a male athlete at the University.
