With Stemper or without Stemper, the Dartmouth men's hockey team will host two of the ECAC's historically strongest programs when Clarkson and St. Lawrence visit Thompson Arena this weekend.
Coming off a crucial 5-3 win at Cornell last Saturday, the Big Green (8-7-1, 5-3-1 ECAC) is hoping to bring one of its brightest young stars into tonight's game with the high-flying Golden Knights (9-7-3, 5-0-2), who have yet to lose an ECAC game.
Right winger Lee Stempniak '05, who scored a goal in each game last weekend, experienced pain in his right ankle this week after being hit by a Trevor Byrne '03 slapshot in practice on Tuesday.
"Stemper" missed practice on Wednesday but skated with the team yesterday. He is likely to be in the lineup tonight, despite the initial scare.
"I'm doing okay. No. 22 will be in the lineup," Stempniak said from his residence in the Choates last night. "The best part is that it's great to be back home and play in front of our own fans. It's Alumni Weekend, so we're looking forward to putting on a good show."
The Big Green will have its hands full. This season, the Golden Knights (9-7-3, 5-0-2) have been sparkling in ECAC action but have played only two league games on the road, both of which they tied.
"I don't know much about Clarkson, except that they're undefeated in the league," Chris Baldwin '02 said. "I heard they're big and tough, which they always seem to be. But coming off our Cornell win, we have a little bit of momentum, and hopefully we can keep it going."
Dartmouth also has a score to settle tonight.
Last season, the Big Green went 10-1-0 at home after Jan. 1. The only loss came against Clarkson in the regular-season finale, which prompted the Golden Knights to celebrate on the ice as the Big Green was trying to salute its fans.
"That was not cool at all," Baldwin said. "We've talked about that in practice the last couple days, how they were skating on the ice while we were trying to give our fans the salute. That didn't sit well with us."
Tomorrow, Dartmouth will face a St. Lawrence team that is the defending ECAC tournament champion but enters the weekend in last place.
The Saints (4-13-0, 2-5-0) have been abysmal all season, but underestimaters beware -- nine of their 13 losses were decided by a single goal.
