Since his arrival at Dartmouth in the fall of 1999, Trevor Byrne '03 has carried with him the label of a standout defenseman with legitimate pro potential. He is a fifth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues and a leader among a talented corps of Big Green defensemen.
After practice yesterday afternoon, Byrne sat down with David Sherzer to talk about the team's performance to this point, its expectations for this weekend and his plans for the future.
THE DARTMOUTH: How do you feel about where the team stands? Do you feel like you're in a good position in the league at this point in the season?
TREVOR BYRNE: We're a little unhappy because our record could definitely be better than it is. At the beginning of the year, we got some respect for the first time in a while. We were ranked pretty high in the polls. And I think a lot of guys might have thought that that would win games for us. We didn't show up at times. But I think we're starting to realize that. We're starting to get very competitive. We've let some games slip that we know we should have won, but we're looking forward to getting back into league play now. We know that every game counts from this point on, and we're really pumped to get some big wins.
THE D: Are there any losses that come to mind that are particularly regrettable?
TB: This past weekend, the loss to Maine was disappointing. It definitely was a game we could have won. I think we're as good as they are. We just played poorly in the first period and that really hurt us. We're missing some key guys, but we've got a lot of great players who can definitely step up. As far as league play goes, we lost an early one to Harvard [on Nov. 4], but that's been kind of habitual for us over the past few years. Losing to Vermont at their place [on Dec. 1] was kind of a downer for us. They're one of the weaker teams in the league right now, and for us to lose to them was inexcusable and a real wakeup call.
THE D: Your team came back and beat Vermont last Friday, 5-2 at home. It was a good win in the sense that it was in front of a soldout crowd and it was a step toward reestablishing the dominance that saw the team go 10-1-0 at home last season after Jan. 1. Did the team gain some confidence that night?
TB: Yeah, I think so. Like I said, we knew that we had let one slip the first time with Vermont and we didn't want to let it happen again. We've received great fan support this year. We had a soldout crowd that night. It's a lot of fun playing in front of our own fans. They've given us such great support, so it's nice to go out there and win for them. Overall, I think things are looking very positive. We don't like to lose in our own house, and we went out there and showed it. We're back on track.
THE D: This weekend, the team travels to face Colgate and Cornell. Along with Princeton, Vermont and maybe a few others, Colgate is a definite bottom-tier team in this league. Cornell, on the other hand, is a very strong team, and Dartmouth-Cornell is always an exciting game. What's the game plan this weekend?
TB: I think Friday night, it's a game we should win. We have to go in there expecting to win. If we let it slip away, it'll be like the Vermont game in December. It's just a situation where we can't look ahead to Saturday until Friday night is over. We definitely have to get that win, and hopefully, it will prepare us for Saturday night's game.
THE D: When people talk about Dartmouth, even last year when the external expectations weren't quite as high, they always talk about defense as being one of team's biggest strengths. Are you happy with how the defense has been playing thus far?
TB: I think our defense has been getting better every game. It's a lot more than just the six guys that line up on the blueline. We have great defensive forwards who really help. This year, we're getting goaltending from two younger guys who are just outstanding. We could go with either one of those guys on a given night. They're playing great and we have all the confidence in the world in them. Right now, Pete Summerfelt '03, one of our best defensemen, is out [with a left ankle injury], but Gary Hunter '02 has stepped in and done a great job. So we really have seven guys who can play the blueline very well.
THE D: Can you comment on your plans at this point? As a draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, are you in regular contact with them?
TB: It's something I have to take one day at a time. It's always in the back of my mind, but right now, I'm concentrating on the here and now. I'm just trying to win every game while I'm here. I have no plans as of now. I'm playing for the Big Green right now.
