As the men's ice hockey team continues its preparations for the opening of the regular season next month, the players are not only becoming familiar with each other, but are also trying to acquaint themselves with an almost entirely new coaching staff.
Three of the four coaches from last year are gone, with Head Coach Roger Demment being the only returnee from 1994-95.
In somewhat of a coaching revolving door, last year's assistant coaches, Matt Carlin, Mike Cavanaugh and John Fletcher are out, and newcomers Guy Perron, Rob Abel and Doug Weiss '88 are in.
First-Assistant Coach Carlin left the team at the end of the summer to take a similar position with the Cornell University hockey program. Carlin spent three years with the Big Green, two of them as the top assistant to Demment.
Cavanaugh, the other full-time assistant coach, left after two years of service to the Dartmouth program to accept an assistant coach position at Boston College.
Fletcher, who served as a volunteer assistant and the goaltending coach last year, left the College last week and is currently out of college hockey. In September, Fletcher had been promoted to a full-time assistant coach in the wake of Carlin's and Cavanaugh's departures, but he resigned after only a month on the job, Demment said.
While the departure of Demment's entire assistant coaching staff in a period of only a few weeks is significant, Demment said the three departures were unrelated.
"Coach Carlin decided to go to Cornell ... primarily because for the two of us it was time to make a change," Demment said.
Demment said Cavanaugh went to Boston College because he wanted to join a program that offered scholarships. In addition, Cavanaugh will get to work with people at Boston College with whom he has worked before, and his new job is a step up in pay and benefits.
Fletcher is currently seeking a position in another college hockey program.
The inexperience of the coaching staff with the Dartmouth system is evident, but Demment said the team should have no problems adjusting to the coaching overhaul.
"I think the team is made up of a group of guys who are resilient and who I think are going to blossom under coaches Perron, Abel and Weiss," he said.
Stepping into Carlin's position as the top assistant coach is Perron, who comes to the College from the University of Maine, where he served the past year as a volunteer assistant coach.
Perron was a four-year letter winner on the Maine hockey team, and the Black Bears made the NCAA Tournament all four years he played on the team.
After a short stint in Sweden, Perron was a graduate assistant with Maine for a year before a two-year head coaching stint at Bangor High School in Maine.
In addition to serving as Demment's top assistant, Perron will also handle Fletcher's goaltending coaching chores.
"Guy has had several years of coaching experience," Demment said. "He brings fresh perspectives on many different aspects of the game."
Demment added Perron will be largely responsible for recruiting in the Ontario and Quebec areas.
Abel, who will serve as the other full-time assistant coach, comes to the Dartmouth from Amherst College, where he was the head coach of the women's hockey team.
Abel is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., where he was a four-year letter winner and the captain of the squad his senior year of 1990-91.
With a multitude of both coaching and recruiting experience at American International College in Springfield, Mass., Abel will be a valued member of the coaching staff, Demment said.
Weiss, who replaces Fletcher as the volunteer assistant coach, was a four-year varsity player at Dartmouth and was the captain of the Big Green squad during his senior year of 1988.
