With back-to-back non-conference games tonight and tomorrow night at the University of Illinois-Chicago, the men's ice hockey team officially opens its 1995-96 campaign.
After a 6-3 exhibition victory last Friday over Dalhousie University, a Canadian squad, the Big Green are hoping to get off to a fast start, as they did last year when they opened with three wins in the first four games, including a 6-5 overtime thriller against nationally-ranked Vermont.
But unlike what happened during the 1994-95 season, the squad is looking to carry the momentum of a quick start throughout the heart of the conference schedule.
Last season the Big Green's quick start fizzled and by January the squad was mired in a 10 game winless streak. A late-season surge came too late, and the team finished in 11th place in the ECAC, narrowly missing a playoff berth.
Many have said that the graduation of five seniors, including last year's three top-scoring forwards, will lead to a dropoff in productivity on the team, but according to Coach Roger Demment and most of the team, the Big Green still have the talent to be an ECAC contender.
Filling the Offensive Void
Unquestionably, the Big Green suffered a big loss in scoring punch through the graduation of Dion Del Monte '95, Mike Stacchi '95 and Patrick Turcotte '95. The terrific trio of forwards combined for 45 goals, almost half of the team's entire output of 95 goals last season.
The big question is whether the 11 returning forwards can combine with a handful of newcomers to replace the offense lost with the departure of Del Monte, Stacchi and Turcotte. According to Demment, the answer is yes.
Bill Kelleher '96 rebounded from an arm injury that ended his season in 1993-94 to notch 23 points last year, tops among any of this year's returning letterwinners. Dan Bloom '96, a major presence last year, joins Kelleher as the senior forwards on the squad.
Backing up Kelleher and Bloom on the offense will be four talented sophomores who all made significant contributions as freshmen last season -- David Whitworth '98, Bob Cancelli '98, Charlie Retter '98 and Jon Sturgis '98.
Whitworth, the team's leading rookie scorer with 20 points last year, was the Dartmouth Rookie of the Year. Cancelli and Retter also made major contributions last year, as did Sturgis, who drew rave reviews for his penalty-killing prowess.
Two mainstays in the last years lineup, Darren Wercinski '97 and Brent Retter '97 return to help the offense, and Tom Ruzzo '97 will look to return to his freshman form after missing most of last season due to injury.
Other returnees from last year who figure in the squad's offensive plans are Jeremiah Buckley '98 and Brian Fleming '98.
The offense should also receive a boost from its four freshmen -- Ryan Chaytors '99, Matt Giedt '99, Scott Peach '99 and Curtis Wilgosh '99.
Demment said all four have looked good in the preseason, and he expects "two or three of them to step in and help out right away."
Giedt and Chaytors both saw some icetime last weekend against Dalhousie, and their hard work paid off when Chaytors fed Giedt for a shorthanded goal in the third period.
The Defensive Burden
A lot of pressure will fall to the Big Green defense, who will be charged with most of the responsibility in the team's new system, which seeks to cut down the goals against.
Assuming the bulk of this task will be Senior Captain Dax Burkhart '96, who has been a source of inspiration for the squad in quickly working his way back to full strength after a late-season knee injury suffered last year. In fact, Burkhart rehabilitated so quickly, the team doctors and trainers had to slow him down.
Scott Dolesh '96, Burkhart's defense partner, will also help lead the defense corps.
Dartmouth's most offensive defenseman in the past two years, Owen Hughes '97, is also a crucial part of the defensive corps, as is Shane Ness '98, who complements Hughes' offensive skills nicely with his own stay-at-home style of play.
The other two returnees to the defense are a couple of players who did not see much ice time at defense last year -- Alex Dumas '97 and Shaun Peet '98.
Dumas, hampered by a preseason ankle injury and slow recovery last season, only cracked the lineup for three games, while Peet, the squad's biggest player, will move to defense after a stint at forward last season.
The new blood on defense should also be a great help, with Ryan Burkart '99, Dave Risk '99 and Chris Showalter '99 all likely to see some early-season icetime.
Risk picked up an assist on the Big Green's second goal last weekend against Dalhousie.
Stability in Net
Perhaps the biggest thing the squad has going for it as it heads into the season is a clearly-defined number-one goalie.
Last year a hot start but subsequent mid-season slump by Ben Heller '97 led to a goalie controversy, from which junior-varsity netminder Scott Baker '97 emerged to be the team's most improved player, spiritual leader and number-one goalie.
Baker, who won the starting job over winter break last season, was in net for six of the team's nine total wins, including two straight wins against Yale and Princeton on the final weekend of the regular season.
Baker's value to the team was evident in late January and early February, when he missed four games with an ankle injury and the team lost all four contests.
This season Baker is clearly the number-one goalie, although Demment said Heller has come back "with a vengeance" and can definitely be counted on should the team call on him.
Season Outlook
Last season the ECAC was a free-for-all, with several playoff spots in question until the last weekend of the season.
Demment said this year hockey fans can expect to see more of the same. "I think on any given weekend anybody can beat anyone else," Demment said.
The favorites to finish near the top of the league include Vermont, Colgate, Harvard and Clarkson.
As far as the Big Green are concerned, whether or not the team can fill the offensive holes left by the graduation of last year's three top scorers may be irrelevant if the squad does not cut down its goals against, which Demment admitted "killed the team last year."
Along those lines, the team's new system will focus on defense and more conservative forechecking by the forwards. The basis of the new system is also to cut down the number of odd-man rushes given up.
"I don't think we'll be any less exciting to watch as a hockey team, but we will be somewhat more controlled and disciplined in many aspects of the game," Demment said.
The players agreed that winning is not just what happens on the ice, but is an attitude as well.
"Win or lose, this team has to remain on more of an even keel, and come to the rink with the same attitude everyday," Charlie Retter said. "And that's a winning attitude."
Buckley, who predicted the Big Green would surprise a lot of teams this year, said, "I think that there is a lot of fight and passion to win in the team this year that will lead to a season that will significantly improve over last year."
According to Ness, "The key to our team's success this year will be hard work. We have a skilled team but we are going to have to outwork our opponents to be a contender. If we can do that there is nothing to hold us back."
