With 15 games still remaining in the 1995-96 regular season, it may seem premature to start calling upcoming contests "must-win" games for the Dartmouth men's hockey team.
But with the critical portion of the conference schedule coming up and the Big Green's play improving, the team is counting on this weekend's games against Yale and Princeton to lift them right into the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoff picture.
The Big Green face off against the Yale Bulldogs tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena and host the Princeton Tigers in a matinee tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 p.m.
Both Yale (3-7-0 ECAC, 5-9-0 overall) and Princeton (1-8-2 ECAC, 3-12-3 overall) are struggling mightily this season, and a weekend sweep could vault the Big Green (1-6-0 ECAC, 2-11-1 overall) from last place to ninth place in the 12-team ECAC.
The last time Yale and Princeton visited the Big Green at Thompson Arena was the last weekend of the 1994-95 ECAC regular season, and Dartmouth swept the series, topping Yale 7-4 and beating Princeton 3-2. But despite winning those two games and finishing the season with five wins in its final eight games, the squad narrowly missed the ECAC playoffs last year.
This season, the Big Green started slow but have been stepping up their play lately. The team upset Boston College 3-1 in the opening round of the Sheraton/USAir tournament on Dec. 29 and almost beat heavy favorite Minnesota-Duluth in the championship game the next night, before falling 3-2.
Then, last weekend the Big Green bounced back from a tough 4-2 loss at Brown to upend the Harvard Crimson 2-1 in their own building.
Now, the Big Green, playing their first games in front of the home crowd since Dec. 12, will try to keep the momentum going.
Coach Roger Demment said the team is excited about the upcoming weekend. "It's a great chance for us to get back into the thick of the playoff race," he said.
The players also recognize the importance of this weekend series.
"This is a huge weekend because both Princeton and Yale are near the bottom of the conference," forward Jon Sturgis '98 said. "If we sweep, which we should, we'll be right back in the playoff race. This weekend will probably set the tone for the rest of the season."
"We have to play as if these were playoff games," forward Curtis Wilgosh '99 said. "This will be a true test for our squad and it will ultimately show who the true leaders are on the team."
One forward line that will probably look familiar to Big Green fans is the high-octane first line, consisting of Ryan Chaytors '99 centering Bill Kelleher '96 and David Whitworth '98. In only five games together, the explosive line has tallied 13 points. Right wing Whitworth is probably the Big Green's hottest offensive player, having scored four goals and four assists in his last seven games.
In addition, the team's most defensive-minded line, featuring Brian Fleming '98 centering Dan Bloom '96 and Jeremiah Buckley '98 also figures to remain together this weekend.
Defenseman Owen Hughes '97 is also on a roll heading into the weekend, on the heels of his clutch, game-winning goal against Harvard with only 45 seconds left in regulation last Saturday night.
But perhaps no other player is playing as consistently well as dependable goalie Scott Baker '97. Having already earned ECAC Player of the Week honors two weeks ago, Baker was in net for the Big Green twice last weekend, stopping a combined 54 shots and recording an impressive 2.50 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.
Baker's opponent in net tonight against Yale could be either freshman Alex Westlund or junior Dan Choquette, who have shared the goaltending chores for the Bulldogs almost equally. Choquette, though, made a strong case for more playing time by posting a 4-0 shutout of Union last Saturday night.
Yale's offense has not put big numbers on the scoreboard this season, as the Bulldogs are next-to-last in the ECAC in goals scored. Yale's only real offensive force is senior forward John Emmons, who is among the ECAC scoring leaders with 16 points. Sophomore defenseman Ray Giroux has also chipped in with 15 points.
Princeton, a surprise finalist in the ECAC tournament last year, has been suffering through a disappointingly brutal season in 1995-96. With only one win and two ties in 11 ECAC games, the Tigers are desperate to turn their fortunes around.
Both Tigers goalies, James Konte and Erasmo Saltarelli, have struggled this season, and the Princeton defense has surrendered 48 goals in just 11 conference games, by far the worst in the ECAC.
Princeton's offense is led by senior forward Jon Kelley, who is tops on the Tigers with 19 points. Kelley's 11 goals is twice as many as the next highest Princeton goal scorer.
On a lighter note, the Princeton game at Thompson Arena each year also means the performance of the annual Dartmouth tennis ball tradition.
According to tradition, legions of Big Green hockey fans bring tennis balls into the game and wait for Dartmouth to put the puck in the net. The first time the Big Green score, the fans hurl the tennis balls onto the ice, normally aiming to hit the Princeton goalie.
Fans planning to participate in the tennis ball barrage should take caution, however. At last year's Princeton game, several tennis ball throwers were ejected from Thompson for showering the Princeton goalie after the first Dartmouth goal.
