His new contract signed and his nine-year association with Brown University officially terminated, Bob Gaudet '81 was formally introduced yesterday afternoon as the new head coach of the Dartmouth men's hockey team.
Saying he "thought the world of Dartmouth College," Gaudet vowed to push the players hard, predicting he would build strong reationships with them and that, "20 years down the road they would remember they were pushed to be the best they could be."
Gaudet has been a hot commodity in Division I coaching circles for the past few years, on the heels of his leading Brown teams that were not extremely rich in raw talent to Ivy League championships in 1991 and 1995.
Under Gaudet's watch, the Brown program was transformed from a perennial cellar-dwellar into one of the most consistent teams in the ECAC.
Now, the 38-year old former Dartmouth goaltender is charged with improving a Big Green hockey program that has only made the postseason twice sine 1980.
In fact, the last time the Big Green made it past the first round of the ECAC playoffs, Gaudet helped lead them there as a player.
Athletic Director Dick Jaeger -- who pulled off a coup of sorts by securing his first-choice candidate less than a month after the job became vacant -- said hiring Gaudet was "an easy decision for us."
And Gaudet conceded that despite the fact he was "very happy at Brown ... the choice wasn't really a difficult one."
Gaudet spoke warmly of his time in Hanover as a student and it is clear that despite his success at Brown over the years -- including some wins over the Big Green -- he has always felt an emotional attachment to the College.
When he took over the Brown program in 1988, Gaudet was a 29-year-old with no previous head coaching experience, and admittedly was a bit "naive" about some of the realities of Division I college hockey.
But nine years later, Gaudet is a lot more savvy -- and he added the Dartmouth program is in a much better position now than the Brown program was when he began there.
