ITHACA, N.Y. -- For the members of the Dartmouth men's hockey team, especially the seniors, there's nothing like sticking it to the Lynah faithful.
Cornell's Lynah Rink boasts one of the best atmospheres in college hockey, featuring a perpetually sold-out crowd that is into the game from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer, chanting, cheering and jeering the opposition in support of the beloved Big Red.
The student section is particularly impressive. The students stand throughout the entire game and are flanked by a talented, well-organized band that plays during each break in the action and taunts the visiting players at every opportunity.
"That's the best place to play in all of college hockey," Dartmouth left winger Chris Taliercio '02 said. "The whole place is in unison, and it's just fun. The fans really get into it."
As Dartmouth's hard-fought 5-3 win over Cornell drew to a close Saturday night, the Big Green players were visibly thrilled that they had overcome a strong test not only from the Big Red players, but from their frenzied fans as well.
After congregating around a victorious Nick Boucher '03 in net, many Dartmouth players responded to a night's worth of taunting by giving the fans a taste of their own medicine.
Mike Murray '03 and several others gave the crowd the stick salute, tapping their sticks on the ice before raising them into the air, as if to thank the fans for their support. Trevor Byrne '03 gave the old fist pump, celebrating as if he'd just scored a goal. Many others waved or shouted invectives at the crowd.
"I gave them the stick wave like we do at Thompson [Arena]," center Frank Nardella '02 said. "I thought it was a good gesture to wave to them for their hospitality."
Drawing the most ire of the fans was Jamie Herrington '02, who delayed his exit from the ice by skating back to the blueline. Herrington was actually in search of referee Tim Kotrya for a discussion, but the crowd interpreted Herrington's action as a show of disrespect to the Cornell players, who were waiting for the Big Green to clear the ice before acknowledging their fans' support.
"Their fans talk so much smack during the game," Taliercio said during the team's long bus ride back to Hanover. "It's just fun to rub it in a little bit. It's fun to remind them what the score is at the end of the game, just in case they forget."
Other seniors echoed Taliercio's sentiments.
"Cornell is a very arrogant team," co-captain Mike Maturo '02 said. "Their fans expect them to win all the time."
"The truth is that we own that rink," Maturo added, referring to the team's 2-0-1 record in Lynah the past three seasons. "For some reason, we always play well there. It's fun to have them yell at us and then come right back and win."
While the players responded in kind to the fans' taunts, they also were quick to point out that an atmosphere like Lynah's is to be admired, not looked down upon.
"It's actually good when their fans are into it like that and they're getting on Boucher. I know Boucher likes to play in that rink just for that reason," Chris Baldwin '02 said. Indeed, Boucher is undefeated (2-0-1) in Ithaca. "It pumps him up. It pumps everyone else up too. It gets you fired up for every shift."
The atmosphere at Dartmouth's rink has gotten better over the years, with a particularly impressive example being last year's ECAC playoffs, when the visiting Rensselaer Engineers received a downright hostile reception from a rowdy student section in each game.
But will Thompson ever be like Lynah on a consistent basis?
"I was talking about that with Mike [Maturo] on the bench," Taliercio said. "If we had these kinds of fans in our rink, it would be the loudest rink in the country.
"I actually like when Cornell's band comes to our place because our fans get into it and kind of copy them. I think it would be great if we could get that kind of atmosphere going every game."
Iron Man: It wasn't exactly a Cal Ripken-esque feat, but the conclusion of Nardella's consecutive-games streak on Friday still was met with a considerable amount of buzz.
Nardella played in 107 straight games from the start of his career until Dartmouth's meeting with the University of Maine on Jan. 6 before being benched for Dartmouth's 3-2 loss at Colgate Friday night.
Nardella, who was a healthy scratch, drew the ire of the coaching staff for his lackluster performance in the Maine game, one in which he played through a stomach virus that was unknown, at the time, to the coaches.
"Coming into the season, I saw the streak as being an imprint I could leave at Dartmouth; a legacy," Nardella said in the press box during the Colgate game.
Nardella, who was the team's leading scorer in 1999-2000, was back in the lineup Saturday night at Cornell, filling his usual spot between wingers Taliercio and Baldwin.
Nardella's one-game absence leaves Maturo as the only member of the senior class to have played in all 109 games since game one of freshman year.
Pin Pals: The non-playing members of the Dartmouth contingent passed the time before Friday's game by aiming for pins at Colgate's four-lane bowling alley in the school's athletic complex.
The five men to lace up the tacky shoes and roll the balls were forwards Dan Casella '02, who overcame an injured right shoulder by bowling lefty, Joe Gaul '05, Nardella, utility man Gary Hunter '02 and team publicist Bill Garfield.
In Game One, Nardella was clearly the superior bowler, recording one strike and three spares en route to a final score of 103, making him the only competitor to best the century mark. Garfield came in second with an 80, while Casella had a 78, Gaul had a 72 and Hunter brought up the rear with a paltry 64.
Hunter staged a dramatic turnaround in Game Two, exploding for an impressive 181 that included four strikes and four spares. Hunter's 117-pin improvement placed him 69 pins ahead of the second-place bowler. Nardella had a 112, Casella and Garfield each had 101s, while Gaul had the only sub-100 score with an 87.
Bald Spot: Baldwin played in his 100th career game Friday night, becoming the 42nd member of the century club. Maturo, Nardella and Herrington all passed the 100 mark earlier in the season.
