For those of you who can't wait any longer or just need something to get your mind off the grind, consider yourself lucky that the Dartmouth men's hockey team returns to action tonight.
The Big Green steps onto the ice here at Thompson Arena for an exhibition match against the University of Guelph at 7 p.m.
The visiting Gryphons hail from Ontario, Canada, which you probably could have guessed at if you considered their take on what would otherwise be the "Griffins."
Mutated eagle-lion freaks from hell aside, Guelph should be able to put a young home team to work.
"They're gonna have 26-year-olds going against our 18-year-old guys, but it will be a good contest for us, get used to playing some real hockey," co-captain Trevor Byrne '03 said.
The nine Dartmouth freshmen will get their first taste of college hockey, and probably a fair amount of playing time, as Coach Bob Gaudet '81 tweaks the eventual lines for the regular season.
"My hope is that we get to see most, if not all, of the young players play," Gaudet said. "I want to make sure we have a chance to evaluate some of the younger guys and see where they are. I'd like to have a chance to see what they have to offer in a game against someone other than ourselves."
Dartmouth has all three of last year's goaltenders returning for the 2002-2003 season, and this may be a rare chance to see a little of each of them in net. Dan Yacey '05, Darren Gastrock '04 and Nick Boucher '03 will be vying for time between the pipes from this point forward.
The coaching staff and the players know little about the incoming team, but mainly see this game as an experiment to help determine future success.
"At this point we can't really do any pre-scouting, we're just gonna go in and play the game," Gaudet said.
"My hope is that they're going to be a team that has the potential to beat us, I want to win the game, but I want to be challenged. We've covered a lot of stuff at this point. I want to see on Friday night where we are, my sense is that we'll be a little bit scrambly"
This will, of course, be the first chance for the Thompson faithful to get out there and root on the Big Green and an equally refreshing chance for the Dartmouth players to play a new team.
"I'm just ready to get out there -- I'm sick of playing against our own guys," co-captain Kent Gillings '03 said. "Just to get some new competition here and some fans in here and get people excited about the new season, that's what I think everyone's looking for."
Dartmouth will play a Saturday afternoon Green-White scrimmage to crank up the intensity and simulate the rapidly approaching regular season back-to-back Friday and Saturday night games.
Last season, Dartmouth kicked off its campaign with a 5-1 exhibition win over McGill before dropping a 3-2 exhibition contest to Moncton.
Make sure to grab everyone you actually care about and bring them with you to support Dartmouth hockey tonight at 7 p.m.
