The Dartmouth men's hockey team has been predicted to finish third in the ECAC in both the annual media and coaches' preseason polls. The polls were announced on Monday at the conference's media day, held at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y.
The Big Green exceeded expectations with an impressive third-place finish last season in response to lower predictions of fourth- and ninth-place finishes by the voters of the media and coaches' polls, respectively, and received just one first-place vote. Third place is the highest finish ever predicted for the Big Green.
"While it's great to be recognized in the preseason polls, it really doesn't mean much until we get on the ice," head coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. "We are very focused on winning the ECAC tournament."
Gaudet led Dartmouth to its first 20-win season since 1947-48, securing the milestone by directing his squad to a gritty 4-2 victory over the Brown Bears in the consolation game of the ECAC tournament.
"We have a tough schedule and we have several key players we will need to replace," Gaudet added. "All expectations about our team are positive and that is definitely a good thing."
Brown, Gaudet's former squad, will likely be hanging on the Big Green's coattails this season, as the team is slated to finish fourth in both polls. While Cornell and Harvard may once again dominate the conference, Brown could become the key team to beat for Dartmouth.
Only the Big Red and Crimson finished with 30-plus conference points last year, while the Big Green and Yale Bulldogs led a pack of six teams within five points of each other.
Cornell, last year's ECAC champion and Frozen Four semifinalist will have to regain respect after graduating top defenseman Doug Murray and power forward Stephen Baby.
In addition, the Big Red will be without star goalkeeper and 2003 Hobey Baker Award finalist David LeNeveau, who forfeited his remaining college eligibility to sign a professional contract with the Phoenix Coyotes.
In both polls, the Big Red is predicted to finish second to the Harvard team it beat in a thrilling 3-2 overtime classic in the tournament's championship game last season.
The Harvard Crimson claimed the top spot in both the coaches and the media poll with 10 first-place votes by the coaches (120) and a record 20 first-place votes by the media (262).
The four top vote getters, all Ivy League squads, are the same four teams which advanced to last year's ECAC championship tournament at Pepsi Arena.
In the coaches' poll Clarkson was fifth, followed by Yale, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Vermont, Rensselaer, Union and Princeton.
The media poll posted the final rankings with Yale fifth, Clarkson and St. Lawrence tied for sixth, Colgate eighth, Vermont and Union tied for ninth, Rensselaer 10th and Princeton 12th.
Both polls also named Big Green forward Hugh Jessiman '06 to the preseason all-conference team, along side senior forwards Tim Pettit of Harvard and Ryan Vesce of Cornell.
Dartmouth kicks off its regular season against Holy Cross at home on the first of November.