As the brightly colored foliage begins to fall from the trees and cold winter weather descends upon Hanover, the action at Thompson Arena is just heating up. Friday night the women's team began their defense of last year's ECAC Hockey League championship with a 4-3 overtime win over Vermont. Yesterday, the Big Green men also played Vermont to start their 2007-2008 season.
The 2007-2008 version of the men's team looks to improve upon last year's disappointing fourth place finish in the ECACHL playoffs and its 18 total wins. The face of this year's team looks very different from last season, as the squad lost five seniors to graduation, including last year's captain Tanner Glass '07. Last year's assistant captain David Jones '08 also left after his junior season to pursue a career with the Colorado Avalanche. The team also lost two of its leading scorers from last season for academic reasons.
These holes leave Dartmouth with only four of its 10 leading scorers from last season and only one of its top four scorers. That means the team is looking for players from every class to step up their games.
Overall the team is very young, with five seniors, six juniors, seven sophomores and nine freshmen. Only 11 players have seen significant playing time, so the team will rely on its seniors and captains to lead them to success.
"We have a really young team with eight freshmen dressing, which is certainly the most since I've been here," assistant captain JT Wyman '08 said. "It can be seen as a weakness but it is something that can be easily overcome with some game experience."
This year the team is led by captain Nick Johnson '08, and assistant captains Wyman, Mike Devine '08 and Rob Pritchard '09.
Johnson, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round of the 2004 NHL draft, has grown tremendously since those days when he weighed a mere 170 pounds, compared to the 206 at which he is now listed. In 101 games at Dartmouth, he has scored 47 goals and notched 43 assists. Fourteen goals and 16 assists came last season when he was third on the team in total points.
Devine, whose helmet bears an image of The Grinch from Dr. Seuss' The Grinch who Stole Christmas, hopes to enjoy a miserly season between the pipes. The senior has been the goaltender of choice for the Big Green for the past two seasons and has fared well both years. In 63 games played, he has given up 152 goals on 1614 shots, compiled a .914 save percentage and a 2.50 goals allowed average. He looks to improve upon his past performances in order to provide a solid base for the Dartmouth defense this season.
"We just need to keep it simple," Devine said. "When we get the puck on our stick, we just need to get it out of the zone. If we do this, it will cut down on the scoring chances and definitely help us."
Wyman, who last year led the team with four game-winning goals, hopes to continue the success of a season past, when he had career highs in both goals and assists, with 13 and 11, respectively. Wyman was drafted in the fourth round of the 2004 draft by the Montreal Canadiens and with a good season, he could definitely improve his post-collegiate hockey stock.
Pritchard, a forward who is beginning his third season with the Big Green, hopes to continue the improvement seen last year, when he doubled both his goal and assist totals from his freshman campaign. Every year one junior is named an assistant captain, and so this year Pritchard follows in the footsteps of Jones and Tanner Glass '07.
Of the younger players, one who appears ready to make an immediate impact is center Kyle Reeds '11. The 5'11", 190-pound freshman has been placed on what should be the team's top line, together with Johnson and Wyman.
"He has been given a lot of responsibility but it looks as though he can handle it," Pritchard said.
"He's doing a good job," Wyman said. "He's keeping everything simple and we're just getting used to playing with each other. He has a lot of potential as a center."
Leading the defense will be Will Boardman '08, Chris Johnson '09 and John Gibson '09. The three top defensive players from last year all graduated.
"We have four freshman defensemen who have put in a lot of time and look ready to step up," Wyman said.
Other new faces include a line of three freshmen playing together. Matt Reber '11, Scott Fleming '11 and Adam Estoclet '11 will have a chance to develop together as they will certainly see playing time. Each of them brings his own unique skills to form what looks to be a strong line.
"They bring a lot of different aspects to the line," Wyman said. "Reber is a very fast skater, Estoclet has good hands and is great at handling the puck, while Fleming can take the puck out of any situation and make plays. The college game will be a little more physical than what they've experience, but they should be fine once they get used to it."
This year, the team will face some tough competition from throughout the ECACHL. The team was picked to finish seventh in the league by the league coaches and sixth by media covering the league. But these polls are often misguided.
"I remember my freshman year, in one poll, we were ranked third nationally and I think it put a lot of unwanted pressure on the team," Johnson said. "This year we're only supposed to be average, but I know we'll have a good, competitive team who can beat anyone."
However, a couple of opponents will certainly be tough. Clarkson and St. Lawrence, last year's runner-up and third-place finisher in the ECACHL tournament, both of whom Dartmouth will face next weekend, return many contributors from their previous year's squads.
Also dangerous will be Yale, who has a strong, young core, as well as Harvard and Cornell, whose arenas represent two of the most difficult venues in all of college hockey. In the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men's poll, Clarkson is ranked ninth nationally and have two players on the preseason all-ECACHL team, while St. Lawrence is 15th and Cornell is 19th.
"Next week [at Clarkson and St. Lawrence] will be a nice test, especially for the freshman, Wyman said. "Also, the Cornell games will be tough, especially away. And one surprise I think might be Yale, who should have a good team this year because they have young guys returning who were near the top of the league last year in scoring."
The team began its season Sunday afternoon against Vermont. This weekend Dartmouth travels to New York to face Clarkson and St. Lawrence before returning home for games against Rensselaer and Union the following week.
