Former Big Green wing Tanner Glass '07 described the feeling of finally getting called up to the National Hockey League as "a whirlwind."
"It was incredible," he said. "I didn't expect to be called up when I was. They called at 9 a.m., and I was going to be playing the game that night. There wasn't time for it to soak in, so I just had to try not to be nervous and try to do the things that got me there."
Glass is just one of many Big Green hockey players who have played professionally after Dartmouth.
Current Dartmouth men's hockey captain Rob Pritchard '09 said that, although not every Big Green player wants to move forward with hockey after graduation, the team does everything possible to make the NHL an option for players who want to play professionally.
"It's part of the process of the team to get players to the level they want," he said. "Any time we're playing, you can almost assume there are going to be scouts there. And even if they're there for another team, you can get spotted."
Recent Big Green players who now play at the professional level include Nick Johnson '08 in the Pittsburgh Penguins system, Grant Lewis '07 with the Atlanta Thrashers and David Jones '08 and T.J. Galiardi '10 with the Colorado Avalanche, among others.
Galiardi, who only played one season with the Big Green, scored his first NHL goal on March 29 against the Vancouver Canucks. Jones also left Dartmouth early, one year before his expected graduation.
Pritchard said that, while the team is affected when players leave for the NHL, he understands those players' reasons for moving on.
"We wouldn't want them to lose that opportunity," he said. "For a lot of guys, [playing in the NHL has] been their goal since they were five- or six-years-old."
Although the 2009 NHL Draft is coming up on June 25, the event likely will not have a large effect on the current Dartmouth team, because North American players are only eligible for the draft between the ages of 18 and 20.
Current Big Green players Joe Stejskal '11 and Troy Mattila '12 have both already been drafted by NHL teams -- Stejskal by the Montreal Canadiens and Mattila by the New York Islanders.
Stejskal, who was drafted in the summer of 2007 before matriculating at the College, said he had not been certain he would be drafted.
"I wasn't totally sure it would happen," he said. "I talked to a few teams, so I knew it was a possibility, but I didn't know which team would draft me."
Even after getting drafted, there is still a lot of work to be done to be signed to a contract with a team, Stejskal said.
"[Getting drafted] was kind of a nice pat on the back, but at the same time, it doesn't really mean a whole lot in the NHL," he said. "Because their draft system is so different, they pick you up early and then you have still have a lot of time to develop."
For these reasons, J.T. Wyman '08, who now plays for the Canadiens' AHL affiliate, said that many emotions came with signing a professional contract.
"It was somewhat a sigh of relief, but also a lot of excitement at the same time," he said. "There is a lot of uncertainty after getting drafted, so it was definitely a feeling of accomplishment, especially coming out of a school like Dartmouth, where employment after graduation is such a big deal."
After scoring 11 points with the Hamilton Bulldogs in his first full season in the AHL, Wyman said that he is unsure of his future in hockey.
"I have one more year left on my contract, and I don't see myself playing for a lifetime in the minor leagues. But if I made it to the majors, I could see myself doing that," he said. "It would be something I'd love to do and a great income as well. I'm going to gauge it year-by-year and play for as long as I foresee a good future."
Glass played 41 games with the Florida Panthers in the 2007-08 season, but only three this past season due to shoulder surgery.
He said that he plans to work hard to make it back into one of the three or four roster spots that he expects will be open this summer.
"I'll go to camp and try out for the team again," he said. "I don't expect to be just given a spot, but I do expect to be given consideration and to try and make the team again."
Glass described being called up to the Panthers as "a dream come true," and said that he hopes to continue playing hockey for as long as possible.
"My aspirations are just to have a long career playing in the NHL," he said. "It's always been my goal since I was a little kid to one day raise the Stanley Cup, and that's still my goal to this day."
Pritchard said that the friendships made at Dartmouth stay strong even after players leave or graduate.
"The kids on our team who go on to the NHL are our friends when they're here," he said. "I've never seen players lose touch with their friends from Dartmouth just because they've moved on."
