Ice hockey returns to Hanover this weekend as both the Dartmouth men's and women's teams will play their exhibition schedule at home. The women will play McGill University on Friday, and the men will take on McGill on Saturday before facing Norwich University on Sunday. All of the games will take place at Thompson Arena, but none will count toward the teams' overall record.
The Big Green men are coming off an overall disappointing regular season in which they finished ninth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference with a league record of 8-11-3 and an overall record of 13-16-4. In the postseason, the Big Green upset St. Lawrence University before having its season ended by Cornell University. Just two years ago, the Dartmouth men made it all the way to the semifinal of the ECAC playoffs and narrowly missed making the NCAA Tournament.
This season, the Big Green is picked to finish seventh in the ECAC and fourth in the Ivy League in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. In the Preseason Media Poll, Dartmouth ranks 10th in the ECAC, remaining ahead of only Princeton University and Brown University among the Ancient Eight.
"We have a lot of young guys, and it's tough for those guys who make the polls to predict how we're going to do with such a young team," captain Mike Keenan '13 said. "We don't really pay attention to that stuff, though we tend to take it day by day."
The Dartmouth men have 10 incoming freshmen and an experienced class of eight sophomores, who led all ECAC freshmen in goals last year.
"The sophomores may be young, but they have a lot of experience this year," Keenan said. "Even the freshmen have some older guys who have played some big competitive hockey, so we expect them to go straight into some big roles."
Nick Bligh '16 headlines the youth movement for the Big Green as the only member of the team to be featured on the NHL Central Scouting Preliminary List for the 2013 draft.
"He's a good player, and he'll probably be a top-six forward," Keenan said. "It's a whole new level coming from juniors to college, so hopefully for him and us, it'll be a good transition."
The Dartmouth women are coming off a successful season in which they finished fourth in the ECAC and third in the Ivy League with a league record of 14-6-2 and an overall record of 18-10-2. In the postseason, St. Lawrence swept the Big Green in the first round of the playoffs in Hanover.
This season, the Big Green is picked to finish fifth in the Coaches' Poll and third among Ivy League schools.
"I think it's based off of the fact that we lost a significant offensive player in Kelly [Foley '12], but we can't let that discourage us," captain Reagan Fischer '12 said. "We have a lot of depth and leadership and experience. This ranking gives us a chance to be underdogs and a chance to prove that we're better than fifth."
Fischer and Jenna Hobeika '12 are returning this year as fifth-year seniors.
"We're bringing back two very strong players and leaders, and with our seven other seniors, that gives us a strong leadership core," Camille Dumais '13 said. "Having Reagan and Jenna back is really a blessing for us."
The loss of Foley, a 100-point scorer during her career at Dartmouth, will impact the Big Green offense. This year's players, however, are confident that the team will be able to step up and fill her skates.
"We have a lot of collective talent," Dumais said. "Last year, we had two great top lines, and this year we have four very good lines. We have a great group of people who can play with anyone else. We have a lot more depth than in my previous three years."
The Dartmouth women have a freshman standout of their own. Laura Stacey '16 was invited to attend Team Canada's September camp this year after winning two gold medals for her country in the International Ice Hockey Federation U-18 Women's World Championships. The camps allowed Team Canada to determine who is on their short list for the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the World Championship.
The Big Green has 23 players on its roster, but it can only dress 21 for each game. There are seven seniors and two fifth-year seniors on the roster, so nearly half of the women who will be playing this year are in their final year at Dartmouth.
"For some teams, that might be a hindrance, but it should work to our advantage," Fischer said.
The contest against McGill is the women's only preseason game this year. Dumais said that it should provide a good test for the Dartmouth women to see where they are after playing for a couple of weeks.
"It gives us a great idea of where we stand as a team before the season kicks off," Fischer said.
