Men's Hockey Looks to Keep Momentum Going with Weekend Series at St. Lawrence and Clarkson

10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

After a season opening victory over Vermont the Dartmouth men's hockey team takes to the road for a weekend series of ECAC Hockey games. On Friday the Big Green squares off with St. Lawrence before taking on Clarkson Saturday. Game time for both days is 7:00 pm. Both contests can be viewed live on the B2 Networks.

SCOUTING ST. LAWRENCE
The Saints are coming off a 4-0 win over Union in a nonleague game at the Citizens Bank Governor's Cup. SLU matched up with Colgate in the first game of the tourney as the Raiders came away with a 2-1 win. John Hallas was named ECAC Hockey's goalie of the week after registering his first collegiate shutout. He stopped 20 shots in the victory, snapping a three-game losing streak by the Saints. The start was the second of Hallas' career and first since Feburary of 2006. Currently Casey Parenteau and Alex Curran lead SLU in points with five while three others have four. The Saints have used all four of its goalies this season as Alex Petizian and Justin Pesony both sport 1-1-0 records.

VS. ST. LAWRENCE
This will be the 76th meeting between St. Lawrence and Dartmouth with the Saints holding a 50-23-2 edge. SLU won all three matchups in the 2006-07 season. On Nov. 3 in Hanover, St. Lawrence walked away with a 2-1 overtime victory then in Canton on Jan. 27 the Saints were victorious, 4-1. SLU effectively ended Dartmouth's season with a 5-3 win in Albany at the ECAC Championships.

SCOUTING CLARKSON
Clarkson comes into the weekend after splitting with Lake Superior last weekend. The Golden Knights won the first game, 4-0 before Lake State came back to capture a 5-0 win. Captain Nick Dodge leads his team with six points while Steve Zalewski and David Cayer both have five. David Leggio has carried the bulk of the load between the pipes, playing in five games with a 4-1 record. The senior is currently ranked 13th nationally with a 1.59 GAA.

VS. CLARKSON
This will be the 86th meeting between Clarkson and Dartmouth. The Knights hold the edge at 61-20-4. Last season Clarkson won two games with the two teams tying one. The Golden Knights won the first meeting, 6-3 in Hanover with the two tying, 4-4 in Potsdam. Clarkson defeated the Big Green in the first round of the ECAC Championships, 5-4, in Albany, N.Y. in March.

RADIO
Once again the 2007-08 season will showcase the Dartmouth men's hockey team on the radio. All Big Green games can be accessed through the Dartmouth Sports Network at http://www.dartmouthsportsradio.net.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Dartmouth is slated to make five appearances on television this season. The Big Green will be seen on CN8, WMUR Channel 9 (local New Hampshire ABC affiliate), ESPNU and NESN.

B2 NETWORKS
This weekend's games will be carried live over the B2 Networks. The cost is $6 a game. Here are the links, the St. Lawrence game link (https://www.b2livetv.com/liveevents/Hockey/NCAA/ECAC/StLawrence/billnow.asp) and the Clarkson game link (https://www.b2livetv.com/liveevents/Hockey/NCAA/ECAC/Clarkson/billnow.asp).

UP NEXT
Next weekend the Big Green heads back to where its' most comfortable, Thompson Arena. Dartmouth hosts its home opener with Union on Friday at 7:00 before taking on Rensselaer, Saturday at 7:00. Currently the Dutchmen boast a 2-2 overall record while RPI is 5-2.

OPENING VICTORY
The win over Vermont is Dartmouth's seventh opening win in the last 10 years and the 32nd time the Big Green has won when opening the season on the road.

WE'LL TAKE IT
The 4-2 win over Vermont on Oct. 28 was Dartmouth's second victory in a row over the Catamounts and the 12th since Bob Gaudet took over in 1997-98.

SPREAD IT AROUND
Eight different players recorded at least a point for the Big Green last weekend including four freshmen. J.T. Wyman was the high point getter with three (2g, 1a).

YOUNG ?UNS
For Dartmouth's first goal of the game on Oct. 28 against UVM, there were five freshmen on the ice. First-year Evan Stephens recorded the game tying goal while classmates Matt Reber and Adam Estoclet had the assists. Rookie Joe Stejskal was also on the blueline while Reber and Estoclet's linemate, Scott Fleming recorded a +.

FAST AND FURIOUS
Dartmouth scored back-to-back goals less than 30 seconds apart against UVM on Oct. 28. The last time the Big Green scored two or more goals less than a minute apart was a 5-4 win over Quinnipiac on Feb. 9, 2007. J.T. Wyman lit the lamp at 9:06 in the second as Tanner Glass potted an even strength goal at 9:26.

STINGY
Dartmouth posted a 2.82 goals against average last season. The Big Green scored 296 points to its opponents 262. In one game this year the Big Green has netted 10 points to its opponents six.

RECENT POWER SURGE
Dartmouth was 1-5 on power play chances against UVM on Oct. 28 while the Catamounts were 0-6. Last season the Big Green was 15-4-1 when scoring a power play goal and was 11-9-2 when not allowing one.

FEEL THE POWER LATE
Of Dartmouth's 35 power play goals last year, 22 were scored midway-to-late in the game. The Big Green notched 11 extra-man goals in the second period and 11 in the third.

FIRST SCORE WINS
Dartmouth was 1-10 when its opponent scored the first goal last year.

CLOSING IN
Senior Nick Johnson is closing in on 100 points. Johnson has 91 career points in 102 career games. He is Dartmouth's leading returning scorer as he was third last season with 30 points.

IN THE NICK OF TIME
Nick Johnson finished the 2006-07 season strong, notching 22 points in 19 games. His longest scoring streak was four games which he did twice.

IVY TITLE
Dartmouth and Yale both earned a share of the 2006-07 Ivy title. It was the first Ivy title for Dartmouth since 1980.

ALL HIS TIME IN NET
Senior goalie Mike Devine has been the Big Green's starter for the past two seasons. On Jan. 19, 2007 freshman netminder Joe Grossman was given the nod, breaking Devine's and one of the nation's longest starting streaks by a goalie. Devine had started every game since Dec. 16, 2005, 38 in all.

JUST NUMBERS
Connor Shields scored the first goal of the 2007-08 season at 2:47 in the first period on Oct. 20 in an exhibition game against York University.

THE SCORING GOALIE
Mike Devine was credited with an assist on Jan. 20, 2007 against Sacred Heart. Devine has notched two assists the last two seasons.

HE'S A WINNER
Netminder Mike Devine earned his 37th victory on Oct. 28. The senior has played in 64 games while at Dartmouth and his 37 wins put him third on the career charts. He needs just four more victories to move past current head coach Bob Gaudet (40 wins). Nick Boucher '03 is the winningest goalie for the Big Green with 50.

EVERYONE LOVES A WINNER
With its 18-12-2 record last season the Big Green finished with a winning record for the seventh year in a row. The 18 wins is third most for head coach Bob Gaudet since he took over coaching duties in the 1997-98 season.

VICTORIOUS
Head Coach Bob Gaudet begins his 11th season with the Big Green, going for his 250th career win. In 2004-05 Gaudet reached a career milestone, garnering his 100th Dartmouth and his 200th overall win. His career numbers stand at 244-277-68 while he's 151-135-37 at Dartmouth. Gaudet's first win at Dartmouth came in his first game, a 7-1 victory over Army Oct. 31, 1997.

STRAIGHT UP
The 2006-07 season marked the sixth straight that Dartmouth played more than 30 games with 33. The former record of 34 games in one season was broken in 2004-05 when the Big Green had 35 games.

HOME AND AWAY
Dartmouth finished 2006-07 with a 12-5-2 record at home, a 6-4-1 record on the road and was 0-3-0 at neutral sites.

CALGARY CONNECTION
The Big Green has five players from the province of Alberta. Senior Nick Johnson and Jon Grecu hail from Calgary while Connor Shields is from Edmonton, Rob Smith is from Brooks and John Gibson is from Okotoks. The Dartmouth players from that Canadian province scored 64 points last season.

CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior forward Nick Johnson has been selected as the 2007-08 Big Green captain. Joining Johnson as the assistant captains are classmates Mike Devine and J.T. Wyman along with junior Rob Pritchard. Johnson is the 116th captain in Dartmouth men's hockey history.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
The Big Green has several players on the team who have had relatives attend Dartmouth. Nick Johnson is a sixth generation attendee of Dartmouth; his parents, uncle, grandfather and great uncles all graduated from Dartmouth. Nick's father played hockey for the Big Green and was the team's leading scorer in 1977, his uncle was the team captain in 1973 and his mother was a member of Dartmouth's alpine ski team. Chris Johnson's father graduated from Dartmouth in 1975. Peter Boldt's grandfather, two sisters and two cousins attended Dartmouth with cousin Jennifer playing women's volleyball. Joe Gaudet is head coach Bob Gaudet's eldest son. Both of Joe's parents attended Dartmouth and his younger brother Jim has deferred his admission to Dartmouth for one year, joining his big brother for the 2008-09 season.

OH TO BE YOUNG AGAIN
Of the 27 players on the Dartmouth roster this season, 16 are underclassmen. The Big Green has seven sophomores and nine freshmen.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2007-08 Dartmouth roster features five seniors, six juniors, seven sophomores and nine freshmen. This season's Big Green hail from eight states and four Canadian provinces.

Alberta (5): Jon Grecu, Connor Shields, Rob Smith, Nick Johnson, John Gibson
Massachusetts (2): Kevin McCarthy, Joe Grossman
Minnesota (6): Chris Johnson, J.T. Wyman, Brandon Harrington, Matt Reber, Adam Estoclet, Joe Stejskal
New Hampshire (1): Joe Gaudet
Ontario (4): Harry Taylor, Josh Gillam, Dan Goulding, Scott Fleming
British Columbia (1): Rob Pritchard
Connecticut (2): Peter Boldt, Jonathan Wolter
Michigan (1): Evan Stephens
New York (2): Mike Devine, Dan Markowitz
Missouri (1): Kyle Reeds
Saskatchewan (1): Andrew Owsiak
Vermont (1): Will Boardman

NEWCOMERS
Dartmouth adds nine newcomers to the 2007-08 roster.

FORWARDS
Adam Estoclet (Orono, Minn. - Benilde-St. Margaret's School)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 27 GP - 32 G, 37 A, 69 Pts.
Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ont. - Wellington Dukes)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 48 GP - 28 G, 40 A, 68 Pts.
Andrew Owsiak (Moose Jaw, Sask. - Okotoks Oilers)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 60 GP - 30 G, 31 A, 61 Pts.
Matt Reber (Edina, Minn. - Edina High School)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 31 GP - 28 G, 38 A, 66 Pts.
Kyle Reeds (St. Louis, Mo. - Waterloo Blackhawks)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 51 GP - 23 G, 22 A, 45 Pts.

DEFENSE
Dan Markowitz (Jericho, N.Y. - Tri-City Storm/Ohio Junior Black Hawks)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 31 GP - 0 G, 1 A, 1 Pts.
Joe Stejskal (Grand Rapids, Minn. - Grand Rapids High School)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 31 GP - 14 G, 31 A, 45 Pts.
Jonathan Wolter (Branford, Conn. - Boston Junior Bruins)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 33 GP - 9 G, 19 A, 28 Pts.
Evan Stephens (Bessemer, Mich. - Cedar Rapids Roughriders)
* 2006-2007 Stats: 31 GP - 28 G, 38 A, 66 Pts.

SO LONG, FAREWELL
Dartmouth lost eight players from last year's squad. Five graduated and three left school. A key loss for the Big Green is All-America David Jones. Jones was Dartmouth's leading scorer last season with 44 points. He decided to forego his senior season and sign a contract with the Colorado Avalanche. Key losses on the blue line are Ben Lovejoy, Grant Lewis and Mike Hartwick along with forwards Tanner Glass and Dan Shribman. T.J. Galiardi signed with Colorado and Kevin Swallow transferred to the University of Maine.

MORE FAREWELL
The Big Green lost 148 points, including 55 goals, from the departed quintet of David Jones, T.J. Galiardi, Tanner Glass, Ben Lovejoy and Kevin Swallow.

DARTMOUTH'S NHL STAR
In his third NHL season with the St. Louis Blues, Stempniak is fourth on the team with six points (1g, 5a). Last season he set a career-high seven game point streak from Dec. 26-Jan. 9, registering eight points (three goals, five assists) over the span. Stempniak played in his 100th career NHL game on Jan. 10, 2007 at New Jersey. Over the summer he inked a four-year, seven milllion dollar deal.

BIG GREEN IN THE PROS
There are several former Dartmouth men's hockey players who are playing professional hockey. Listed are the players and their stats to this point in the season.

Trevor Byrne '03 Iowa Stars 10 GP, 0-2-2
Tanner Glass '07 Rochester Americans 10 GP, 1-0-1
Mike Hartwick '07 Charlotte Checkers 1 GP, 0-0-0
Hugh Jessiman '06 Hartford Wolfpack 8 GP, 0-3-3
David Jones '08 Lake Erie Monsters 8 GP, 2-3-5
Grant Lewis '07 Chicago Wolves 2 GP, 0-0-0
Ben Lovejoy '07 WB-Scranton Penguins 6 GP, 0-0-0
Mike Ouellette '06 Charlotte Checkers 4 GP, 3-2-5
Eric Przepiorka '06 Youngstown Steelhounds 4 GP, 1-2-3
Lee Stempniak '05 St. Louis Blues 9 GP, 1-6-7

BIG GREEN WALLPAPER AND RING TONES
Dartmouth fans can now get wallpaper to put on their computer screens and mobile phones along with select ring tones. Fans can also become Big Green Insiders which allows them to view coaches shows, games and postgame press conferences. All this and much more can be found at www.DartmouthSports.com.