Dartmouth Men's Hockey 2007-08 Outlook

10/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

The Dartmouth men's hockey team is preparing to do what it's done the last three years -- replace its leading scorer. Only this season several Big Green players, including David Jones, will be gone from the roster.

Jones, a first team All-America, will not return for his senior season as he signed with the Colorado Avalanche over the summer. Along with Jones, the graduation of Tanner Glass, Dan Shribman, Mike Hartwick, Ben Lovejoy and Grant Lewis insures that playing time will be ample for anyone willing to work hard for it.

“Our losses through graduation and other reasons left us a little down,” said Bob Gaudet, now in his 11th year as head coach. “This group of newcomers is very important to the success of our program. It's hard to single out specific players who will be keys to our success but between the freshmen and the players returning we should be able to make up for the ones we lost.”

The Big Green has a lot to be optimistic about as the program has won two titles (one Ivy, one ECAC) in two years, has finished in the ECAC top five every year since 2001, has had four straight All-Americas and consistently been ranked in the national polls.

“I'm looking forward to the challenge of this year,” Gaudet said. “I like a lot of the pieces, and it's going to be fun pulling them together. We've got the keys for success, and to make the NCAA tournament, it's going to be a matter of how quickly it all comes together.”

Dartmouth has several returnees who played key roles last season. Mix in nine talented freshmen and Dartmouth is chomping at the bit to make it back to Albany and hopefully into the NCAA tournament in this newest version of Big Green hockey.

FORWARDS
Lost: Jones (33gp, 18-26-44), Galiardi (33gp, 14-17-31), Glass (32gp, 8-20-28); Swallow (32gp, 8-14-22), Shribman (24gp, 4-5-9).
Returning: Johnson (33gp, 14-16-30), Wyman (33gp, 13-11-24), Pritchard (33gp, 10-8-18), Shields (33gp, 1-15-16), Grecu (32gp, 3-10-13), Harrington (31gp, 1-2-3), Gillam (13gp, 2-0-2), Gaudet (16gp, 1-1-2), Smith (13gp, 0-0-0).
Newcomers: 5 ? Matt Reber, Andrew Owsiak, Kyle Reeds, Scott Fleming, Adam Estoclet

With three of the top scorers gone from the roster, the Big Green needs players to step up quickly.

“There's no way to replace players like David Jones and Tanner Glass,” Gaudet said. “David was a Hobey Baker finalist who was a big, strong and skilled player and Tanner was an incredible leader and workhorse. We'll need to fill our empty spots like we've done before, by committee. We'll just try to adapt and create opportunities for other players and it usually can't be by one person.”

Captain Nick Johnson will be counted on as a top point producer in 2007-08. Johnson finished last season as Dartmouth's third leading scorer. In three seasons, he's just 10 points shy of 100 in 101 games.

“Nick is an outstanding player,” Gaudet said. “He's skilled, a great scorer and a real leader. Nick's game will continue to develop and I feel that his best hockey is ahead of him. He's going to have a real integral role on this team.”

Assistant captains J.T. Wyman and Rob Pritchard are looking to make big contributions this year. Wyman finished his sophomore year with an injury and used his junior campaign to bounce back in a big way.

“J.T. is a very skilled player who was able to play all kinds of time for us last season because of his versatility. The second half of his junior year was phenomenal so we're looking for him to continue to step up.”

Wyman had his best year to date, scoring 24 points while playing all 33 games. Pritchard was one of four sophomores who logged a lot of minutes. He recorded 18 points in 33 games.

“Rob Pritchard is a different player than Nick and J.T. but is an outstanding player in his own right. He does everything well, he's good defensively, offensively and in all situations. Rob's very reliable and is a player who shoots the puck and can get some goals for us.”

The forward positions could also be filled by returners like Connor Shields, Jon Grecu, Brandon Harrington, Josh Gillam, Joe Gaudet and Rob Smith.

“Grecu had a great year with 13 points in 32 games, and Shields with 16 points in 33 games will be key. There are others who will benefit from the increased opportunities that will be given them and we will rely heavily on our bench to score goals in key situations.”

DEFENSE
Lost: Lovejoy (32gp, 7-16-23), Lewis (24gp, 1-14-15), Hartwick (33gp, 0-3-3).
Returning: Gibson (28gp, 0-5-5), Boldt (17gp, 0-4-4), Johnson (9gp, 0-0-0), McCarthy (10gp, 0-0-0), Taylor (12gp, 0-0-0), Boardman (29gp, 0-0-0).
Newcomers: 4 ? Jonathan Wolter, Joe Stejskal, Evan Stephens, Daniel Markowitz

The Big Green blue-line corps is relatively young. Lost to graduation, the trio of Ben Lovejoy, Grant Lewis and Mike Hartwick logged a combined 338 games for the Dartmouth defense.

“Losing those three players is huge,” Gaudet said. “At times, they played entire games for us. They were big, strong, talented players who helped our defense tremendously.”

Key returners to the defensive unit are junior John Gibson and sophomore Peter Boldt. Gibson played in 28 games while Boldt recovered from a foot injury in time to play in 17.

“We lost three players that saw a lot of ice time for us,” Gaudet said. “But with returners like Peter Boldt and John Gibson I feel confident. There are others with experience who will help bolster the unit like Will Boardman, Chris Johnson, Harry Taylor and Kevin McCarthy.

“The addition of four new faces is positive. There will be plenty of playing time for those willing to step up and put the work in. It's exciting in terms of coaching because it's a brand new group of defenders.”

GOALIES
Lost: None.
Returning: Devine (32gp, .915%, 2.65 GAA, 17-12-3), Grossman (1gp, .850, 3.00, 1-0-0, Goulding (career 2gp, .667%, 9.57 GAA).
Newcomers: 0

Between the pipes workhorse assistant captain and All-Ivy honoree Mike Devine returns as the only senior with Dan Goulding and Joe Grossman the junior and sophomore backing him up.

In three seasons Devine has established himself as a goalie that will go down in the Dartmouth record books. He has posted 36 victories, along with 1,614 saves, with a 2.50 goals against average and a .914 save percentage in his three seasons to rank third, eighth, sixth and second, respectively, all-time in those four categories. Devine is just four wins away from surpassing head coach Gaudet on the all-time victories list.

“I rely heavily on Mike,” Gaudet said. “He's self-motivating and a huge part of our team. The group in front of him is talented but young so they will make mistakes but we hope that Mike's experience and ability will help lessen those.

“Mike's has two solid years of playing under his belt and he's been outstanding. We expect more of the same from him as a senior. He's an incredibly hard worker and the guys love playing in front of him.”

Heir apparents, Goulding and Grossman, have logged just two starts and three appearances overall between them.

“Grossman and Goulding haven't had a lot of time but it's not a reflection on them and their ability, it's a reflection of how good Devine has been,” Gaudet said. “They both work hard every day and I think they will be ready should we ever need them.”

SCHEDULE
As if the usual 22-game ECAC Hockey grind isn't tough enough, Dartmouth's 2007-08 schedule also features three contests against non-conference opponents -- Vermont, New Hampshire and Boston University -- who all competed in the NCAA tournament last spring. Additionally Denver, Sacred Heart, Northern Michigan, Bentley and American International all made it to the playoffs of their respective conferences.

“It's going to be a great challenge,” says Gaudet, who feels that the Big Green has all the ingredients necessary for making it to the ECAC Hockey championship for the sixth time in seven seasons. “Obviously, it starts with how quickly our team comes together.

“We picked up some Atlantic Hockey opponents this season in Bentley and AIC, both programs on the rise. We'll be going out to Denver and it will be fun to leave the region for a few games. It will be an extremely challenging hockey experience. Overall it's a typically strong schedule with perennial power Boston University at their new rink while our UNH game seems to have turned into a classic hockey rivalry. We play that game in a great facility with outstanding fans and they've started to turn into barn burners.

“We start things off with Vermont in our first regular season game. It's always a spirited game and usually very competitive.
“Our league games are going to be tight this season. I think the race for the ECAC Hockey title is going to be wide open. Don't overlook certain teams because the league itself is pretty balanced now.

“Keys for us are going to be how quickly our younger players respond, adapt and eventually contribute,” Gaudet said. “They're going to be thrown into the mix pretty quickly. We're hoping that team defense and the forwards will take some of the pressure off.”

Gaudet saw his team score 70 even strength goals and 35 on the power play, averaging 3.18 per outing in ?06-07. The Big Green finished fourth in the conference in both scoring offense and defense. Dartmouth finished 19th nationally (84.7 percent) in penalty killing, one of just four ECAC teams to be in the top-20.top-20.