Dartmouth Men's Hockey Returns Home to Host Clarkson and St. Lawrence

1/10/2008 9:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. ? The Dartmouth men's hockey team returns home for the first time since Nov. 24 as the Big Green hosts league rivals Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Dartmouth takes on Clarkson, Friday at 7:00 pm while the game against SLU on Sunday will be at 5:00 pm, televised on ESPNU.

SCOUTING CLARKSON
Clarkson is coming off a recent 4-2 win over Boston College. It is Clarkson's first victory in its last four games. The Knights are 11-6-1 overall and 6-2 in ECAC Hockey. Clarkson has defeated league foes, Harvard, St. Lawrence, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale and Brown.
Sophomore Matt Beca leads his squad with 16 points (4g, 12a) while Nick Dodge and Chris D'Alvise pace the Knights with 15 points apiece. Two seniors, Steve Zalewski and David Cayer, are next in scoring with 13 points. Clarkson is outscoring its opponents, with 2.83 to 2.44 goals a game while notching 13 power play goals. The Knights have killed 77 of the opposition's 91 extra-man chances.
David Leggio has carried the bulk of the netminding duties. Leggio has a 2.17 GAA and a .921 save percentage with an 11-5-1 record. He's recorded three shutouts this season.

SCOUTING ST. LAWRENCE
St. Lawrence comes to Thompson Arena after upsetting New Hampshire, 6-5. This will be the Saints second televised game of the season. SLU has won two of its last four contests.
St. Lawrence is currently 7-9-3 overall and 2-4-2 in ECAC Hockey. SLU has defeated Princeton and Clarkson while tying Quinnipiac and Brown.
Brock McBride leads his squad with 15 points on six goals and nine assists. Kevin DeVergilio and Mike McKenzie are next in scoring with 13 points. SLU has recorded 152 total points to its opponents 149. The Saints have notched 12 power play goals while killing 69 of the opposition's 82 extra-man chances.
Four St. Lawrence netminders have tended the net this season. Sophomore Alex Petizian has played in eight games with a 2-4-1 record, senior John Hallas has been in six games with a 3-1-1 record, sophomore Kain Tisi has played in six games and has a 1-3-1 record while senior Justin Pesony has played in two games recording a 1-1 record. Tisi is tops with a 2.21 GAA while Hallas has a .901 save percentage.

VERSUS CLARKSON
This will be the 86th meeting between Clarkson and Dartmouth. The Knights hold the edge at 62-20-4. Last year Clarkson won two games with the teams tying once. 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. Earlier this season Clarkson came from behind to take a 4-3 victory. Nick Johnson, Kyle Reeds and Rob Smith were the goal scorers for Dartmouth.

VERSUS ST. LAWRENCE
This will be the 77th meeting between St. Lawrence and Dartmouth with the Saints holding a 50-24-2 edge. SLU won all three matchups in the 2006-07 season. On Nov. 3 in Hanover, the Saints walked away with a 2-1 overtime victory before taking a 4-1 win in Canton. SLU effectively ended Dartmouth's season with a 5-2 win in Albany at the ECAC Championship. In the Big Green's third game of the 2007-08 season, Dartmouth came away with a 2-1 win. Nick Johnson and J.T. Wyman scored for the Big Green.

RADIO
Once again the 2007-08 season will be showcased on the radio. All Big Green games can be accessed through the Dartmouth Sports Network at http://www.dartmouthsportsradio.net. Local radio personality Chris Garrett will provide the play-by-play.

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 twice and NESN.

UP NEXT
Dartmouth travels to Boston University for a second go-round. The Big Green-Terrier matchup on Dec. 13 was postponed due to snow.

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth dropped a pair of league games to Princeton and Quinnipiac. It was the first time the Big Green has been swept in an ECAC weekend since Nov. 4-5, 2005, losing to the Tigers and the Bobcats.

WELCOME HOME
This weekend will be Dartmouth's first home games since Nov. 24. Currently the Big Green is 2-2-1 in Thompson Arena this season.

HELD OFF THE SCORESHEET
Last weekend Dartmouth's leading scorer, J.T. Wyman, was held off the scoresheet for just the fourth and fifth times this season. Wyman leads the team with 15 points and has had six multiple-scoring games.

SCORING FIRST
Dartmouth scored first against Quinnipiac but still lost the game. The Big Green is 3-3 when scoring first this season.

NOT OUR HOUSE
The loss to Princeton on Friday, Jan. 4 was Dartmouth's fifth in a row in Princeton. The Big Green has not won a game at Hobey Baker Rink since Nov. 22, 2003.

SHOOTERS
Princeton recorded 45 shots against Dartmouth on Jan. 4. It was just the fifth time in the last four seasons that an opponent has had more than 40 shots on goal. Clarkson also hit the magic number on Nov. 3.

GET SHORTY
Dartmouth has allowed three shorthanded goals this season while scoring two. J.T. Wyman recorded his first of the year against Denver on Dec. 29 while Joe Gaudet had the first of his career against RPI on Nov. 10. The Big Green allowed just five shorthanded goals in 2006-07.

POWER SURGE
Prior to last weekend the Big Green had allowed only five opponent power play goals. Quinnipiac potted two in the game as the Bobcats, Clarkson, SLU, RPI and Denver are the only teams that have scored an extra-man goal on the Big Green. DU and Quinnipiac have each potted more than one.

NEED MORE POWER
Dartmouth has notched nine power play goals this season. The Big Green had an extra-man drought, going scoreless from Nov. 10 until Dec. 28 and 29. Dartmouth scored one power play goal against Northern Michigan and two against Denver.

RANKED OPPONENTS
Dartmouth is 1-4 against ranked opponents this season. Defeating St. Lawrence while falling to Clarkson, Harvard, Denver and Quinnipiac.

IN THE THICK OF IT
With just three non-conference games left the Big Green has begun the meat of it's ECAC Hockey schedule.

SPREAD IT AROUND
Nineteen different players have recorded at least a point for Dartmouth this season J.T. Wyman is the high point getter with 15 (8g, 7a) followed by Nick Johnson with 11 (4g 7a). Rob Pritchard, Connor Shields and Matt Reber are all tied with seven.

ROOKIE SENSATIONS
Several Big Green freshmen are racking up the points this season. Matt Reber leads the rookies with seven while followed closely by Scott Fleming with six. Evan Stephens (5), Kyle Reeds (4), Adam Estoclet (3) and Andrew Owsiak (1) have all contributed to Dartmouth's output this year.

SIN BIN
Through the first five games last year Dartmouth was whistled for 61 penalties. In the first five games of 2007-08 the Big Green had notched 22. Dartmouth is currently the fourth least penalized team in the nation, averaging 10.5 minutes per game.

FIRST SCORE WINS
Dartmouth was 1-10 when its opponent scored the first goal last season and is 2-4-1 in the same situation this year.

AW SHOOT
Through the first five games of the season Dartmouth had been outshot in all but one game. But on Nov. 16 and 17 the Big Green had 68 shots on net, 13 more than its opponents. Prior to Harvard on Dec. 1, the Big Green had outshot its opponents in its last three contests.

PILE OF SAVES
Mike Devine recorded 40 saves against Princeton on Jan. 4, 2008. It was the first time he's had 40 or more saves since a 51 save effort against Yale on Feb. 18, 2007.

NICK JOHNSON THE LATEST 100-POINT MAN
Nick Johnson notched his 100th point against Denver on Dec. 30. The Big Green captain became the 32nd player in Dartmouth history to score 100 points. He is currently tied for 26th with 103. He's 26th with 51 goals and 33rd with 52 assists.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Senior Nick Johnson and his father, Kevin, are both wearers of the Green as Kevin was Dartmouth's leading scorer in 1976-77 with 42 points. Nick has tied his father in goals with 51.

LIKE UNCLE, LIKE NEPHEW
Captain Nick Johnson is following in his uncle Dana's footsteps as both have captained Dartmouth hockey. Dana was the Big Green's captain in 1972-73.

BIG-TIME SCORER
With a goal and an assist against Northern Michigan on Dec. 28, J.T. Wyman notched his sixth multiple-point game.

ALL-TOURNAMENT MAN
J.T. Wyman was named to the Wells Fargo Denver Cup All-Tournament Team. Wyman scored a goal and an assist against Northern Michigan while notching the game-tying goal against #3 Denver in the Championship game.

HE'S A GAME WINNER
Senior J.T. Wyman led the team in game winning goals last season with four. Wyman is again tops on the team in 2007-08 with two. Nick Johnson, Rob Pritchard and Josh Gillam have all had one.

THANKS TO THE ROOKIES
All of Dartmouth's nine first-year players have seen time this season. Currently six have notched at least a point with Matt Reber leading with seven points.

DEVINE INSPIRATION
Senior goalie Mike Devine has been the Big Green's starter for the past three 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. The senior has now played in 73 games in his career.

THEIR FIRSTS
Several first-year players have already notched collegiate firsts. Evan Stephens first was on the tying goal against UVM while Kyle Reeds' was the second goal of the game against Clarkson. Classmates Matt Reber and Adam Estoclet both had their first assists against UVM. Sophomore Rob Smith tallied his first collegiate goal in the third period against the Golden Knights. Several players had firsts on Nov. 9 and 10 against Union and RPI. Scott Fleming not only had his first goal and assist but he recorded back-to-back multiple-point games. Reber had his first goal against Union. Estoclet joined the mix with his first goal and first multiple-point game on Nov. 24 against Bentley. Andrew Owsiak got in on the action with his first collegiate assist against Northern Michigan on Dec. 28. A pair of rookie defensemen both got in on the action against Princeton on Jan. 4. Joe Stejskal and Dan Markowitz both recorded assists against the Tigers.

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. Rookie Evan Stephens notched Dartmouth's first goal of the regular season, at 3:19 of the second period at Vermont.

SCORING EARLY
J.T. Wyman notched the earliest goal of the season just 21 seconds into the game on Nov. 10 against RPI while Matt Reber has recorded the latest at 19:33 in the third against Rensselaer.

FACE TIME
Several players have seen time in the faceoff circle for the Big Green. Rob Pritchard, Joe Gaudet, Scott Fleming and Kyle Reeds have been the ones who have handled the most faceoffs while last year's guy, Connor Shields, is starting to get back into the mix. Pritchard has won 32 of his 76 faceoffs taken while Fleming is 49-of-91, Gaudet is 39-of-85, Shields is 53-of-92 and Reeds is 64-of-138.

THE SCORING GOALIES
Mike Devine was credited with an assist on Jan. 20, 2007 against Sacred Heart. Devine has notched four assists the last two seasons. Dan Goulding got into the mix with an assist of his own against Bentley on Nov. 24.

HE'S A WINNER
Netminder Mike Devine earned his 40th victory on Dec. 28. The senior is now tied with current head coach Bob Gaudet for second on the Dartmouth charts. Nick Boucher '03 is the winningest goalie for the Big Green with 50.

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 249-282-69 while he's 156-140-38 at Dartmouth. Gaudet's first win at Dartmouth came in his first game, a 7-1 victory over Army Oct. 31, 1997.

OPENING VICTORY
The win over Vermont was 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.

YOUNG ?UNS
For Dartmouth's first goal of the season 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.

MARCHING PAST THE SAINTS
Dartmouth defeated St. Lawrence, 2-1, on Nov. 2. It was the Big Green's first win over the Saints in three games. SLU won both regular-season contests last year along with a victory in the ECAC consolation game in Albany.

KNIGHTS ARE GOLDEN AGAINST DARTMOUTH
Clarkson rallied from two goals down to defeat the Big Green, 4-3, on Nov. 3. Nick Johnson and Kyle Reeds gave the Big Green the lead but a Clarkson three-goal second period proved too much for Dartmouth.

SHUTOUT
Dartmouth shutout Union on Nov. 9. The 4-0 victory was the fifth shutout of netminder Mike Devine's college career as he had 29 saves in the win. Devine has won all five of those games.

NO SCORE FOR YOU
Dartmouth's shutout of Union was the first over the Dutchmen since a 4-0 win on Nov. 8, 1997.

STAY CLASSY HANOVER
In the Big Green's shutout of Union on Nov. 9, a member of every class scored. Senior Nick Johnson had the first goal with junior Connor Shields, sophomore Joe Gaudet and freshman Scott Fleming adding to the 4-0 victory.

RED HOT RPI
Rensselaer defeated Dartmouth on Nov. 10. The victory was RPI's first over Dartmouth since 2001-02 and the 11 combined goals were the most since an 8-3 Engineer win in 1999.

HIGH SCORING AFFAIR
The 7-4 loss to RPI on Nov. 10 was the most scoring at Thompson Arena since a 9-4 Big Green win over Yale in 2005. The seven goals were the most the Big Green has given up since a 7-5 win by Quinnipiac on Nov. 5, 2005.

OVERTIME
Dartmouth had its first overtime game of the season against Colgate on Nov. 16. In 2006-07 the Big Green went 0-1-3 in extra session games.

WE'RE THE GOOD GUYS
Against Colgate on Nov. 16 the Big Green went penalty-free. It was the first time in 11 seasons at Dartmouth that Bob Gaudet's team has not recorded a penalty.

LATE GAME OUTBURST
On Nov. 24 against Bentley the Big Green potted four goals in a late-game outburst to defeat the Eagles, 5-1. The four goals were the most scored in a period this season.

NICE TO SEE YOU
Junior netminder Dan Goulding was given his first collegiate start on Nov. 24 against Bentley. He stopped 24 shots to earn his first career win.

SHOOTIN' THE LIGHTS OUT
Dartmouth recorded 44 shots on net against Bentley on Nov. 24. It's the second time this season the Big Green recorded more than 40 shots in a game. The first time was on Nov. 16 against Colgate.

THANKS FOR COMING
On Nov. 24 Dartmouth and Bentley met for the first time. With the win over the Eagles the Big Green is now 57-17-5 against schools in the Atlantic Hockey League.

TYPICAL
On Dec. 1, Dartmouth and Harvard met in Cambridge. The Crimson earned a 1-0 victory and it was the fifth one-goal game between the two squads since Bob Gaudet began coaching for his alma mater.

JUST NEEDED 10 MORE MINUTES
The game between Harvard and Dartmouth almost turned out to be the Big Green's sixth scoreless tie but the Crimson netted the gamewinner with under 10 minutes to play in the contest.

NICE TO MEET YOU
Dartmouths' game against Northern Michigan was the Big Green's first against the Wildcats in school history. With the victory over NMU, Dartmouth is 9-6-2 against member of the CCHA.

THEY DID IT AGAIN
Dartmouth and Denver met for the fourth time on Dec. 29. With the win, DU has won all four meetings.

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.

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.

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.

STRAIGHT UP
The 2006-07 season marked the eighth straight that Dartmouth has played 30 or more games in a season with 33. The former record of 34 games in one season was broken in 2004-05 when the Big Green had 35 games. Last year Dartmouth had a total of 33 games.

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 is 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 attendee of Dartmouth; his parents, uncle, grandfather and great uncles all graduated from Dartmouth. Nick's father, Kevin, played hockey for the Big Green and was the team's leading scorer in 1977, his uncle, Dana, 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 is the 14th member of his family to attend Dartmouth. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 (as of Dec. 17).

Nick Boucher '03 Fort Wayne Comets 11 GP, 2.27 GAA, .919
*Named Goaltender of the Month (12/3/07)*
Trevor Byrne '03 Iowa Stars 39 GP, 1-6-7
Tanner Glass '07 Rochester Americans 23 GP, 2-2-4
*Made NHL Debut on Nov. 12, 2007 ? Played 15 games with Florida*
Mike Hartwick '07 Mississippi Sea Wolves 18 GP, 0-0-0
Hugh Jessiman '06 Hartford Wolfpack 37 GP, 9-10-19
David Jones '08 Lake Erie Monsters 34 GP, 7-10-17
*Made NHL Debut with the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 21, 2007*
Grant Lewis '07 Chicago Wolves 14 GP, 0-4-4
Ben Lovejoy '07 WB-Scranton Penguins 31 GP, 0-8-8
Sean Offers '05 Utah Grizzlies 23 GP, 1-9-10
Mike Ouellette '06 Hartford Wolfpack 26 GP, 2-4-6
*Scored first AHL goal on Dec. 7, 2007*
Eric Przepiorka '06 Youngstown Steelhounds 30 GP, 15-18-33
*Third on team in scoring (33 pts.) and +/- (+13) as of Jan. 8, 2008*
Lee Stempniak '05 St. Louis Blues 39 GP, 9-16-25
*Posted a six-game point streak from Nov. 30-Dec. 11, notching seven points*

DARTMOUTH'S NHL STAR
In his third NHL season with the St. Louis Blues, Lee Stempniak '05 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.