Dartmouth Men's Hockey Takes on ECAC and Ivy Rivals, Yale and Brown This Weekend

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's hockey team comes home to the friendly confines of Thompson Arena with ECAC and Ivy contests against Yale and Brown on Friday and Saturday. Game time for both days is 7:00 pm. The Big Green is looking to build on the momentum of its blanking of league-leading Princeton last weekend.

SCOUTING YALE
The Yale Bulldogs come to Thompson Arena with a 9-4-0 overall record, 5-2-0 in the ECAC. Yale has won its last two, a pair of 3-2 victories over Minnesota State and Air Force. The Bulldogs have had two three-game win streaks taking wins early in the season over Clarkson, Connecticut and Brown before a second three-game streak over Alabama-Huntsville, Brown and Rensselaer. The Bulldogs currently have five players who have scored in double-figures so far this season. Leading the team is sophomore Broc Little with 15 points. A pair of juniors, Sean Backman and Mark Arcobello have added 14 and 13 points, respectively while sophomore Denny Kearney has added 11 and junior Thomas Dignard has 10. Three different netminders have seen time between the pipes for the Bulldogs. Senior Alec Richards has seen the bulk of the time in net, playing in seven games. Sophomore Ryan Rondeau has played in four games while junior Billy Blas? has seen time in two contests. Richards sports a 3.01 GAA and an .874 save percentage while Rondeau has a team-leading 1.51 GAA and a .939 save percentage. Blas? has a 3.54 GAA and an .887 save percentage.

VERSUS YALE
Dartmouth and Yale have been meeting since a 4-2 Big Green win on Jan. 16, 1907. The two sides have played fairly evenly in the series as neither team has had much of an advantage. Yale currently leads the series with a 94-88-12 record. Last season Dartmouth lost to Yale in New Haven, 6-3 but then took the victory in Hanover, 7-2.

SCOUTING BROWN
Brown makes the trip to Hanover with a 1-9-3 overall record, 1-4-2 in the league. The Bears are coming off a 1-1 tie with Western Michigan. Browns lone win over the season was a 5-4 victory over league foe, Union. The Bears have lost or tied their last four. The Bears are currently being led by senior Matt Vokes with 13 points. Four players have notched eight points as Devin Timberlake, Ryan Garbutt, Jordan Pietrus and Jeff Buvinow are second in scoring. Between the pipes three players have seen time. Junior Dan Rosen has carried the bulk of the work with 10 games. Rosen currently has a 3.81 GAA, .899 save percentage and a 1-7-2 record. Freshman Mike Clemente and senior Mark Sibbald has played in two games apiece. Clemente has a .944 save percentage and a 1.93 GAA while Sibbald has an .892 save percentage and a 4.21 GAA.

VERSUS BROWN
Dartmouth and Brown have been meeting since Feb. 22, 1928 when Dartmouth came away with a 15-0 win at home. That victory began a 12-game win streak for the Big Green. The Bears bounced back with several win streaks in the seventies and eighties as the series is almost even as Dartmouth leads 64-63-7. The Bears swept the series last season.

UP NEXT
Dartmouth will travel down the road for a neutral site matchup with in-state rival the New Hampshire Wildcats. The two teams will meet in Manchester, N.H. at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth took the road for two conference games. The Big Green were swept in the first game against Quinnipiac before coming back the next day to sweep nationally ranked Princeton.

WORLD TRAVELERS
The Dartmouth men's hockey team spent its December break taking its first foreign trip since the mid-1990s traveling to Denmark and Sweden. The Big Green played one game in Copenhagen and three in Stockholm. Junior Peter Boldt spent one season playing for a a team in Stockholm. Dartmouth won three of its games while tying one.

THE RANKINGS
Dartmouth is still in the national polls, coming in at #15. The Big Green entered the polls after a victory over Colgate and a loss to Cornell on Nov. 21 and 22.

WHO'S SCORING NEXT?
Dartmouth has spread its scoring out recently. Team scoring leader, Adam Estoclet has not score a goal but has garnered two assists. Andrew Owsiak has notched three goals in the past four games while Connor Shields, Kyle Reeds, Josh Gillam, Rob Pritchard, and Doug Jones has been the other scoring forwards while defensemen Connor Goggin and Dan Markowitz have each added one.

PILING IT ON
In its nine league games the season the Big Green has potted 26 goals and is second in scoring.

STREAKING
All players had scoring streaks snapped in a shutout by Quinnipiac. At the time Doug Jones had the longest scoring streak going with 14 points in 11 games. Scott Fleming, Rob Pritchard, Matt Reber, Kyle Reeds and Connor Shields had two-game streaks snapped.

100-GAMES
Forward Rob Pritchard played in his 100th game on Nov. 14 against St. Lawrence.

NETTING A NETMINDER
Freshman Jody O'Neill is helping the Big Green replace its starting goaltender of the last three seasons, Mike Devine. O'Neill won five straight games before picking up his first loss against Cornell. The rookie has had four games with 40 or more saves already this season. He racked up 47 against Union, 42 against SLU, 40 against BC and 41 against Princeton.

JODY OH
Jody O'Neill's 47 saves against Union was the first time since Mike Devine had 44 against Colgate on March 1, 2008 that a goalie had more than 40 saves.

SHUTOUT
The 1-0 shutout of Colgate on Nov. 21 was both Dartmouth's and goalie Jody O'Neill's first of the season. The two garnered the second shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory over Princeton on Jan. 4.

YOUNG ?UNS
Dartmouth boasts a very young squad this season as the Big Green has 18 underclassmen, nine sophomore and nine freshmen. Dartmouth welcomes three defensemen, two goalies and four forwards to Hanover for 2008-09.

THANKS TO THE ROOKIES
The Big Green rookies have been very important to Dartmouth's output the last two seasons. This year all nine freshmen have seen action with seven of them scoring at least one point.
FACING OFF
Sophomore Scott Fleming and freshman Doug Jones have been Dartmouth's key faceoff men so far this season. Fleming has won 149 of the 247 faceoffs he's taken while Jones has won 124 of the 235 he's faced. Kyle Reeds has won 87 and Connor Shields 92.

THEIR FIRSTS
Freshmen Connor Goggin and Doug Jones were the first rookies to record a point this season as the pair assisted on a goal against Vermont. Classmate Jody O'Neill got his first start in net on Oct. 31 against Harvard. Defenseman Jim Gaudet recorded his first point with an assist on the first goal of the game against Union. Goggin had his first collegiate goal against Clarkson while O'Neill had his first point against the Knights. Jones got into the goals column with his first collegiate strike against Cornell. Troy Mattila has notched all assists, his first coming against Clarkson. James Mello got his first action in net against Quinnipiac.

TOP DOG
Sophomore Adam Estoclet currently leads his team with 17 total points. Estoclet and rookie Doug Jones are tops with 12 and 11 assists, respectively while Joe Stejskal leads with six goals. Scott Fleming and Estoclet are both second with five.

THE GAUDET BOYS
Head coach Bob Gaudet will have both of his sons on the roster for the next two seasons as freshman Jim joins his brother Joe, a junior. The last time a Division I head coach had both of his sons on the same collegiate roster was Bob Johnson with sons Mark and Peter at Wisconsin in 1997-78 and 1978-79.

GAUDET FROM GAUDET
Junior Joe Gaudet set up younger brother Jim with a pass from the boards on Dartmouth's first goal against Rensselaer on Nov. 8. The two brothers were given assists one and two on Scott Fleming's goal.

HOME AND AWAY
Dartmouth finished 2007-08 with a 5-6-2 record at home and was 5-10-2 on the road. Currently the Big Green is 4-2 away from home and 2-2 at home.

FIRST SCORE WINS
Dartmouth was 4-10-2 when its opponents notched the first goal of the game last year. This season the Big Green is 6-1 when scoring first and is 1-4 when the opponent lits the lamp first.

POWER SURGE
The Big Green has allowed just nine power play goals this season. Currently Vermont, Union, Clarkson, Colgate, Providence, Boston College and Princeton have all been held without an extra-man goal.

ON THE OTHER HAND
Dartmouth has notched 13 of its own power play goals. The Big Green has had more than one power play strike in three games this season.

POWER PLAYERS
Joe Stejskal has been the key man on the power play as five of his six total goals have been on the power play. He recorded two of them against Rensselaer on Nov. 8. Scott Fleming and Evan Stephens have each potted two power play strikes while Adam Estoclet had his first against Colgate.

SIN BIN
Dartmouth finished 2007-08 as the least penalized team in the nation, averaging just 10.3 penalty minutes per game. With 13.8 penalty minutes per game game this season, the Big Green is 48th out of 57 teams.

THIRD PERIOD TEAM
Dartmouth was a third-period team last season, scoring 44 goals in the final stanza. This season the Big Green has spread the scoring out, potting 13 goals in the first period, 14 in the second and 13 in the third with two coming in overtime.

RANKED OPPONENTS
Dartmouth is currently 3-4 against ranked opponents. Losing to then No. 20 Harvard and then No. 14/12 Vermont. The Big Green defeated St. Lawrence and Clarkson when they were both ranked Nos. 19 and 16, respectively before losing to then No. 14 Cornell. Dartmouth dropped a game to No. 5/6 Boston College on Nov 30 and bounced back with a 4-0 win over No. 9 Princeton.
JUST NUMBERS
Connor Shields scored the first goal of the 2008-09 season at 18:23 of the first period on Oct. 25 in an exhibition game against the University of Quebec-Three Rivers. Scott Fleming potted the first regular-season goal at 14:54 of the first period at Harvard.

OH SNAP
Dartmouth had its five-game win streak snapped in a loss to Cornell on Nov. 22. The five games was the longest for the Big Green since stringing five together from Feb. 16 to March 10, 2007.

GOOSE EGG
The 6-0 loss to Quinnipiac was Dartmouth's worst loss since a 6-0 defeat by Cornell on March 9, 2008 in the ECAC playoffs. The shutout by the Bobcats is their first over the Big Green.

GOOSE EGG PART 2
After getting shutout by Quinnipiac, Dartmouth turned right around and laid the goose egg on nationally ranked Princeton. The Big Green defeated the Tigers, 4-0. The victory was Dartmouth's first at Princeton's Hobey Baker Rink in five seasons.

THE EMPTY NET
Andrew Owsiak helped seal Dartmouth's victory over Princeton with two empty netters less a minute apart.

TOURNEY CHAMPS
Dartmouth swept its own tournament, the Ledyard National Bank Classic with a pair of wins over Army (5-4, ot) and Bemidji State (4-2). The championship is the Big Green's sixth.

ALL-TOURNEY
Thanks to a pair of shorthanded goals and an assist on the game winner against Bemidji, sophomore Kyle Reeds was named the Ledyard National Bank Classic Tournament MVP. Teammates joining him on the squad were Connor Shields, Connor Goggin and Jody O'Neill.

TOURNEY SCORERS
Seven Dartmouth players scored goals in a pair of victories over nonconference opponents in the Ledyard National Bank Classic.

IT'S A SWEEP
Dartmouth swept Union and RPI on Nov. 7-8. The last time Dartmouth swept a road league weekend was on Feb. 16-18, 2007, at Brown (4-3) and Yale (3-2).

IT'S ANOTHER SWEEP
Dartmouth recorded its first home sweep since Feb. 2007 when the Big Green earned wins over St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Nov. 14 and 15.

SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT
Union outshot Dartmouth, 49-37 on Nov. 7. It marks the first time the Big Green has allowed that many shots on net since Princeton had 45 on Jan. 4, 2008. On Nov. 14, St. Lawrence was also able to have more than 40 shots on net with 45. It's just the seventh time in four seasons an opponent has recorded more than 40 shots on goal.

OVERTIME BABY
Vermont's overtime goal was the first Dartmouth has given up since a 2-1 overtime loss to St. Lawrence on Nov. 3, 2006.

ONE MORE OVERTIME
Against St. Lawrence on Nov. 14 the Big Green recorded its first overtime goal since a 2-1 overtime win over Princeton on Feb. 11, 2006.

VS. CLARKSON
On Nov. 15 Clarkson struck first but Dartmouth came back with two goals in the first and third periods to take a 5-1 victory over the Knights. Five different players scored but Joe Stejskal was the big scorer with a goal and an assist for the Big Green. Dartmouth was able to prevent Clarkson from recording a power play.

VS. SLU
On Nov. 14 Dartmouth used a goal in every period, including overtime to defeat then No. 19 St. Lawrence, 4-3. Four different players recorded goals as Adam Estoclet notched the game winner at 3:54 into the extra stanza. It was the second game this season an opponent has had more than 40 shots on net as the Saints recorded 45.

VS. RPI
On Nov. 8 Dartmouth scored three goals in the first two periods before adding two more in the third to record its second straight five-goal game. Scott Fleming was the top scorer with the first and last goals in the game as classmate Adam Estoclet and rookie Doug Jones both had three assists apiece.

VS. UNION
On Nov. 7 the Big Green opened the contest with three goals in the opening frame and then held off a hard charging Union squad with two more strikes in the third period to pot five goals in the win. Scott Fleming was tops with two goals and one assist.

VS. VERMONT
By defeating Dartmouth on Sunday, Nov. 2, Vermont snapped a two-game win streak by the Big Green.

VS. HARVARD
With Harvard's victory on Friday, Oct. 31, the Crimson now holds a 123-53-8 lead in the series between Dartmouth and Harvard. The Big Green's last victory over the Crimson was on Oct. 27, 2006.

THE HEAD HONCHO
Head Coach Bob Gaudet begins his 12th season behind the bench. In 2004-05 Gaudet reached a career milestone, garnering his 100th Dartmouth and his 200th overall win. His career numbers stand at 259-296-72 while he's 166-154-41 at Dartmouth. Gaudet's first win at Dartmouth came in his first game, a 7-1 victory over Army Oct. 31, 1997.

HE'S A WINNER
With a victory over Clarkson on Jan. 13, 2008 Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet recorded his 250th career win.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
The Big Green has several players on the team who have had relatives attend Dartmouth. Peter Boldt is the 14th member of his family to attend Dartmouth. Joe and Jim Gaudet are the sons of head coach Bob Gaudet. Coach Gaudet and his wife attended Dartmouth. Connor Goggin's grandfather, uncle and father all played hockey for Dartmouth while his mother was a member of the basketball and field hockey squads.

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