Dartmouth Men's Hockey Hosts McGill in Preseason Game

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's hockey team begins the 2009-10 campaign with a preseason contest against McGill University on Saturday evening in Thompson Arena. The game is free to public. Then on Sunday, the Big Green will play a scrimmage against Yale. After the game fans will be invited to get autographs from members of the men's hockey team.

It's On
With the 7:00 p.m. game McGill the Big Green opens up the 2009-10 season prior to its first regular season game against Harvard on Oct. 30 which marks the start of its 104th season.

Follow Along
Fans can follow the action from home with free live audio and live statistics. WFRD, 99 Rock's Chris Garrett, the voice of Big Green hockey, will have the call. Fans can watch all Dartmouth men's hockey games this season by becoming a Big Green Insider.

Improving On
After being picked to finish 11th in 2008-09, Dartmouth actually finished tied with Harvard for fifth. With 12 upperclassmen the Big Green is looking to get back into the top-four of the ECAC and make it back to Albany

Oh Captain, My Captain
Peter Boldt (Greenwich, Conn.) has been named Dartmouth's captain for 2009-10. The senior will be the Big Green's 129th captain.

Top Returners
Junior Adam Estoclet (Orono, Minn.) was Dartmouth's leading scorer in 2008-09 with 32 points. He was also the top helper with 24 assists. Sophomore Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) was the Big Green's top rookie last season with 22 points, including 19 in ECAC Hockey contests. Junior assistant captain Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ont.) was the leading goal scorer with 13 while adding 12 assists. Nine of Dartmouth's 11 double-figure scorers are back.

In net there was a question mark last year that was answered by first-year netminder Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ont.). O'Neill played in 30 of Dartmouth's 31 games, finishing with 14 wins, a .923 save percentage and a 2.61 goals against average. Classmate James Mello (Rehoboth, Mass.) helped shore up the bench and will push O'Neill this season.

Preseason Polls
The ECAC Hockey coaches and media members picked Dartmouth to finish fifith in the preseason conference poll and voted junior defensemen Evan Stephens (Bessemer, Mich.) to the preseason all-conference team.

Scouting McGill
McGill has opened up its season with a 2-0 record, defeating Concordia, 5-2, and Queen's, 5-1. In the first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) top-10 poll of the 2009-10 season, the team is ranked eighth. After Harvard, McGill travels to Dartmouth before returning home to McConnell Arena to take on Queen's for the second time this season. Guillaume Doucet and Francis Verreault-Parent lead the team with two goals a piece. Alexandre Picard-Hooper has four assists on the season.

Coming Up
After opening up with Harvard on Oct. 30, Dartmouth will take to the road for arguably one of the biggest ECAC Hockey road trips of the year. Nov. 6 and 7 dates with Cornell and Colgate.

Schedules