2009-10 Outlook

10/29/2009 11:30:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

With age comes wisdom and experience and the 2009-10 version of the Dartmouth men's hockey team should be very wise as the team begins to hit the ice in preparation for the season.

“We were very young last year but we have an experienced group back,” said head coach Bob Gaudet. “I feel like I say that every year. We did lose some leadership and some good players, but those coming back have a lot of experience and make up a good nucleus. The players we have this season have shown their scoring ability and we have a much more seasoned defensive corps. I feel very good about our leadership with captain Peter Boldt and assistant captains Joe Gaudet and Scott Fleming. All bring different strengths to the table and will do an excellent job leading our squad.””

The Big Green have just five seniors and six freshmen as the rest of the team are juniors and sophomores. Dartmouth has been waiting two years for its current crop of underclassmen to mature and be the force that they've been projected to be.

“This season we're going to focus on possible weaknesses and hone our strengths. Our guys are coming back bigger and stronger and more experienced then last year and they are very determined. That determination will be what fuels them.” Gaudet said.

“This group gets it. They understand what they need to do. How we play, carry ourselves and meet the expectations of the classroom will go a long way in the success of the team. I don't feel like I'm going to need to do as much teaching on and off the ice as I've had to do the last few years.”

The junior class made quite an impact last season, and with all of them back, Gaudet expects them to lead his squad this year.

“Our sophomore class did a great job last year. Two prime examples were Adam Estoclet and Scott Fleming. Esto led our team in scoring, followed closely by Scott Fleming. Fleming has gotten better and better as he's grown, while Esto is so skilled as he displayed last year,” Gaudet said.

Classmates Andrew Owsiak, Kyle Reeds and Matt Reber will also factor in. Owsiak is a key player who earned quite a bit of playing time last season. Reeds is a hard worker with good all around skills who is primed to have a great junior year. Reber has tons of speed and continues to get better and

“On defense, Evan Stephens and Joe Stejskal have anchored our blueline and I am looking forward to seeing their continued development as key shut down players for us,” Gaudet said.

“We have less questions on defense then we've had in the past. This is a very solid, veteran-led group.”

In goal the Big Green had a big question mark going into last year, but this season that question mark doesn't seem to be as prominent.

“Jody O'Neill helped us more than we ever could have imagined last season,” Gaudet said about the ECAC and Ivy Rookie-of–the-Year. “We were unsure about our goalie situation going into the year with an untested goalie and a young defense. But those guys logged a lot of ice time, and with the way Jody played, we know that things will be much more settled back there.”

James Mello and rookie Charles Corsi will push O'Neill as Dartmouth finally has a good depth in goal.

“The question marks surrounding this year are not as pronounced as last season. We have a good group of younger players and it is my hope that they will fit in seamlessly with our returning players.”

Going into 2008-09 the Big Green didn't have quite the mark on its back like it had in previous seasons. Dartmouth was picked in the preseason polls to finish 11th, but the Big Green defied the critics and, despite being in the top half of the league standings all year, finished tied for fifth with Harvard.

“Having us finish in the top half of the league after being chosen to be one of the bottom teams at the beginning of the year was an interesting position for us,” Gaudet said. “I think it will continue to be a big motivating factor for us. We're always trying to prove ourselves, and while you try not to listen to other opinions, it can be motivating to know that others don't think you're very good.

“We know we were picked to finish this year where we finished last season. I don't put much stock in preseason polls, at least I try not too. I think we know we have some unfinished business which will be a positive factor for this team. You can't measure what's inside, and this team has heart and a lot to prove. They had a great spring and summer working out and getting stronger. Their prep work has been tremendous.”

Part of the preparations Dartmouth has been doing involves strength and conditioning as well as a new multi-purpose facility.

“Our strength coach Bob Miller has done an exceptional job in terms of conditioning and development,” Gaudet said. “We had a great spring in term with weight training and skill work. Coach Miller had the guys doing stick skill drills, warmups, agility and ladder work to just name a few. He's been great at helping our incoming players adapt to the game of college hockey, and he's great at the specifics needed to train hockey players.

“We also recently had a new room built in Davis Varsity House that helps us in skill work. It's a surface that mimics ice but allows us to be on it at all times of the year. It's been invaluable for helping our team learn the nuances of the game.”

The Big Green will have a better sense and understanding of what is expected of them as the team now fully knows the style, how to play both sides of the puck and how to play full ice.

“It shouldn't be a learning process so much this season as it will be honing things more,” Gaudet said. “I expect we'll be much more prepared then we were at this time last year.”

Joining Corsi as newcomers this season will be forwards Mark Goggin, Dustin Walsh, Alex Goodship and Jason Bourgea, and defenseman Mike Keenan.

“Our young players this season are going to be worked into the mix slowly as we finally will have a deep enough bench to do that,” Gaudet said. “They'll be given the luxury of getting used to things and not thrown into the fire right away.

Keenan had a great career in high school and the USHL and has proven to be a solid defenseman. He brings a lot of hockey experience at different levels and should be very effective on the blueline. Goodship has terrific speed and the ability to player center or wing. He brings several intangibles to the team, but his speed should be his biggest asset. Bourgea is a local kid from South Burlington, Vt. He has good skills and understanding of the game. The year he played in the USHL has proven to be very beneficial. Corsi is going to help push our other two goalies and will help give us depth at the goalie position.”

Joining six rookies behind the bench will be new assistant coach John Rose. Rose will replace long-time assistant Brendan Whittet who became the head coach at Brown.

“The continuity as a staff the last couple of seasons has been great. It's going to be strange to not have Brendan on the bench, but we got a great coach in John,” Gaudet said. “I'm excited to have John and I'm equally as excited that Brendan got the opportunity with a head job. I'm very proud of him. To have John come into an already pretty established coaching duo and system will be good. Dave Peters is an exceptional coach in all facets of the game and will prove to be a valuable resource for John.

“I always hesitate singling out individual players and holding them up in preseason, but there are a few of our freshmen that on paper look like they could come in and make an impact right away. Dustin Walsh and Mark Goggin are two very capable players who have been to several prospect camps and have gained valuable experience at those pro camps,” Gaudet said.

“The upperclassmen we have coming back will all get valuable playing time and will help our freshmen adjust to the college game quickly,” Gaudet said.

The senior class will consist of captain defensemen Peter Boldt and Kevin McCarthy while forwards Joe Gaudet, Josh Gillam and Rob Smith will provide the leadership.

Along with Estoclet, Fleming, Owsiak, Reeds, Reber, Stephens and Stejskal, the junior class will also have defenseman Dan Markowitz.

“Dan has really helped us prepare our defense to be solid with a strong bench,” Gaudet said.

The sophomore class will have Doug Jones, Connor Goggin, Troy Mattila, Jim Gaudet, Paul Lee, Kyle Schussler, O'Neill and Mello.

“Jones by far was one of our biggest contributors last year and I expect him to just get better and better. Lee, Schussler and Mattila all provided depth for us at the forward position while the defense was helped by Gaudet and Goggin,” Gaudet said.

Dartmouth hockey has had the privilege of fostering several generations of Big Green athletes a trend that will continue this season as older brothers Goggin and Walsh will be joined by their younger siblings. Dartmouth will have three sets of siblings on the team for 2009-10.

“The last couple of years I've had several unusual things happen,” Gaudet said. “First I coached my son for the first time and then last season I had both sons on the team. This year we'll have three sets of brothers. By and large that's a very positive thing for our team because it means the older brother has had a great experience at Dartmouth, and it speaks well of the school and their hockey experience here. Having Dustin and Mark join their brothers Connor and Nick helps continue the tradition of family members coming to Dartmouth.”

Another tradition that Gaudet has continued is the strength of schedule the Big Green has played year in and year out.

This year the schedule will again test Dartmouth as the Big Green looks to climb back to the top of the ECAC Hockey standings with a shot at a possible postseason berth.

“We have a good schedule; I like the strength of it,” Gaudet said. “Our nonconference games are strong as usual with Vermont, UNH, Sacred Heart, Notheastern and possible matchups with UMass-Lowell or Holy Cross. To have that many Hockey East teams on our schedule is good for us.

“We will play three games against Harvard this year, which will be unusual but will help us in the long run. We don't have very many big gaps in our schedule, which is a good thing because then we won't have too much time between games,” Gaudet said. “The conference schedule seems to get tougher and tougher each year and there are no easy games or road trips in the ECAC.”