26th Ledyard Classic Brings BC, Denver and Brown to Hanover

12/31/2014 11:59:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

Game 12 // Dartmouth (6-4-1) vs. No. 11 Denver (10-5-0)				Game 13 // Dartmouth (6-4-1) vs. No. 15 Boston College (9-7-1)

Date: Friday, Jan. 2, 2015 // Time: 7:05 PM or TBA Location: Hanover, N.H. // Arena: Thompson Arena All-Time Series: 0-4-0 // Streak: 0-4-0 Last Meeting: Dec. 28, 2007 // L, 5-3 (Denver)				Date: Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015 // Time: 7:05 PM or TBA Location: Hanover, N.H. // Arena: Thompson Arena All-Time Series: 30-62-0 // Streak: 0-3-0 Last Meeting: Nov. 24, 2012 // L, 6-3 (Chestnut Hill)
Denver Media				Boston College Media
TV: None // Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM (99Rock) // PBP: Chris Garrett Online: Ivy League Digital Network Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH Digital Press Box // Gameday Central Dartmouth Notes // Denver Preview/Notes Ticket Information				TV: None // Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM (99Rock) // PBP: Chris Garrett Online: Ivy League Digital Network Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH Digital Press Box // Gameday Central Dartmouth Notes // BC Preview/Notes Ticket Information

THE FIELD
In addition to Dartmouth, the 26th Annual Ledyard Classic features Boston College, Denver and Brown. The Big Green will play the Pioneers the first day before taking on the Eagles on the second evening with Brown alternating opponents and playing both days at 4 p.m.

THESE TEAMS… HERE
Only Boston College has been a part of the Ledyard Classic before, making its third trip to Hanover for the holidays this year. The Eagles previously played in the event's inaugural edition in 1978 and again in 2010, winning the title in the latter with victories against Colgate and Mercyhurst. For Brown and Denver, this will mark their first holiday tournament in the Upper Valley.

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth entered the break on a high note, defeating Sacred Heart, 8-3, on Sunday, Dec. 14. Four players recorded three-point efforts in the win as Jack Barre (2-1-3), Eric Neiley (2-1-3), Corey Kalk (1-2-3) and Brett Patterson (1-2-3) all helped the Big Green erupt for four goals in each of the last two periods against SHU. The eight goals were the most for the team for the Upper Valley since an 8-8 tie in the Consolation Game against Northeastern (Dec. 30, 2013) in last season's Ledyard Classic.

250 AND COUNTING!
With the win against Sacred Heart, Bob Gaudet became the second head coach in program history to reach 250 victories at Dartmouth. Now in his 18th season behind the bench for his alma mater, Gaudet only trails legendary Eddie Jeremiah '30 and his 308 career wins at Dartmouth.

vs. Sacred Heart Highlights // W, 8-3

WEEKLY AWARDS
For their play against Sacred Heart, Barre, Kalk and Charles Grant were honored by the league office with weekly accolades. Barre was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week, while Kalk was tabbed as the top rookie and Grant the top goaltender.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Denver (10-5-0) comes to Hanover for just the second time in program history and the first time since Jan. 24, 1998, a 3-2 win for the visitors. So far this season, freshman Danton Heinen leads the team in scoring with 17 points, while sharing the lead in both goals (6) and assists (11). Heinen's 17 points are the second most by any freshman in the nation this season. The power play has been clicking on all cylinders through the first 15 games as the Pios have been successful at a rate of 26.9% (18-67). In Denver's most recent games before the midseason, it split with No. 1 North Dakota at home, winning the opener, 4-1, before dropping the next night's contest, 3-1.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Boston College (9-7-1) is making its first trip to Hanover since the 2010-11 season when it won the Ledyard against Mercyhurst on New Year's Eve. The last time the Eagles visited Thompson Arena to play the Big Green was back on Nov. 30, 2008 when they needed an OT goal from Barry Almeida to escape with a 2-1 victory. In 17 games this season, a quartet of players sits atop BC's scoring leaderboard as sophomore Chris Calnan, freshman Alex Tuch as well as juniors Teddy Doherty and Michael Matheson all registering 12 points. Thatcher Demko —a 2014 Vancouver draft pick — has started 16 games in goal and boasts a 2.12 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Freshman defender Noah Hanifin is widely considered to be one of the top-three prospects in the upcoming 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Boston College defeated Michigan, 5-1, in Chestnut Hill in the first-half finale on Dec. 13.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
The Ledyard Classic will mark the third and fourth time this season Brown (3-8-0) will have played at Thompson, winning a preseason game against the Big Green, 3-1, before suffering a 6-0 setback on Nov. 15 to a Dartmouth team looking for some level of retribution in the regular season. The Bears were picked by many preseason pundits to compete for a spot in the top eight of the league standings, if not one of the four bye positions. However, the scoring touch that was supposed to be Brown's strength has not come full circle through the first 11 games as the Bears have been outscored, 43-18. Brown did end the first half on a high note, picking up its first ECAC Hockey win of the season at home against Rensselaer, 4-2, on Dec. 6.

LAST YEAR'S LEDYARD
Air Force walked away champions in the 25th installment of Dartmouth's holiday tournament, defeating Northeastern, 5-2, and nationally ranked Providence, 3-2. Dartmouth fell to the Friars, 3-2, in its first game before tying the Huskies, 8-8, in the Consolation Game. The Big Green had an 8-4 lead a quarter of the way through the third period, but a tremendous comeback from Northeastern that included two goals with the netminder pulled gave each team the draw in the highest-scoring game in tournament history.

EMERGING IN GOAL
Junior James Kruger started the first 10 games of the season before giving way to Charles Grant in goal against Sacred Heart. In those 10 games, Kruger has pieced together a solid campaign with a .932 save percentage (11th in the nation/4th in ECAC Hockey), 1.87 goals against average (13th/3rd) and two shutouts (10th/4th). Kruger is also 2-0-0 in non-conference games with a .950 save percentage (7th/3rd) and a 1.00 goals against average (5th/2nd).

SNAP THE STREAK!
The Big Green will look to snap the streak of five straight years without a Ledyard title when it takes to the ice this weekend. Dartmouth's last crown in its own tournament came back in 2008 when it defeated Army in overtime and Bemidji State in the Championship Game.

BEFORE THE BREAK
In the first-half finale, the Green and White defeated Sacred Heart, 8-3, to give the team its best offensive output since the 8-8 tie with Northeastern in last season's Ledyard Consolation. The win was the second in a row and the fourth in the last five games as Dartmouth hit the break at 6-4-1 overall. The three goals scored by the Pioneers were more than the Big Green had allowed in its previous two non-conference games to No. 1 BU (W, 2-0) and AIC (W, 4-2).

AGAINST DENVER AND BC
Dartmouth and Denver have a storied tradition… of four games. The Pioneers are 4-0 all-time against the Green and White with two victories on Jan. 1-2, 1954 and wins in 1997-98 and again in 2007-08. Only the Jan. 24, 1998 game was played in Hanover. Against former ECAC rival BC, Dartmouth is 30-62-0 all-time, having never played to a tie in 92 meetings. The Big Green's last win against the Eagles came on Nov. 26, 2002 when BC was No. 1 in the nation. Until this season and the win against No. 1 BU, that 2002 contest was the last time Dartmouth knocked off the top team in the country.

SCORING IN THE LEDYARD
All but one returning player who has played in at least one Ledyard Classic game in their career has registered a point with the exception of Tim O'Brien who has been held scoreless in four contests. Eric Neiley and Jesse Beamish each have two goals and three assists for five points with Neiley reaching that figure in six games and Beamish in one fewer. Tyler Sikura (2-1-3), Brandon McNally (1-2-3), Rick Pinkston (0-2-2) and Neiley have all played in six Ledyard games since arriving in Hanover, while fifth-year senior Eric Robinson (1-1-2) has played in five dating back to the 2010-11 season.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
This season's senior class features eight individuals. Already this season, four players have gone over the 100-career games played mark as Eric Neiley (107), Tyler Sikura (103), Eric Robinson (102) and, most recently, Rick Pinkston (100) all reached the milestone figure in the first half. Pinkston reached the mark against Sacred Heart, becoming the 86th Dartmouth player to do so in the program's 109 seasons of play. With 18 regular season games remaining, Jesse Beamish (94), Charlie Mosey (90), Andy Simpson (87) and Brandon McNally (85) all have realistic chances of reaching the figure as well.

POINTS AT HOME, ROAD AND IN NEUTRAL
Thanks in large part to a 6-0 win against Brown and the 8-3 victory against Sacred Heart, Dartmouth is eighth in the nation in points per game in home contests (5.09). In points per game on the road this season, Boston College is 29th (3.35) and Denver is 55th (1.53). Brown has yet to play a neutral game and therefore has no points in such games.

30 OR MORE SHOTS ON GOAL, PLEASE
Dartmouth is 5-0-1 this season when recording 30 or more shots on goal. In contrast, the team is just 1-4-0 when held to 29 or fewer shots on goal.

CARL! SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!
On Jack Barre's second goal of the night, freshman Carl Hesler picked up the first collegiate point of his career, assisting on the play. For the Boxborough, Massachusetts, native, the point came in his 11th career game as he has been a regular in the lineup all season.

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow all the action on Friday and Saturday with live stats on DartmouthSports.com. Live high definition video streams of all four Ledyard Classic games will be broadcast on the Ivy League Digital Network. For live in-game updates, fans are encouraged to follow the team's official twitter account: @Dartmouth_MIH.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Following the Ledyard Classic, the Big Green will travel across the Granite State to take on UNH in Durham on Friday, Jan. 9 in a game broadcast live nationally on NBCSN. Two days later (Jan. 11), Dartmouth will return to Hanover for a Sunday matinee against Vermont in the final non-conference tilt of the season at 4 p.m.