Dartmouth Men's Hockey: 2015-16 Season Recap

The Hat Trick.
The Winner.
The Sweep.
The Return.

For all the things that happened for the Dartmouth men's hockey team in 2015-16, the season boiled down to those four phrases, all of which happened in a truly memorable postseason run.
            Brad Schierhorn's hat trick in Game 1 of the first-round series with Colgate set the tone, capped with the overtime winner.
            Tim O'Brien's double-overtime game-winning goal in his final game at Thompson Arena in a remarkable Game 3 helped the Big Green eliminate those same Raiders two nights later.
            Anchored by an incredible individual effort from goalie Charles Grant, Dartmouth swept seventh-ranked and second-seeded Yale on the road in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals.
            In upsetting the Bulldogs, the Big Green made its first trip back to the league's final weekend in five years, advancing to the semifinals in Lake Placid.
            Though Dartmouth would fall to No. 1 and eventual national finalist Quinnipiac, the winter can only be seen as a step in the right direction.
            It didn't seem like 2015-16 would have the ending it did when players went home for the holidays in mid-December. Dartmouth was 3-7-1 at the break and was treading water against the toughest schedule in the nation to that point. Early season losses to Harvard, Yale, Quinnipiac, Union, Michigan and UNH had outsiders asking what this year's team was capable of.
            Of course there were flashes of what was to come as seen in a 7-3 win against Brown at home, a 2-1 road win at Rensselaer and a dramatic 1-1 tie at Michigan.
            However, upon returning to Hanover after Christmas, this year's team found something in themselves, something that allowed them to dig out of that hole and make a second-half run.
            A tremendous January started by winning the Ledyard Classic for the first time since 2008. The Green won games against Robert Morris and No. 20 Merrimack en route to claiming their own tournament's title for the first time in eight years. Senior Nick Bligh was named the MVP thanks to a pair of goals and five-points in the wins, while Grant was named the top goalie after allowing just one goal in 120 minutes.
            Wins in five of the next six followed with the lone loss coming at Vermont, 1-0, after a pre-game ceremony honoring former Catamounts legend Martin St. Louis with a retired number went longer than expected, causing a disruption in the usual routine.
            Seniors Jack Barre and Grant had stellar Januarys and were rewarded as such with the former taking home the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week twice, while the latter was tabbed as the league's goaltender of the week twice as well. The netminder rebounded from a tough start to his senior year to put himself amongst the best in college hockey, leading the nation in shutouts during the month with three, including the second of his career at Cornell's Lynah Rink — one of the toughest arenas in all of college athletics to play in as a visitor.
            Eight wins in the month propelled the Big Green back up near the top of the ECAC Hockey standings, an impressive feat given the fact that the league usually featured four of five of the nation's top-20 teams during that time. Following a weekend split with No. 1 Quinnipiac and Ivy rival Princeton, Dartmouth finally cracked the rankings, moving to 20th in the nation.
            The hot stretch simmered a bit in February as the Green saw an opportunity to secure a first-round bye slip through their fingers before falling back to seventh in what was one of the most tightly packed standings in recent memory. Three straight losses to end the regular season had Dartmouth slumping heading into the postseason and league pundits thinking that a first-round exit was the likely ending for this team.
            The 10 members of the Class of 2016 comprised the largest collection of seniors of any team in the nation. Though large, they were often overlooked, having played in the shadows of the skilled and talented Class of 2015 who had graduated the season before. So many high-profile players have found their way to ECAC Hockey in recent years, including 2016 Hobey Baker Winner Jimmy Vesey from Harvard, that this group of 10 flew under the radar all season, silently leading their team back.
            The road to redemption began in October, really got going in January, but was solidified in March. The first opponent for Dartmouth? The Colgate Raiders. The team who had swept the Big Green in the previous season's quarterfinals, denying them a trip to Lake Placid. Colgate had a senior class that could hardly be characterized as flying under the radar. The Raiders struggled during the season, but few thought that their skilled core of veterans would go quietly into the night in their final run in Hamilton.
            Trailing 2-1 heading into the third period of Game 1, it was the team captain and Alaska native who put his stamp on a Dartmouth career that eventually ended with him appearing in 132 games, fourth most in program history. Already having netted a first-period goal, it was Schierhorn's second of the day and fourth of the season nearing the midway point of the frame that set up for the drama of postseason overtime hockey. In overtime, a fortunate bounce on a point shot from rookie Connor Yau and the puck was back on Schierhorn's stick for the quick-release one-timer that bulged the twine and gave Dartmouth its first hat trick in nearly six years, a gap that spanned 189 games.
            “Pucks were just finding my stick tonight,” the soft-spoken Schierhorn said after the game. “I just wanted to be in the right place when my teammates were making good plays. I wanted to be in position for any second chances.”
            A 5-2 setback in Game 2 forced a third and decisive contest with the winner moving on to the quarterfinals.
            A wild, back-and-forth contest ensued that Sunday evening in front of the Thompson faithful. Head coach Bob Gaudet decided before the game that senior netminder Charles Grant would get the nod in the crease that night after fellow senior James Kruger had played the first two contests of the series.
            Grant stood tall in his first start in two weeks after Kruger played well down the stretch to regain the No. 1 spot late in the year. Tied at one going into the third period of a must-win for both, the two teams traded goals in a crazy four-minute stretch early on that saw Josh Hartley score shorthanded and Bligh finish a nice passing play from Schierhorn.
            The first overtime came and went with no goals to show for it.
            The second overtime? That's a different story. But it comes back to the idea that this year's seniors were the heart and soul of this team.
            Playing in his final game at Thompson Arena, senior Tim O'Brien was not about to see his career end on home ice after such a memorable battle. After a Colgate turnover near the blueline, a centering feed from freshman John Ernsting sprung O'Brien, who, after a slight hesitation to freeze the goaltender, sent a snap shot inside the left post for the series clincher, causing those still in attendance to spiral out into a frenzy against the glass.
            And who was waiting on the other side of the first-round victory? No. 7 Yale.
            The Bulldogs had arguably the top goalie in the nation in Alex Lyon, who had the top goals against average and save percentage figures in the nation at that point and had led the Elis to a second-place finish in the conference standings.
            The goalie who would put his stamp on the series, however, was at the other end of the ice and was wearing green and white. Grant stood on his head, making 46 saves in Game 1, a contest that was won in overtime on a fluttering point shot from Yau.
            A 2-1 regulation win the following night capped the sweep, anchored by 48 more saves from Grant, including several spectacular stops in the final minutes with the Bulldogs doing everything they could to avoid the upset home defeat.
            In sweeping the Elis in New Haven, Dartmouth became the only lower seed to advance in a matchup during the entirety of the league's postseason.
            The season would end the following Friday afternoon at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid to the top-seeded Bobcats, but that 3-1 loss on the 1980 Rink's Olympic sheet of ice did little to diminish the good things that came to be in 2015-16. Though they didn't win, the Big Green had become the team others rooted for, the underdogs of ECAC Hockey making noise in a league of giants.
            The expectations are no longer what they were. Underdogs aren't good enough. When you get a taste for victory and create a culture of winning, the expectations are to continue to improve and stay there.
            For Dartmouth, that's the direction this program is heading; returning to the top.

Schedules

Players Mentioned

Jack Barre

Nick Bligh

John Ernsting

Charles Grant

Josh Hartley

James Kruger

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Brad Schierhorn

Connor Yau

Footer

Schedules

Upcoming Event: Men's Ice Hockey versus Norwich on October 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Men's Ice Hockey at Stonehill on November 1, 2025 at 7:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Men's Ice Hockey versus Yale on November 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Men's Ice Hockey versus Colgate on November 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Men's Ice Hockey versus Cornell on November 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Men's Ice Hockey at St. Lawrence on November 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM