Big Green Kick Off 2017-18 Friday Night at Holy Cross

Game 1	Dartmouth \| 0-0-0 at Holy Cross \| 2-0-2
When	Oct. 27, 2017 \| 7 PM
Where	Worcester, Mass. \| Hart Center (1,050)
All-Time Series	Dartmouth \| 5-3-1
Last Meeting	Jan. 10, 2016 \| W, 5-2
Radio	ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/1230 and 1400 AM \| PBP: Rob Kennedy
Stream	Atlantic Hockey TV
Live Stats	CollegeHockeyStats.net \| GoHolyCross.com
Social	Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH Instagram: @Dartmouth_MIH Facebook: /DartmouthMIH
Game Notes	Dartmouth (PDF) \| Holy Cross

FRIDAY'S GAME
The Dartmouth men's hockey team opens up the 2017-18 regular season Friday night at Holy Cross. Puck drop from The Hart Center in Worcester is 7 p.m.

SEASON OPENERS
- Since 1997-98, Dartmouth is 9-9-2 in season-opening games, including a 3-2-2 mark since 2010.
- Prior to last year's 3-2 win over No. 11 Michigan, the Big Green had opened against Harvard in the previous two seasons (2014 & 2015) with contests against Princeton (2010 & 2013), Yale (2012) or Brown (2011) during the Ivy/Liberty Shootout years. Dartmouth and Harvard also opened the season against one another in both 2008 and 2009.
- Before taking on the Wolverines in Hanover to start 2016-17, the last time the Green opened against a non-ECAC Hockey team was a 2007 win at Vermont, 4-2.

HOW WE FINISHED '16-17
- Dartmouth finished last season 10-18-3 overall and 7-13-2 in ECAC Hockey play. The 16 league points saw the Green and White claim ninth in the conference standings.
- In Ivy play, the team was tied for third with Yale, as both were 4-4-2 for 10 points.

PRESEASON TUNEUPS
- The Big Green started the preseason earlier than usual, defeating Windsor, 2-1, on Sunday, Oct. 8 at Thompson Arena. The game came just two days after the official start to the season and saw sophomore Daniel Warpecha score both goals with Kevin Neiley and Kevan Kilistoff picking up the helpers on each.
- Dartmouth was handed a 3-0 loss by the US National Team Development Program on Oct. 20 in the final preseason tilt. The Green and White played well, outshooting the USNTDP, 39-20, but were done in by the stellar play of goalie Drew DeRidder and his 39-save shutout.

AGAINST HOLY CROSS
- Despite the relatively close proximity to one another, Dartmouth and Holy Cross have only played nine times in the last 31 years dating back to the first meeting between the two.
- The Big Green hold a 5-3-1 all-time edge with wins in the last two meetings, including a 5-2 victory at home on Jan. 10, 2016 — the most recent match-up. That game sparked a five-game win streak.
- Only one time has a Dartmouth-Holy Cross game been played away from Thompson Arena as the two played to a 2-2 tie at the Hart Center on Jan. 21, 2009.

ON THE ROAD
- Friday gives the Green their first opportunity to improve on last season's 4-11-1 road record.
- Against non-conference opponents away from Hanover, the team was just 1-4-0 with the lone victory coming at PPG Paints Arena in a home game for Robert Morris on November 27.

CAPTAINS
It was announced on Sept. 22 that junior Kevan Kilistoff will serve as the team's captain and wear the 'C' this season with seniors Corey Kalk and Tim Shoup donning 'A's' as alternates.
- Kilistoff becomes just the seventh British Columbia native to be named captain and the first since Rob Pritchard '09 in the 2008-09 season. A veteran of 58 games over his first two seasons in Hanover, the winger from the Vancouver suburb of Langley, posted a 2-8-10 scoring line as a sophomore, playing mostly on the Big Green's third line, tasked with playing against opponents' top players.
- Kalk — a Maple, Ontario, native — is coming off his best collegiate season, finishing second on the team in scoring last season with 23 points. His 11 goals, 12 assists and subsequent 23 points were all career highs. He is the only returning player with two seasons of 10-plus goals as he also reached double digits as a sophomore in 2015-16.
- A native of Upper St. Claire, Pennsylvania, Shoup is a skilled, but physical defenseman for Dartmouth. An injury caused Shoup to appear in just 22 games as a junior a season ago. In that time, though, the blueliner managed to amass 29 penalty minutes — good for fourth on the team — demonstrating a willingness to use his body to make the play for the good of the team.

GOALTENDING DUTIES
- Then-junior Devin Buffalo made the most of his opportunity to take the reins of the team's starting goaltending duties in 2016-17. Buffalo started in 29-of-31 games last season and accounted for 85.7 percent of his team's minutes between the pipes, the sixth-best figure in ECAC Hockey.
- Once again pushing Buffalo will be pushed by Dean Shatzer and Adrian Clark, a pair of sophomores with a year of Division I experience under their belts.

BOB'S BACK
- The Ivy League's all-time leader in career games coached resides in Hanover as Bob Gaudet '81 is back for his 21st season behind the bench of his alma mater.
- Between 21 seasons at Dartmouth and nine at Brown, Gaudet has coached in 918 games between the two Ivy institutions since 1988.
- His career total ranks second only to former St. Lawrence men and current Dartmouth women's interim head coach Joe Marsh (978) for the most games by an ECAC Hockey bench boss.
- His 382 career wins at the Division I level rank 28th all-time, while his 289 victories at Dartmouth rank second only to legendary Eddie Jeremiah '30 and his 308.

RETURNING LEADERS
- Gone is last year's leading scorer and Third-Team All-ECAC Hockey and First-Team All-Ivy League selection Troy Crema (17-12-29), making Kalk (11-12-23) the team's top returning point producer.
- Kalk also boasts the most career points (49), goals (25) and assists (24) amongst active players. His impressive junior season scoring totals were hindered slightly by missing four games due to injury.
- Sophomore Will Graber and his 19 points are the next best figure and came from all over the ice as the Colorado native played portions of his first season with the team at both forward and defense. His 18 points was ninth amongst all conference freshmen last season.
- Cam Strong also had a solid freshman campaign and finished tied for the league lead in goals scored by a rookie last season with nine. The Montana native led all first-year ECAC rookies in goals per game (0.35) and was the only newcomer who played in at least half of his team's games in 2017-18 without being whistled for a penalty, an impressive feat given his style of play and minutes logged.

NEW FACES
Dartmouth will see six new names on the roster this season as the Class of 2021 is set to make their collegiate debut this fall.
- Joey Matthews, Brendan Less and Brendan Demler as the team's newest defensemen.
- Collin Rutherford, Matt Baker and Quin Foreman are the trio of forwards added to the roster for 2017-18.

STREAK SNAPPED
- Dartmouth had its seven-year run of winning at least one playoff series come to a halt with the first-round defeat at the hands of Yale.
- The Big Green had pushed the consecutive seasons run to seven thanks to a three-game series win against Colgate in the first round and a 2-0 sweep of the second-seeded Bulldogs during a 2016 quarterfinals.

WHAT'S OUT THERE?
The 2017-18 schedule is one of the toughest in recent memory for Dartmouth fans:
- The team plays five games against three teams that reached the 2017 Frozen Four: two against Harvard (Oct. 27 and Feb. 2), one versus the national runner-up Minnesota Duluth in the Ledyard Classic (Dec. 30) and a pair at the defending national champion in Denver (Dec. 15-16).
- There are nine total games against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament as the Big Green also play league foes Union and Cornell twice each a year after both made it to the opening round of the national postseason.
- The aforementioned Ledyard Classic brings one of the best fields to Hanover of any holiday tournament this year. Dartmouth will open against Granite State rival New Hampshire on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m., while Yale and Minnesota Duluth will play the earlier game in a battle of Bulldogs. The following day will see the UMD and Dartmouth play the late game after UNH and Yale battle in the 4 p.m. tilt.

WHAT'S ON TAP?
- Dartmouth will kick off the ECAC Hockey and Ivy League schedule Sunday night at No. 3 Harvard. The Crimson will be playing in their first game of 2017-18 — the final team in the nation to start their season (Princeton plays at 4 p.m. on Sunday) — and will be unveiling their ECAC hockey regular season and tournament championship banners as well as one celebrating their trip to the 2017 Frozen Four.
- Sunday's game will be carried live on NESN and the Ivy League Network.
- Following Sunday, the Big Green will make their home debut with Brown and Yale making their way to Hanover on Nov. 3-4.

FOLLOW ALONG
- All Dartmouth home games this season will be carried live and in HD on the Ivy League Network. Road games played at Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton and Yale will also be streamed on the network for subscribers.
- Fans can also hear all 29 regular season contests live on 94.5 ESPN on their radio dials (94.5 FM/1230 and 1400 AM) or online.
- Those looking for live updates and in-game insights can follow the team's official Twitter account: @Dartmouth_MIH.

Schedules