Brendan Demler Named Dartmouth Team Captain For 2019-20 Season

HANOVER, N.H. – Koenig Family Head Coach of Dartmouth Men's Hockey Bob Gaudet '81 announced Monday the two members of the team who will serve as team captains for the upcoming 2019-20 season.

The announcement was made to the group in a team meeting Monday afternoon in the locker room at Thompson Arena.

Junior Brendan Demler will wear the 'C' as the team captain, becoming the 120th captain in the 114-year history of the program. Joining Demler with a letter on his sweater is senior Cam Strong, who will don the 'A' this season.

"Brendan exemplifies what it means to be a 'Man of Dartmouth,'" Gaudet said of Demler. "His leadership qualities have been on display since the moment he stepped foot on campus here. He is hardworking, humble and extremely dedicated to the success of this program. Those characteristics were evident in his teammates' vote of confidence to select him as the player to lead this group moving forward."

A native of Lebanon, Ohio, Demler becomes the first player from the Buckeye State to be named captain of the Dartmouth men's hockey team since James Osborne '23 did so nearly a century ago in the 1922-23 season.

A defensive-defenseman, Demler is a veteran of 69 games in his first two seasons with the Big Green, playing in every game since coming to Hanover prior to the 2017-18 season. Proof of his defensive prowess was evident in Demler's team-leading 55 blocks last season, 17 more than his next closest teammate, while also ranking in the top-10 in ECAC Hockey.

As a sophomore, he posted the first two goals of his career and added a pair of helpers. His first career tally came on the road at No. 15 Cornell in January, while he also found the back of the net in the final game of the year, a playoff loss at Harvard in the second round of the league's quarterfinals.

"The overwhelming support from my teammates and coaching staff today was amazing, and I could not be more excited to be the player my teammates chose to lead them through this season," Demler said. "I am humbled by this honor bestowed to me, and would like to recognize Kevan Kilistoff '19 for being a great role model to our entire team the past two seasons, and I hope we can continue to foster the culture that those guys developed.

"The first week of freshman year, Coach Gaudet gives us all a book on the history of Dartmouth hockey, and, as a group, we are looking forward to writing a new chapter for Dartmouth," the newest team captain remarked.

Strong enters his senior year having played in 88 career games with 16 goals and 24 points to his credit. His willingness to play up and down the lineup — from scoring 10 goals as a freshman in a top-six capacity to his spot on the Green and White's grind line last year — has garnered the respect of his teammates and coaches. Strong is also the only Montana native on any of the 60 Division I rosters.

Demler, Strong and the 2019-20 Dartmouth men's hockey team will kick off the season Nov. 1-2 at Harvard and UNH before making their home debut on Nov. 8-9 against Quinnipiac and Princeton.

Schedules