Team Notes: Dartmouth Hosts Ivy Shootout
HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's hockey team will begin its 2011-12 season this weekend with the Ivy Shootout Friday and Saturday evenings. The two-day classic-style format will feature the Big Green hosting Brown Friday night at 7 p.m. and Yale Saturday at 7 p.m. Princeton is the fourth team and will play alternating opponents at 4 p.m. on both days.
Thompson Arena will play host to the weekend after Yale's Ingalls Rink was the site for last season's Ivy Shootout.
It will mark the beginning of the season for all four teams this weekend as the six Ivy League teams in ECAC Hockey have yet to play a regular season game in 2011-12.
THE SHOOTOUT
Four of the six Ivy League teams will be in Hanover this weekend
for the Ivy Shootout. Princeton and Yale will get things underway
Friday at 4 p.m. before Dartmouth and Brown play the second game of
the day, set for a 7 p.m. start time. Saturday will feature the
Tigers and Bears in the 4 p.m. matchup, while the Big Green and
Bulldogs skate in the final game of the weekend, Saturday with puck
drop tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m.
SCOUTING BROWN
The Bears finished the 2010-11 season ninth in the ECAC Hockey
standings (8-12-2). The team lost its top scorer from a season ago
as former team captain and 2011 Ivy League Player of the Year Harry
Zolnierczyk (16g/15a - 31pts) now wears the sweater of the NHL's
Philadelphia Flyers.
- The Bears were picked 11th in the media poll and 12th in the
coaches' preseason poll.
- Brown got the season started with a 2-0 exhibition win over
Waterloo. Senior Jeff Buvinow and freshman Massimo Lamacchia each
had a goal and an assist in the win, while senior goaltender Mike
Clemente had 20 saves in earning the shutout.
- Forward Jack Maclellan earned a spot on the coaches' preseason
all-conference team after finishing tied for the team lead with 31
points (14g/17a) last season.
- Brown has not beaten Dartmouth since completing the season sweep
of 2007-08 on Feb. 22 with a 5-4 win in Hanover. The Bears are
0-5-1 against the Big Green since that game.
SCOUTING YALE
- The Bulldogs come to Hanover ranked No. 10 in the USCHO poll and
No. 6 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll despite not having
played a game yet this season. Yale even received a first-place
vote in the USA Today rankings. INCH.com also has the Bulldogs the
highest of the three in its power rankings, sitting at No. 4 this
week.
- Finished second in the ECAC standings during the regular season
(17-4-1)
- Yale has been one of the top teams in the nation the last few
years and claimed an ECAC Tournament championship last season with
a 6-0 win over Cornell in the title game.
- The Bulldogs advanced all the way to the East Regional after
beating Air Force, 2-1, in overtime before falling to eventual
National Champion Minnesota Duluth, 5-3, in Bridgeport.
- The team lost nine players from a season ago, including
goaltender Ryan Rondeau, who was named the Most Outstanding Player
of the ECAC Hockey Tournament.
- Selected first in both preseason polls, Yale will have two of
the league's top players returning to the lineup this season in
senior Brian O'Neill (20g/25a - 45pts) and junior Andrew Miller
(11g/32a - 43pts). Both were named members of the media and
coaches' preseason all-conference teams in September.
- Despite outshooting Waterloo and holding a 1-0 lead after one
period in its preseason scrimmage last Friday night, the Bulldogs
fell, 2-1, on home ice.
- Yale swept the season series with the Big Green in 2010-11 (7-3,
4-2) and has won the last seven meetings between the two
teams.
MELLO MAN
Senior goaltender James Mello (Rehoboth, Mass.) will start the
season as the No. 1 goaltender for the Big Green and was named to
both the media and coaches' preseason all-conference team. As a
junior, Mello posted a record of 17-9-3 and a goals-against mark of
2.21and was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week three
times.
TOP HEAVY
The Dartmouth roster will feature nine seniors in 2011-12. Leading
the way will be alternate captain Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.). Jones
is the Big Green's top returning scorer from a season ago with 29
points (8g/21a). His 21 assists as a junior led the team last year,
while his 13 against ECAC opponents were also a team
best.
TALENTED NEWCOMERS
- Head coach Bob Gaudet knew he had a talented freshman class this
season, but the preseason tilts with Western Ontario and Norwich
solidified that point as the newcomers combined to score 12 points
over the two games. Tyler Sikura (Aurora, Ontario) and Jesse
Beamish (Mississauga, Ontario) scored third-period goals against
the Mustangs Friday night to help the team to a 4-2 exhibition
win.
- Against Norwich, the freshmen class combined to score seven of
the team's eight points, including all three goals. Eric Neiley
(Warminster, Pa.) got the scoring started with a first-period tally
from Charlie Mosey (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Beamish, before Brandon
McNally (Saugus, Mass.) added two in the third. Sikura assisted on
both third-period goals from McNally.
DEFENSIVE DEPTH
- One thing that was shown this weekend was the Big Green's depth
at defense. The team dressed eight d-men for both games to give
more players ice-time in the preseason.
- Junior Mike Keenan (South Weymouth, Mass.) and senior Connor
Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) will most likely be the top pair on the
blueline for Dartmouth this season, but senior alternate captain
Jim Gaudet (Etna, N.H.) and sophomore Taylor Boldt (Niwot, Colo.)
are a solid second pair. Keenan and Goggin logged 32 games together
last season, while Gaudet and Boldt also lined up with one another
for 32 games.
- Keenan and Goggin figure to factor in to more offensive output,
while Gaudet and Boldt are strong players in their defensive zone,
playing considerable time on the penalty kill over the weekend.
- Senior transfer Dan Nycholat (Calgary, Alberta.) and 6-foot-2,
210-pound sophomore Nick Lovejoy (Orford, N.H.) add a veteran
presence to the defensive core.
- The freshmen duo of Rick Pinkston (Trenton, Mich.) and Andy
Simpson (Chesterfield, Mo.) also made an impression in their first
weekend of action, combining to post a +2 rating and seeing
considerable time against both opponents.
COACHING MILESTONE APPROACHES
- Head Coach Bob Gaudet is just one win shy of 300 in his career
between stints at Brown and Dartmouth. Gaudet had 93 wins in nine
seasons as the Bears' head coach before returning to his alma mater
for the 1997-98 season. Since that year, he has gone 206-196-50 in
14 seasons behind the Big Green bench. All-time, Gaudet is
299-338-81 in 718 games as a head coach over 23 seasons.
- Gaudet could become the 12th active coach with 300 career wins
with a victory Friday or Saturday night. Colgate's Don Vaughn sits
at 298 career wins and will play Niagara twice this weekend looking
for his 300th-career win as well.
PROGRAM MILESTONE APROACHING
Dartmouth begins the 2011-12 season with 994 wins in 106 seasons
of play. With just six more victories, the Big Green will reach the
1,000-win plateau for the program. As it stands right now,
Dartmouth's all-time record is 994-1,060-106.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HOPES
The Big Green's 2010-11 season ended with a 5-3 win over Colgate
in the ECAC Hockey Consolation Game in Atlantic City. Dartmouth
would like to advance one step further and earn a berth in the NCAA
Tournament for the first time since making the Frozen Four back in
the 1979-80 season when current head coach Bob Gaudet was the
starting netminder; a gap of 31 years.
CAPTAINS
Keenan will don the "C" this season for the Big Green. The junior
was selected as the captain following last season by a vote of his
peers. Jones, Gaudet and Connor Goggin will all wear the "A" as
alternate captains.
SOPHOMORE POWER PLAY
Second-year forward Matt Lindblad (Winnetka, Ill.) made a splash
as a freshman in 2010-11, finishing fourth on the team with 28
points (13g/15a). As a freshman, Lindblad was only named the
League's Rookie of the Week once time (Nov. 30), but was one of the
top players in the nation with the man-advantage, scoring seven
power-play goals.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Dartmouth features two pairs of brothers and a father-son
combination this season.
- Senior Connor Goggin and brother junior Mark Goggin (Glen Ellyn,
Ill.) will suit up together for the first time in two years after
Mark missed all of last season recovering from various
injuries.
- Senior Nick Walsh (Shannonville, Ontario) and junior Dustin
Walsh (Shannonville, Ontario) make up the second pair of brothers
on the Big Green. Both scored 10 goals last season, while Dustin
just edged out his older brother with 20 points to Nick's 17.
- Senior defender and alternate captain Jim Gaudet will play one
final season for his father, head coach Bob Gaudet, in a Big Green
sweater. Jim also played two seasons alongside older brother Joe
Gaudet '10 during his first two years at Dartmouth.
SIZEABLE ROSTER
There is no doubt that Dartmouth will be one of the bigger teams
in the ECAC this season as the roster boasts 29 players, most of
considerable height and weight. The average weight on the 29-man
roster in just a shade under 200 pounds at 198.3, while the average
height of the 2011-12 Big Green is 6'-1.5".
FOLLOW THE BIG GREEN ALL YEAR
The Dartmouth men's hockey team will be live on the air all season
on WRFD 99.3 FM. Chris Garret will be on the call all season,
handling the play-by-play duties. Fans can also follow along with
live stats and a video stream of home games ($) on
DartmouthSports.com.
