Big Green Progress Report: Boston College

This has been quite the unexpected year for Dartmouth hockey so far. The Big Green is currently ranked 11^th in the country by USCHO and has had one of the best starts in College Hockey.  Last weekend saw a highly anticipated match up against the defending national champion Boston College Eagles away at Conte Forum.  Dartmouth lost the game 6-3, but the score line did not tell the tale of the game.

Throughout the game the Big Green skated with Boston College. The Eagles are arguably the best team in country so far this season. Sophomore forward Johnny Gaudreau seems to be a lock for the Hobey Baker and proved to the difference against the Big Green with five points.  The Eagles top line is a class above the rest in NCAA Hockey and they look destined to repeat as national champions.

Big Green head coach Bob Gaudet shared the same sentiment about Gaidreau in his post-game comments,

“Gaudreau is just a phenomenal player,” stated Gaudet. “he reminds you of Paul Kariya a little bit when he was in college. He is a difference maker there is no question about it.”

Dartmouth showed how good they really were despite the score of the game. Going into the third period the Big Green had the game tied at 3-3, courtesy of late period goals from Brandon McNally and Tyler Sikura.

Boston College forward Pat Mullane scored just 18 seconds into the third period and the Big Green could never recover,

“Obviously the goal in the first shirt of the third period really hurt us,” said Gaudet.” It was a great play. They are an outstanding team and they are number one for a reason. It was disappointing to start the period that way because we had really good momentum going in.”

Steven Whitney added a goal and the Big Green went down 5-3 with a good amount of time left to play. Dartmouth stepped up offensive pressure late in the third, but could not find an answer for Boston College goaltender Parker Milner. The Eagles added an empty net goal to bring the final up to 6-3 and earn the victory.

What Stood Out:

Offense is definitely the strong point of this team this year. Comparing this year’s offensive numbers to last year’s is a world apart. Tyler Sikura and Eric Robinson are on pace to match their output from last year by the midpoint of the season.

Matt Lindblad was great with the puck on his stick against Boston College and his distribution will continue to lead to many scoring chances.

Dustin Walsh is getting there. He is returning from injury and his form is getting better. On ice against Boston College he looked confident and sure to make his presence known in the game.

The Big Green has a real chance of making the national tournament this season. Boston College had no easy time dispatching the Big Green. The top two forward lines are on par with the rest of the country and showed some real fight while getting the team back even two separate times during the game.

Next Up:

Bentley of Atlantic Hockey will be traveling to Hanover this Saturday for a non-conference tilt against the Big Green.

The Falcons are one of the top teams in Atlantic Hockey and bring a very formidable power play spearheaded by junior Brett Gensler. The forward is currently leading the nation in scoring with 21 points.

The game will pit two of the best special team units in the nation of against each other. Bentley’s aforementioned power play ranks first in the nation while Dartmouth penalty kill ranks second in the nation.

Notes:

Eric Neiley was out at left wing in the game against Boston College. Gaudet explained in the postgame press conference that he shouldn’t be out long, but due to the nature of school rules he could not tell us what the injury was.

Next week’s game against UVM will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network at 7pm on Wednesday.

If you are planning on going to the home games against Bentley and Vermont why not bring a toy to donate for the annual CHaD Toy Drive. As an added bonus for Big Green fans former Dartmouth NHL’ers  Nick Johnson , Ben Lovejoy, Tanner Glass , Lee Stempniak, and David Jones will all be in attendance at the UVM game ( Thanks Lockout). They will all be signing autographs following the game. 

Big Green In the Spotlight

Dartmouth is seeing significant attention in the national media. I will have to admit that it was hard for me not to write about them for College Hockey News last weekend.  Some have brought the question if this new found attention to the team is warranted?

The answer to that question will likely not be known till the end of the long and grueling ECAC Hockey season, but the team certainly has a case for itself.  This past weekend's victories against RPI and Union really signify that something special is going on with the Big Green. 

Check out some of the stories!

My piece from College Hockey News about the Union game

USCHO's TMQ features Dartmouth this week

Hockey On Campus had Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet on air

Fellow CHN writer Josh Seguin has Dartmouth ranked first in his ECAC Power Rankings

Gaudet was also on USCHO Live! this week

NBC's Joe Yerdon wrote about the Big Green for his Back to Class feature

It is an exciting time in the North Country right now. The weekend road swing with Colgate and Cornell will be another big test. If Dartmouth takes both games it will make the match up next weekend against Boston College huge. 

Dartmouth Posts Two Wins Over Yale and Brown

Big Green Post a 7-4 Victory Against Yale

Friday nights game against Yale was a story of total offensive domination for the Big Green.

The 7-4 result was Dartmouth's first win in 11 contests against the Bulldogs.

Head coach Bob Gaudett spoke with TGL following Friday's game and was very pleased with the flow of the game provided by his team,

“ It was an entertaining game,” exclaimed Gaudet. “it was an up and down battle. I thought we played very well.”

Goaltender Charles Grant earned his second start of the season. It may not have been the best performance, but his 35 saves were enough to get the second win of the season for the freshman despite letting in a tough early goal,

“ He deserved the chance from the whitewash of last game,” said Gaudet. “ those pucks sometimes go in. I thought he made some good saves to bounce back from it.”

Matt Lindblad, Eric Robinson, and Tyler Sikura all had two goals each. Sophomore Brendan McNally also added a goal.

Lindblad excelled on the ice both offensively and defensively. It seemed that the forward was consistently creating chances. This must be a good sign for the junior out of Winnetka IL, as he struggled with injuries towards the end of last season.

The game also featured the return of Dustin Walsh to the Dartmouth lineup. The senior forward missed all but eight games last season after having a fantastic start,

“We didn't want to over do it with him,” Gaudet said of Walsh. “ basically just game conditioning. We wanted to kind of put him in, get him on the power play, and get him some shifts. I thought he looked really good, so that is very promising for us.”

Walsh saw some limited ice time on Friday due to the nature of his recovery. His presence on the ice was felt, as he constantly was creating chances in the Yale end,

“ It felt pretty good,” Walsh stated. “ kind of started off in a limited role to ease me into it a little bit.”

Yale and Dartmouth tied just one weekend before in the Ivy Shootout. On Friday night the team struggled to find any defensive form. Head coach Keith Allain left goaltender Nick Maricic in for the whole game despite allowing seven goals,

“I thought that our guys fought really hard right up till the end,” said Allain. “but your not going to win many hockey game if you give up seven goals.”

The entire game seemed to be a show from the top forward line of Lindblad, Sikura, and Eric Neiley. For the time being this line will see significant time going forward.

Sikura's shorthanded goal in the second period stood out to be one of the top plays of the night,

“ It was a big point in the game. Yale never lets in off the gas pedal,” said Sikura. “ I knew we had to score. I was originally going to give it to Lindblad, but the defense kind of backed off of me and I saw an opening.”

Finally beating Yale is a weight lifted off of the shoulders of many Big Green players,

“ I have only been here for one year, but you get that feeling every time you are up on Yale,” said Sikura. “ we struggled a little bit in the third period, but we were able to pull it out. It feels awesome.”

Dartmouth Battles to a 2-1 Victory over Brown

The Big Green was met with a tougher match up against Brown on Saturday night.

Fighting back from an early first period shorthanded goal courtesy of Bears forward Massimo Lamacchia, Dartmouth found the back of the net twice to earn a 2-1 victory.

Despite constant pressure, the Big Green could not find an answer for Brown goaltender Marco DeFilippo till the end of the second period.

Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet went into the game knowing it would be a tough physical test for his team against a very defensive team,

“I thought that they came out with a lot of energy,” stated Gaudet. “ it was a way different game. They are a very good team defensively. Brendan (Whittet) has done a nice job and its a well coached team.”

Forward Eric Neiley had a beautiful shot from the point that slipped past DeFilippo. It was the Sophomore’s first goal of the season and a catalyst for the third period of play.

The game winning goal was sparked by some solid play from Eric Robinson, as the forward stole a puck on his own blue line to earn a two on one with fellow forward Brandon McNally. Robinson slotted home a cross-ice pass for the game winning goal,

“ We just kept battling. That is a really good team and they work really hard,” said Robinson. “ we struggled a little bit early on. It just showed how we worked really hard throughout the game and stuck with it.”

Cab Morris earned the start in goal a night after freshman Charles Grant looked a little shaky between the pipes. Brown did not have a huge offensive outburst, but they did test Morris on a few occasions. It seems the for now the junior goaltender has the number one spot on the team,

“ Cab Morris played great tonight and made key saves at key times,” said Gaudet. “ I like the depth of our team. We have a few good players that our out of the lineup right now and the guys are finding a way.”

The victory makes the Big Green one of two teams that remain undefeated in division one. The other team happens to be fellow ECAC school Cornell.

The Big Green will be at home this weekend against RPI and Union. Gaudet feels that both teams are solid and is glad his team has home ice this weekend,

“RPI is a really good team and we got them first. 18 full scholarships and you can expect a good team,” stated Gaudet. “ Union is obviously a Frozen Four player from last year. Two really good teams and I am glad we are home to start. We had a really good home weekend to start the ECAC season and I appreciate the crowd support.”

Union dominated league play last season on its way to a Frozen Four appearance. The Dutchman will be without a top defensemen in Mat Bodie, as he suffered an injury over the weekend.

Robinson understands the test his team will face, but is assured that the preparation for the game will be no different,

“They are obviously a good team,” said Robinson. “ they had a great year last year, but we aren't going to change anything this week. We are preparing the same way we did this week and the same as we did last week.”

Dartmouth Wins the Ivy Shootout

Hey guys! I was covering Union for College Hockey News this weekend, but I figured I would write up a small recap of the Big Green. I will be at Thompson for at least one game this weekend so expect a bigger recap with quotes after the weekend of games. 

                                              Dartmouth Wins the Ivy Shootout

The Dartmouth Big Green opened its season last weekend with the Ivy Shootout at Brown.

This installment of the annual tournament between Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Yale saw the Big Green come out on top. The games that occur within the tournament count as non-conference results.

On Friday afternoon Dartmouth lined up against Yale in the opening match up  The Big Green earned a come from behind tie courtesy of a late power play goal from Eric Robinson.

Cab Morris had a quiet night in goal, as he only faced 20 shots. In fact Dartmouth controlled much of the play by putting constant pressure on Yale goaltender Nick Maricic. Offensively the team had 37 shots on Maricic.

Even though the result will go down as a tie for both teams, the Big Green won the shootout to advance to the championship game against Brown. The result is a big one for Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet. His teams have struggled to get results against Yale in recent years despite keeping the scores close.

Saturday night featured the Championship match up between Dartmouth and Brown. This contest was another offensive domination by the Big Green, as they easily won 4-0 over the Bears.

The championship game featured a strong showing from goaltender Charles Grant. Facing 24 shots, the freshman earned a shutout in his first career game for the Big Green. With the performance  Grant becomes the first goaltender in 76 years to record a shutout in his first start.

Robinson added another power play goal to his weekend tally, as he opened the scoring in the second period. Junior forward Matt Linbald also had two assists on the night.

Notes:

Senior forward Dustin Walsh did not feature on the weekend for the Big Green. Walsh is still recovering from surgery and his return will not be rushed by Gaudet.

Dartmouth faces both Yale and Brown again this weekend at Thompson Arena in Hanover. The game will be the opening of ECAC league play.