{"id":29954,"date":"2008-10-04T15:06:54","date_gmt":"2008-10-04T20:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2008\/10\/04\/200809-dartmouth-season-preview\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:15","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:15","slug":"200809-dartmouth-season-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2008\/10\/04\/200809-dartmouth-season-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2008-09 Dartmouth Season Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
Offense<\/b><\/p>\n
For such a rough season, the Green had a surprisingly robust offense. The Hanover hotshots put up over three goals a game overall, and finished third in ECAC Hockey with 64 in ’06-07. <\/p>\n
Johnson (10-25-35), Wyman (15-15-30) and Grecu (7-14-21) were certainly talented players, holding spots 1, 2 and 4 in the Dartmouth scoring race by season’s end. While they will leave a considerable hole in the Big Green offense, the remainder of the front lines are pretty much intact. <\/p>\n
“I like the depth that we have at all positions,” said coach Bob Gaudet. “I like our team a lot. We’re going to be young, and there’s no way around that … there are no marquee players up front, but I like what we’ve got.”<\/p>\n
The downside is obviously the loss of those three point-machines, and that’s a known quantity. The upside, however, is far more variable: a year’s experience may ignite a still-young-but-surging offense, or the team’s production could fall further than the Old Man of the Mountain. <\/p>\n
Defenseman Evan Stephens is the team’s leading returning scorer with five goals and 17 assists in his freshman campaign. Junior Joe Gaudet — the coach’s son — was the only underclassman to score 10 goals last year, and sophomore Kyle Reeds (8-11-19) showed great promise in his first taste of the college game.<\/p>\n
The more influential Gaudet also praised senior center Connor Shields.<\/p>\n
“He got hurt midseason and missed the second half. He was our best faceoff man, our most experienced center, and he’s coming back healthy with great speed and potential,” said Coach.<\/p>\n
Newcomer Doug Jones “played quite well in the USHL, and has a track record with good offensive ability,” said Gaudet. Of Jones’ new classmates Troy Mattila, Nik Walsh and Paul Lee, Gaudet said, “all have good size and can shoot the puck. They have good ability, and bring different things.”<\/p>\n
Lee, in particular, is six-foot-three and 210 pounds. “He did a pretty good job of scoring at the prep level,” said Gaudet, “but his role is probably going to evolve here. He’s a big, strong guy.”<\/p>\n
Defense<\/b><\/p>\n
Stephens clearly leads the way. <\/p>\n
“He’s an all-around kind of player,” said Gaudet. “He can make a pass or lug it out himself.”<\/p>\n