Game Gab - Nightly Post-Game Analysis
Come here after the games for analysis and insights from CHN Staff members.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
Union 4, Dartmouth 1 - Friday, March 15, 2013
Forward Daniel Carr scored twice, junior defenseman Mat Bodie had a goal and an assist, and junior goaltender Troy Grosenick made 31 saves, including two breakaway stops, to lead Union. Dartmouth, which was pushed to three games by Harvard in the first round, will have to do it again if it wants to extend its season and give itself a chance at the NCAAs. The win for Union, inched it up to 15 in the Pairwise, which would be good enough for the NCAAs, but the Dutchmen can hardly afford a slip.
Union got off to a quick start, but Dartmouth seemed to weather the storm and tied the game. But Union began taking control at the end of the second and into the third period, to take a 1-0 series lead. "We had a couple of breakaways and guys made good plays, and (Grosenick) made good saves, and it was a good battle," Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet said. "The game is about winning battles. I thought we had a really good second period and they made a good play -- we'd like to have it back, on the second goal. ... It's just a game of bounces."
Said Union coach Rick Bennett, "It's easy to pick out the goals ... but (Matt) Wilkins did a really good job down low, physicality, creating a lot of room. ... You just never know after a bye - those guys came out with a sense of urgency ... that was huge for us tonight."
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Dartmouth 6, Harvard 3 - Sunday, March 10, 2013
Dartmouth salvaged its season by coming back to win games 2 and 3 of this series. The wins don't really help its standing in the Pairwise that much, since they are against non-TUCs, and the Friday loss mitigates the wins in its RPI. But at least the Big Green gave themselves a chance to continue the season. It will play at Union next weekend, a team it has never met in the playoffs. Both of those teams are on the NCAA bubble, and need two wins. Even with two, there are no guarantees for the winner, but the loser of that series will surely be eliminated.
Harvard ... what can't you say? A terrible season, but let's give coach Ted Donato credit for this ... the Crimson pulled themselves back from the lowest depths in mid-season, to play much better in the last six weeks. They could've folded the tents, and didn't. And with all the mid-season turmoil of players being suspended amid that academic scandal, Donato probably buys himself more time as coach. But you have to figure he'll be on the hot seat now. A good guy, and a loyal Harvard alum with a distinguished playing career ... but despite some "moments," the program has gone backwards under his watch.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Dartmouth 4, Harvard 1 - Saturday, March 9, 2013
Dartmouth responded after Friday's loss, and will try to avoid being the next ECAC team to be victimized by a 12 seed.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Quinnipiac 4, Dartmouth 1 - Saturday, March 2, 2013
Dartmouth's tie with Princetron on Friday was a killer, because then it had to come back and face the top team in the country, and it didn't go too well. As a result, Dartmouth has dropped to 19th in the Pairwise, and is now in serious jeopardy of not making the NCAAs after such a promising first half. It's still a young team, relatively, and still has room to grow, but it looks like it might be another "close but not close enough" season, unless it can win the next four in a row. But that won't be easy. First up is two against Harvard in the first round of the playoffs, and Harvard is playing relatively well right now.
Meanwhile, Quinnipiac lost to Harvard in overtime on Friday, which left a lot of people shaking their head and again questioning the validity of the Bobcats' top spot in the Pairwise. That will of course continue unless they win a national championship, so it's a no-win, and QU needs to just tune it out. It was not a good game against Harvard, clearly, but with nothing to play for, and even the top overall seed in the NCAAs all but wrapped up, you can give QU a pass. And it definitely responded in this one against a good Dartmouth team, outshooting the Big Green, who had a ton to play for, 42-22 in their building. Jordan Samuels-Thomas (13) led the way with two goals.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Dartmouth 3, St. Lawrence 2 - Saturday, February 23, 2013
A sorely-needed win for Dartmouth, which lost Friday to Clarkson. These teams effectively flip-flopped spots in the volatile Pairwise based on this game alone. St. Lawrence made a big leap up to No. 15 as of Saturday morning, riding a nice hot streak after defeating Harvard on Friday. Meanwhile, Dartmouth's loss knocked it right off the bubble. But this flipped things around -- with Dartmouth back on the right side of the bubble and SLU falling back down to the 20s. Not to mention this pulls Dartmouth back within one point of St. Lawrence in the tightly-compacted ECAC standings, with bunches of teams fighting for spots 2-3-4.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Rensselaer 3, Dartmouth 0 - Saturday, February 2, 2013
At the annual Big Red Freakout, Rensselaer showed up with a determined effort and got a sweep of its weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard. Friday, it held hapless Harvard to just 11 shots. Saturday, it faced a Dartmouth team that got a strong tie on Friday, but sorely needed a win to keep itself on the NCAA bubble. Instead, the Engineers took charge, getting 28 saves from Jason Kasdorf, who was back from injury this weekend and picked up where he left off. RPI has won 4-of-5, and has moved within a game of .500.
Dartmouth, meanwhile, continues to struggle, relatively speaking, since its high-water mark -- a win over New Hampshire during its holiday tournament. Dartmouth lost the championship of that tournament, and has gone 3-6-1 since. Dartmouth needs to string together some wins to get a foot back in the NCAA picture.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Dartmouth 5, Clarkson 1 - Saturday, January 26, 2013
A sorely-needed bounceback win for Dartmouth, which gave up a third-period lead to St. Lawrence on Friday. Dartmouth has put itself on the NCAA bubble, where it has been so many times before, only to fall off of it. The Big Green were in great shape at New Year's, but have gone 3-5 since then. They have their work cut out for them now, and play at Union and RPI next weekend. It might be time for the Big Green to stick with junior Cab Morris in goal.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Yale 4, Dartmouth 2 - Saturday, January 19, 2013
Yale got two power-play goals against the nation's top penalty kill, and won a huge game against Dartmouth. The Big Green really needed this one to complete a sweep of the weekend, and get back on the winning path, and back up high in the Pairwise, following a little slump. But the split means Dartmouth is hanging on now, near the bubble. Still plenty of games to go, of course.
Yale, though, is now No. 5 in the Pairwise. I'm not sure many people expected them to get right back in the mix as far as the NCAAs were concerned, after dropping off last season following its three-year run in the tournament. But here the Bulldogs are, right back in the mix. “Getting two power-play goals was really big,” Yale coach Keith Allain said. “They had only given up four power play goals all year, and that’s ridiculous.” Yale is unbeaten in five games now. “Our focus was there. We knew we were going to have to be really good tonight. It was a hard-fought victory, and this is the best Dartmouth team I’ve faced,” said Allain.
The Bulldogs got on the board 4:36 into the game with a goal earned by a pretty play. First the puck bounced off of something near the Dartmouth bench and was scooped up by Antoine Laganiere, who sent it across for Clinton Bourbonais. The junior center skated in, faked a shot, and sent it back for defenseman Tommy Fallen, who was crashing the net. Fallen one-timed it from the middle of the slot past Cab Morris' glove. “We’ve been talking about the transition from the neutral zone,” said Fallen. “I saw an opportunity when Lags had the puck. I jumped in the play as the high man and had a great chance to score a goal. This was definitely one of our best weekends of the year.”
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Princeton 2, Dartmouth 1 - Saturday, January 5, 2013
Oh Dartmouth. We want to believe this is the year Dartmouth will finally make the NCAAs, something it hasn't done since 1980, when current coach Bob Gaudet was a player. Gaudet and his staff have done tremendous things since taking over the program in 1997, a lot of wins and churning out numerous good NHL players -- but they have been agonizingly close to the NCAAs a few times only to fall just short. The team hit a lull the last few years, but was building back up to this season. The Big Green had a tremendous win over New Hampshire last week, and was sitting at 8-2-2, and in the top 4 of the Pairwise. But Dartmouth couldn't close the deal in its hosted tournament, and in a penalty-riddled game, lost to UMass.
That was a chance to really put a stamp on things, but still Dartmouth could say it was in good shape. Then it lost a OT heartbreaker at Quinnipiac on Friday. OK, it's Quinnipiac. Now -- this is officially a rough patch, and Dartmouth has dropped to No. 11 in the Pairwise. Still OK if it can right the ship, but far from a done deal.
Dartmouth has been impressive this season, and really, it was good this weekend. Quinnipiac is good, obviously, and Princeton played a tough, smart game. Dartmouth actually played pretty well, but Princeton was tough around its own net, Princeton goalie Mike Condon played great, and Dartmouth was victimized by a really bad goal that turned a 1-0 lead into a 1-1 game and gave Princeton life. Princeton dumped it in from the blue line towards the net on a line change. No one was within 100 feet of the Dartmouth net -- except defenseman Geoff Ferguson, who inexplicably tried to knock the puck down with his skate as it was going about 2 feet wide. It went off his skate and in.
Oh Dartmouth, hang in there. This is a good team.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Dartmouth 4, New Hampshire 1 - Sunday, December 30, 2012
Dartmouth, being an Ivy League team, had played just 11 games coming into this tournament. So it was hard to tell with the sample size what to make of the Big Green. You wanted to believe this was finally a team that Bob Gaudet could get to the NCAAs. He's been so close so many times since taking over for his alma mater in 1997, but the program still hasn't been there since Gaudet was a player. ... Now, they're not there yet, but this was the game you could point to that could really set them on that path. No skirting around the bubble like they had in years past, only to fall short with a loss in the ECAC semis or what not. No, a win over New Hampshire, and Dartmouth is in the driver's seat.
So going out there and handling in-state rival UNH is huge in so many ways for this program. There's a lot of names that aren't well known to people outside New Hampshire, but who have a lot of talent that is busting through this year.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Boston College 6, Dartmouth 3 - Saturday, November 24, 2012
Dartmouth has been one of the pleasant surprises of the ECAC so far this season, and looked tough with Boston College, 3-3 in the third period. But the skill of BC, and in particular Johnny Gaudreau, caught up with the Big Green. Gaudreau, who scored earlier in the game, set up the game winner for Pat Mullane early in the third period. He then set up another before ending the game with an empty netter, and a total of five points. That prompted Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet to liken Gaudreau to Paul Kariya, and he very well may be right.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Dartmouth 1, Cornell 1 - Saturday, November 17, 2012
Dartmouth saw its unbeaten record take its first hit Friday after a shocking loss at Colgate, blowing a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3. Cornell, meanwhile, came in not having won in its last four games, and losing Friday to heated rival Harvard. So both teams needed a win -- but neither got it. This hurts Cornell more, as it's now 0-3-2 in the last five, following a 3-0 start. Even more painful was that it allowed a goal with 52 seconds left in regulation, as Dartmouth's Mike Keenan scored with the extra attacker.
Cornell's feel-good start is far in the rear-view mirror now, and it needs to right the ship quickly with Michigan coming in to Madison Square Garden next weekend.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Dartmouth 3, Union 2 - Saturday, November 10, 2012
These teams could be the class of the league this season -- with others, of course, vying for that honor as well in what is shaping up to be a highly-competitive ECAC season. For Union, this was expected. For Dartmouth, it was not. But no matter how far down Dartmouth was picked in preseason rankings, there was always that potential, to keen observers, for the Big Green to put things together. They have a lot of talent up front, talent that kinda went under the radar in recent years, due in part to injuries. But after both teams put up easy wins Friday, it was Dartmouth that got the upper hand and remained the nation's only unbeaten team. Dartmouth hasn't played a team from outside the conference yet, but nevertheless, it has looked good.
Eric Robinson has had a breakout season so far, and put Dartmouth up 2-0 in the second. Then Matt Linblad scored in the closing second of the period. Union scored two early third-period goals, but Dartmouth held on behind 28 saves from Cab Morris. ... Union suffered a setback last night when All-American goalie Troy Grosenick was injured, apparently hurting his ankle and he's expected out 3-4 weeks. So Colin Stevens stepped in, and played fine -- not necessarily the reason for the loss.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Dartmouth 2, Brown 1 - Saturday, November 3, 2012
Every year there are sleeper teams, and this very well could be one of them. Dartmouth still hasn't lost in four games, and opens the ECAC season with a weekend sweep. The Big Green have a number of talented forwards that have been in and out of the lineup in the last couple of seasons, but if everyone stays healthy, this is a very good, deep team. Eric Robinson scored his fifth goal in just four games, getting the game winner in the third. He had 12 goals last season, going under the radar, but is busting out this year. ... The highlight for Brown -- college hockey's First Teamer on the All-Name Team, Massimo Lamacchia, picked up a shorthanded goal in the first period.
Union 5, Dartmouth 2 - Saturday, March 16, 2013
Kevin Sullivan had two goals and an assist and junior goaltender Troy Grosenick made 28 saves, as Union swept the series with Dartmouth. The Dutchmen advance to the ECAC semis, and sit squarely on the NCAA bubble. One win at least in the two games in Atlantic City should be enough, barring an array of upsets elsewhere. Senior forward Kyle Bodie, sophomore defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and junior forward Josh Jooris added goals for Union, which jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period and never let Dartmouth get closer than two goals the rest of the way.
For Dartmouth, it's yet another post-mortem. This is a young team which should be good next year, but this season it was right on the cusp again, and couldn't get over the hump. That has been the theme way more often than not in Bob Gaudet's 15-year tenure with his alma mater, and the program still hasn't made the NCAAs since Gaudet was a player in the early '80s. "The third one hurt us tonight," Gaudet said. "But after that, I told the boys we need to just go out and win each faceoff and each shift and get back in this one. I really thought we battled hard in the face of being down to a very talented Union team and I'm extremely proud of their effort tonight and all season."
Said Union coach Rick Bennett: "People say we've had an up-and-down season. Well, we still have 19 wins, that's pretty good. ... The guys were paying attention to the system, and guys made some big-time plays. It was fun to watch."
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