Roving Goalie

Tom Wahman '60 is perhaps best known to the Dartmouth campus and to the alumni body for his goal-tending abilities in Davis Rink and various other hockey arenas in the Northeast. Standing a thin six feet tall and weighing a mere 150 pounds, Wahman indeed has a lot of goal to tend, but it can be said that he has a lean and hungry look and is dangerous. Tom's roving style is something that keeps Hanover fans constantly gasping, and though he attributes all this freedom to Ryan Ostebo and Rusty Ingersoll, his defensemen, something must be said for his speed and the sixth sense that gets him in the right place at the right moment. Tom is particularly quick and agile, and his tendency to roam perhaps is due to the fact that last season he played forward for Coach Eddie Jeremiah. He must have enjoyed it for he has recently been dubbed, by a few nervous fans, "the goalie who wants to play forward."

Tom, a hockey product of St. Paul, Minn., became interested in Dartmouth through the good works of John Faegre '33 and Rod Anderson '59, a neighbor for many years. His record at the College has been outstanding. Besides hockey, Tom is this year's Palaeopitus chairman, is a member of the Undergraduate Council and its Judiciary Committee, president of the Dartmouth Christian Union, member of the Dartmouth Athletic Council, and a member of Beta Theta Pi. All this, plus the chores of a philosophy-religion major, hardly makes Wahman a dull boy.

Of these many and varied activities, Tom feels that his association with the DCU and George Kalbfleisch, its adviser, has been his most meaningful experience at the College. His particular bailiwick here has been the Sunday Evening Group talks, familiar to Dartmouth for a number of years now. Through the DCU, Tom became interested and then actively engaged in student government. Another DCU project making its debut this year is a hockey clinic for Hanover youngsters. Tom, Rusty and Ryan will head up this program scheduled for several Sundays throughout the winter.

Just for the purpose of being timely, this article should make mention of the face mask Wahman wears as goalie, since these are the current rage in hockey circles. Tom's was the first form-fitting mask being used in intercollegiate play and was the brainchild of Coach Jeremiah. Tom was a bit apprehensive about it at first, feeling that it might limit him in the nets. However, after steady use he now finds that he likes it and it does alleviate the fears of facial injury, so common in the goalie's position.

Of Eddie Jeremiah, Wahman says, "He is a great deal more than a coach ... a very real personal friend." Tom feels that such hockey coaches do not exist in the mid-west. Victories to this team are very much team victories; there are no individual stars and the winning ways are often attributed to gumption and hustle. Tom feels that this added stimulus, which causes the team members to put out to the very limits of their capabilities, comes only from "Jerry."

Next year Tom Wahman plans to enter the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He is as yet undecided about the ministry but hopes to make up his mind after an exposure to the active field work program at Union.

Tom Wahman '60