HOCKEY
If there's a youth movement, rebirth or whatever afoot in basketball, the same thing is true with Dartmouth's hockey picture. A year ago, Ab Oakes played the season with two seniors. This winter he has four.
The revitalization of Indian hockey was never more apparent than in the opening game when what seemed to be certain defeat at the hands of Norwich University was turned into a 5-4 victory.
Next came a 5-3 win over Middlebury and then a disappointing but not disastrous loss at Harvard, 6-1.
The 2-1 record was a prelude to the first visit by a Dartmouth hockey team into the State of Ohio where the Indians competed in the second annual Cleveland Cup tournament at the Cleveland Arena. The opposition for the December 17-19 conclave included familiar names like Bowdoin, McGill, and Western Ontario and some unfamiliar ones like Ohio University and Bowling Green. The latter institutions, plus colleges like Notre Dame, are among the leaders in the development of hockey in the Midwest.
Oakes, now in his fourth season as successor to the late Eddie Jeremiah, figures his team will improve on last year's 7-14-2 record but it will be a tough struggle since there are few dates on the schedule when the Indians will enter the game as the favorite. Still, things are looking up. The junior line of Ken Davidson and wings Jeff Kosak and Dave Hill is intact, and three sophomores making themselves felt are Mike Turner from Melrose, Mass., goalie Dale Dunning from Islington, Ont., and defenseman Don Anderson from Framingham, Mass.
For a change, Oakes has some depth to take the pressure off the first lines. Turner is the center on the second line. He was the leading freshman scorer in the East last year with 22 goals and 42 assists and gathered Dartmouth's first goal of the season against Norwich. He scored two more against Middlebury and added a pair of assists to rank as Dartmouth's top scorer after three games. Against Middlebury, Turner came through to score the goals that overcame the Panthers' 3-1 lead and set the stage for Hill to score the go-ahead and clinching goals. The Middlebury game was Hill's debut for the season. The junior wing underwent shoulder surgery in September and sat out the bulk of pre-season practice. His return gives Oakes a seasoned line. Davidson is a street-fighting sort of center who was at his best when he picked off a Norwich pass and stormed from his own blue line to score the tying goal with 55 seconds left in the game.
Harvard and Cornell dominated the Ivy race last year and it looks like they will do it again this fall, although Brown is making early season sounds of strength. The Crimson scored twice in each period against Dartmouth at Watson Rink but the Indians turned in a solid effort despite the setback. Davidson got the only Dartmouth goal.
Dartmouth has shown the most improvement this season on defense where Captain Denis O'Neill from Greens Farms, Conn., has teamed with Vince Orchard, a junior from Winnipeg. The second defensive pair is Anderson and junior Mike Barle. Both pairs have skated well and provided more protection for the goalie than was available a year ago.
Dunning, a sharp performer as a freshman, moved into the nets from the start of the season when senior Tom Schuster from Edina, Minn., suffered a broken finger a few days before the opener. His early efforts demonstrate that Oakes has two reliable men in the nets.
"We made better progress during pre-season practice than ever before," said Oakes. "Our speed is improved, we have better size and we have experience." Realistically, the record should improve but it's going to be a tough struggle. Any way you cut it, though, things are looking up.
Jim Masker, 6-10 sophomore center, hasbeen one of the primary reasons for theearly-season success of the court team.
Hockey captain Denis O'Neill '70 hopefully has shaken off the injuries thatplagued his career as a defenseman.
