Big Green Teams

A year ago, as Dartmouth's hockey team headed into the final weeks of the season, the Green was really on a tear. This year, the record is better but there have been moments when the performance of Grant Standbrook's team would bring tears to your eyes.

Now, that may sound a bit extreme. Standbrook has a good team, one that is a legitimate candidate for the ECAC postseason playoffs - most of the time. That's where the tears come in.

Last season it was case of a slow start and a break-neck finish, one that brought Dartmouth to the brink of selection for the ECAC playoffs. The Green didn't make it.

Now, they show the ability to make the grade but they have a somewhat exasperating characteristic, too, that finds threads of inconsistency sewn through the season.

With five games to play, Dartmouth had an 11-7-1 record. One of the wins was a forfeit from Boston University, a team that beat the Green 6-2 in the opening game of the season but was later forced to forfeit eleven victories because a player was ruled ineligible by the ECAC.

Eight teams are picked for the playoffs (which, incidentally, seem to hold more interest than the Ivy League championship). At this juncture, there are four or five that seem reasonably certain of selection. Then, there are eight or so that have a crack at the remaining berths. Dartmouth falls into this gaggle.

"We look at overall record against Division One opponents and then analyze performance against the other contending teams," said Seaver Peters, Dartmouth's athletic director who also is chairman of the ECAC's hockey tournament selection committee. "It's a tough process but it usually works out to be pretty fair."

What makes Dartmouth's record perplexing this season is this: The Green has won games it wasn't expected to win - and lost games it wasn't expected to lose. For instance: Dartmouth's last two wins and a tie came against teams that currently stand at or near the top of the ECAC standings - Cornell, Pennsylvania, and Harvard.

The Green also lost to Cornell and to Boston College (a victim in December during the ECAC Christmas Tournament at Boston). They've lost, too, to St. Lawrence and Yale. Both of these teams were expected to fall before Dartmouth's attack but the message didn't penetrate.

"It's hard to say why things have gone as they have," said Standbrook. ''One piece of our problem has been inconsistency on defense. We get a good series of shifts of manpower and then we run into problems."

One thing is certain: No team is going to blow Dartmouth off the ice. The years when Harvard and Cornell ran roughshod over the Green seem to be buried. This team is exciting, even if it is inconsistent, and the measure of excitement is the fact that since early January Davis Rink has been sold out for every home game except Norwich.

There's been excitement like this:

Against Penn, as Dartmouth won, 5-3, senior center Bill Berry banged home two goals within 12 seconds late in the second period. It regained the lead for Dartmouth and set up a win in one of the finest battles of evenly matched teams this season.

At Cornell, Dartmouth had a 2-1 lead until the middle of the third period when the Big Red scored three times in less than two minutes to pull out a 5-3 win.

The 4-2 loss at St. Lawrence was disappointing. Sandwiched between the visit to Cornell and the Red's return engagement at Davis Rink, the Larries jumped to a 4-0 lead early in the second period. Fred Riggall then scored two rapid-fire goals before that period ended but Dartmouth couldn't keep it going in the third period.

Cornell's visit to Hanover was reminiscent of last year's game that Dartmouth won in overtime, 3-2. Cornell scored first but Bob Nuffort, Bob Hayes and Peter Quinn gave Dartmouth a 3-1 lead after two periods.

It was a superb game marked by an exceptional performance from -junior defenseman Paul Dixon who did everything except make ice between periods. Cornell's second goal in the final minute was incidental as Peter Proulx took a solid step toward repeating as the All-Ivy League goalie.

Then came the letdown. The Green had its opportunity to solidify its position in the ECAC picture with home games against Boston College and Yale. It was an opportunity that went out the window and only the cooperation of other contending teams in suffering defeats saved the day.

When Riggall got his second goal of the night against BC (and the 50th of his Dartmouth career), the Green had a 4-2 lead. Then came one of those lapse periods. The Eagles, who had lost only once since the December setback to Dartmouth, scored three quickies and held on for a 6-5 win.

Yale always seems to be a nemesis during the Winter Carnival weekend and 1973 was no different. The Elis scored five seconds after the opening faceoff when Larry Bisaro split the defense and caught Proulx all alone (the goal matched the New England record for fastest score off the opening faceoff, a mark set by Dartmouth's Bill Harrison in 1942 and matched by Joe Riley for the Green in 1949). That set the tempo and when it was over the Elis had netted their second win of the season over the Green, 5-3.

There was little joy after that game but things perked up measurably four nights later at Harvard. The Crimson, topranked in the East and battling with Cornell for the Ivy lead, took a 2-0 lead after two periods.

Howie Hampton got Dartmouth's first goal in the third period and Riggall rammed home a rebound of Captain Dana Johnson's shot with 49 seconds left in regulation time to produce the tie. Dartmouth dominated the overtime but couldn't convert. Proulx was in top form after a shaky day against Yale.

At that point, however, a tie tasted virtually as good as a win.

As this is read, the playoffs will be history. A year ago, Dartmouth had a scent at post-season play but lost it. This time they have it again. Hopefully, the Green won't lose it again.

Peter Quinn (left) ana Bob Hayes (20) pursue the puck in the 3-2 upset victory overCornell. Each contributed a goal. (Photo by Rusty Martin '68)