1952

In our era hockey was a traditional Dartmouth sports specialty. The 1947 team had gone undefeated and was declared national champion. Subsequent teams had plenty of star players but the competition was steadily getting keener. Our rink was natural ice while others were getting artificial ice rinks. As each season came closer coach Eddie Jeremiah had constantly to tour the ponds in the area looking for ice hard enough to support practice. Our senior year team played its first game having had only four skating practices. So it was getting tough to put together a winning season—as seniors our team went 5-18.

We thought we'd call some of our '52 players and get their recollections.

John Grocott, team captain, retired from a brokerage career and lives in Newbury, New Hampshire, where he's very much into gardening and landscaping on his five acres John was a first team Ail-American and, as teammates all recall, was a natural leader and best player. He recollects his Dartmouth hockey days with great enthusiasm. "I loved to play hockey. Even the drills were fun. I really liked being on ice!"

John's also very enthusiastic about presentday hockey at Dartmouth, "We have a crackerjack coach and the program is going in a very positive direction...and, of course, the women's hockey teams have just been magnificent."

We caught up with Hank Waters at his Quechee, Vermont, summer home. What's he think about Dartmouth hockey when he played? "A lot of fun but a lot of hard work, too," he says. "I got married at Christmas of my senior year and then spent my honeymoon at an RPI tournament in Troy, New York."

Jack Boyle was recruited to play hockey at Dartmouth. He wasn't always on the starting line but, he says, "I certainly learned a lot from Eddie Jeremiah. He constantly exhorted us to 'Keep your head up and keep fighting.' I never forgot that instruction and it helped me through various tight spots in life. Jeremiah's coaching was a great educational experience and for me it was life- changing."

Joe Scully has separate Maine summer and winter homes. We caught him at one of them and he remembers how, as a sophomore, Coach Jeremiah put him in the first line with star upperclass players Billy Dow and Cliff Harrison. Joe wasn't supposed to shoot—just to backcheck for the stars. Joe must have done a good job because he won three hockey letters—along with three each for soccer and lacrosse—and ended up with the Wentworth Prize for scholar-athlete. To Joes surprise the prize wasn't a cup or a medal. It was a check for 500 bucks

His teammates all think that Dick McMahon was an absolutely outstanding goaltender. Comments such as "the greatest," "just outstanding" and "the best goalie of any team we ever played" are voiced. The New York Herald Tribune said that McMahon was "as near perfect as any college goalie in the country." Dick's a widower and a still- practicing attorney in Rome, New York. About his hockey years: "I loved the sport and I loved our Dartmouth team."

Check us out at www.dartmouth.org/ classes/52.

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