Campaign Begins Against Old Foe Dartmouth

The Harvard and Dartmouth men’s hockey teams open their seasons with new faces in net tomorrow at the Bright Hockey Center.

The Crimson’s Dov Grumet-Morris and the Big Green’s Dan Yacey both graduated last spring, and so neither team will have an entrenched starter between the pipes—but neither has room for error, either. Both ECACHL powerhouses want the leg-up that a season-opening win would bring.

For Harvard, the loss of Grumet-Morris—who started almost four full seasons—created an opening in the starting lineup that a pair of backups could fill. While Grumet-Morris’s 1.63 goals-against average (GAA) of last season will be hard to match, senior John Daigneau and junior Justin Tobe will certainly try.

The two split time in Harvard’s 4-3 exhibition loss to McGill last Friday. Daigneau skated the first 30 minutes and stopped all nine shots he faced, while Tobe played the second 30 minutes, stopping nine shots and allowing four goals.

“The coaches feel that both of us [Daigneau and Tobe] are good enough to split,” Daigneau said. “Dov did a lot of work last year, which was great. At the same time, I think a chance to have two fresh goalies whenever you want and to know that you have two guys that are capable is the ideal situation.”

The Crimson starter had not been announced as of Tuesday practice, during which Daigneau did not skate, though he declined to explain why. His performance against McGill likely earned him an edge, though.

For the Big Green, junior Sean Samuel, sophomore Mike Devine, and freshman Dan Goulding are all competing for the starting spot. Samuel saw limited action in the 2004-2005 season, when he played in 12 games and collected a 2.82 goals against average. Devine only saw one half of action on the entire season.

Harvard made a living by its defense last year, and it returns four of six starters. Led by captain Peter Hafner, the corps hopes to compensate for the graduations of two mainstays in Noah Welch and Ryan Lannon. And junior Dylan Reese, who scored a last-minute game-winner over Dartmouth at home last year, will help on both sides of the ice. He notched seven goals his sophomore season.

The Crimson defense will keep Big Green forward Mike Ouellette in the crosshairs. The captain recorded a hat trick in his team’s exhibition win over McGill last Saturday. Harvard’s blueliner’s are all too familiar with Ouellette, who scored the winning goal with 31.2 seconds left in overtime in Dartmouth’s 2-1 win over Harvard last season in Hanover, N.H.

Ouellette will shoulder much of the offense load due to the graduation of Lee Stempniak—who led the team with 43 points (14 goals and 29 assists) last year—and the departure of Hugh Jessiman to the New York Rangers system.

Ouellette will be aided by senior Eric Przepiorka (15 goals, 16 assists) and sophomore Nick Johnson (18 goals, 17 assists).

“They lost some big guns,” Daigneau said. “But, they still have a lot of guys returning from last year. They can still put the puck in the net. They’re still going to work. They might not have those guys that they rely on as much when they need big goals—those guys will come out of the woodwork as the season goes on. As of now, Ouellette is probably their biggest weapon coming back.”

Meanwhile, the Jon Pelle looked to pick up where he left off last season for the Crimson with his two-goal performance against McGill—both were tap-ins, vintage Pelle tallies. He, Kevin Du, Ryan Maki, and the rest will attempt to compensate for loss of graduates Tom Cavanagh and (10 goals, 19 assists) and Andrew Lederman (6 goals, 14 assists).

While many question marks remain, any game between the perennial league powers promises to be full of intriguing matchups and fierce rivalries. The teams split their two games last season, both 2-1 decisions.

“They’re a very good team—they’re one of the best teams we played last year—we had two great hockey games with them last year,” head coach Ted Donato said. “I’d be shocked if it wasn’t more of the same—a very hard-fought, tight, physical game with two teams that have a little but of everything.”

“It’s a nice opportunity,” he added. “We get them at home—we’re excited. I think we’re looking to get started off on the right foot, and there couldn’t be a better challenge ahead of us.

—Staff writer Julie R. S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty2@fas.harvard.edu.