As the Dartmouth men’s team opened its season this fall, it would be hard to blame Reid Cashman for not quite knowing what to expect.
The Big Green had forwards Luke Haymes (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Cooper Flinton (Tampa Bay Lightning) leave early to sign NHL contracts on top of graduating seven seniors who helped the team reach back-to-back ECAC Hockey championship weekends.
“Without a doubt, we lost so much leadership from last year,” said Cashman, who is in his sixth year at Dartmouth. “It was just a massive gap, so we weren’t sure what it would look like.”
Despite boasting a new-look roster, the Big Green haven’t skipped a beat. Dartmouth started the season on an 11-game win streak and was an overtime loss against New Hampshire away from being undefeated at Christmas.
They remain a top contender in the ECAC, sitting in third place as the postseason looms.
“We’ve been consistent that our expectation is truly to get better every day and be the best version of ourselves come March,” Cashman said. “That’s what we say on day one, so it eliminates focusing (on results). But a year ago, we brought so much back that we could almost slot guys in our lineup. … This year, it was wide-open for just about everybody to take an elevated role.”
Very few players besides former Thayer defenseman C.J. Foley (Hanover, Mass.) and Brunswick forward Hank Cleaves (Riverside, Conn.) could be considered to have a position locked down entering the season.
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Names on the line chart and near the top of the stat sheet have changed from one season to the next, but one key recruiting strategy that has helped fuel the program’s build does not appear to be changing any time soon: a long pipeline from the New England prep ranks.
The path is a natural one for all Ivy League programs, but the Big Green have found a great deal of talent through it. Foley and Cleaves are two of nine players with ties to the region’s rich prep scene, six of whom spent at least three seasons with their respective programs.
Associate head coach Jason Tapp — a former Boston University goaltender who previously coached at Union — sees it as a perfect match for Dartmouth.
“If you’re going to prep school, academics is important in your life and in your family’s life. That’s obviously attractive for Dartmouth and any of the Ivies. And there’s talent there,” Tapp said. “You go through rosters over the years, and before they get to junior, where did they play? Often, it was a New England prep school. There’s talent there, and I think there will always be talent there. It’s just a matter of finding it.”
Cashman, Tapp and the entire Dartmouth staff have attracted and developed talent at a strong rate. The recent class of professional signees alone is evidence of that.
But the head coach’s track record dates back to his time at Quinnipiac, helping the Bobcats to two Frozen Four appearances in five seasons as an assistant to his former coach, Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.). That experience led him to the NHL, where he coached the likes of New England-born John Carlson while working with Washington’s defensemen and penalty kill.
It was all music to Foley’s ears. Dartmouth’s star defender prepped for four seasons at Thayer and one in the BCHL before matriculating to the Hanover, N.H., campus.
“I just remember talking to ‘Cash,’ and he blew me away (with) his knowledge of the game, his résumé,” Foley said. “It was a little bit similar to Tony Amonte (coaching me) at Thayer. He wants to help you develop as a player. It didn’t seem like a place where I was going to go and hit a wall. He advertised Dartmouth as a place where he could develop me into an NHL player, and he’s done that so far. … After talking to him, this is where I wanted to play.”
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Opposite of Foley’s track, current junior Nikita Nikora (Avon Old Farms) and freshman Brock Cummings (Belmont Hill) were among those who used their local prep stops as crucial stepping stones to help prepare for the rigors of the college level. Now, they’re two of Dartmouth’s top six forwards.
Cashman pointed to Nikora’s story in particular. The Russian native played for the Notre Dame Hounds program in Saskatchewan before arriving at Avon, where he was a third- or fourth-line player for legendary coach John Gardner. Like all of the former prep prospects, the level proved to play a big role in the development of the player the Big Green know today.
“(Nikora) needed something in between Notre Dame and juniors (in the NAHL), so Avon was a perfect fit,” Cashman said. “New England prep is a great place to develop for a kid. It might be the right spot for one kid at 15 or 16, but it might be different for someone else. (Foley and Cleaves) went all the way through. I think it’s a really good model of patience and thinking more holistically in development and not being in such a rush to get to the next thing.”
That lesson also shines through in Foley’s journey. He never skipped a step on his way to becoming a unanimous All-ECAC Hockey defender and the Ivy League Player of the Year last season, netting 11 goals and 30 points in 33 games.
“For him, for anybody, you want to dominate the level you’re at before moving up a level. And I think he did that,” Tapp said. “I think he did a good job of maybe slowing down his path a little bit. If you chase it early, you’re just chasing levels and you’re never really fully developing.”
The Dartmouth staff expects to be able to dip into the local waters for years to come, with a host of former and current prep players already set to be a part of the program’s future.
Former Andover captain Grayden Robertson-Palmer, Avon Old Farms product Indiana Grossbard and former Belmont Hill standout Jake Tavares (Belmont, Mass.) are in juniors. Belmont Hill standout defenseman Evan Jones (Arlington, Mass.), Brunswick’s Mason St. Louis (Old Greenwich, Conn.), St. Mark's forward Will Manchuso (Concord, Mass.) and Andover’s Alex Theodore also are among the Big Green’s commits.
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Echoing his coach’s sentiments, Foley believes they’re all making the right decision.
“I’m biased, of course, but … I think it’s the best path out there,” Foley said. “I’d encourage most kids to play prep hockey because you’re a normal kid in school and you get to play high-end hockey. A lot of kids who jump early don’t get that full experience because it develops you as a person as much as a hockey player.”
If there’s another Foley or two in the bunch, Dartmouth will be just fine.
