EMPTYING THE NOTEBOOK with a few holiday leftovers ...
We’re very much looking forward to assessing the progress Dartmouth has made under third-year coach Reid Cashman when the puck drops for the 34th Ledyard Classic — I still call it the Auld Lang Syne tournament — starting today at Thompson Arena.
The Big Green take on Lake Superior State tonight at 7:30 after eighth-ranked Maine faces RIT in the day’s opener at 4 p.m. On Saturday, the losers play each other and the winners play each other, but Dartmouth is guaranteed to skate in the night game at 7:30 no matter how it fares on Friday.
Dartmouth is 2-3-6 overall — yes, six ties — but four of them have come against ECAC toughies Harvard, Quinnipiac, Cornell and Clarkson. The Big Green’s other two ties came in back-to-back contests the last time they skated, on Dec. 8-9 at No. 13 Arizona State.
Sophomore forward Cooper Flinton of Auburn leads the Big Green in goals (four) in nine games.
Also looking forward to seeing Maine’s dynamic Nadeau brothers, Bradly and Josh, in person. The freshmen already have 10 goals each. Bradly is a 2023 first-round NHL draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes. They looked downright telepathic in the Black Bears’ win over UNH back on Dec. 1. But that was on TV.
New Hampton’s Michael Kesselring, a defenseman, is making the most of his promotion to the NHL Arizona Coyotes. And then some.
Kesselring, 23, has scored four goals in 18 games since his promotion to the Coyotes on Nov. 3, including three in his last four games. The latest came Wednesday night in the third period as Arizona, one of the league’s most exciting young teams, rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat Colorado 5-4 in overtime.
Kesselring, a Northeastern University product, isn’t bashful about jumping into the play, as evidenced by Wednesday night’s goal. He looked Gretzky-esque in circling the Avalanche net, curling back out to the right point, receiving the puck and skating in for a wicked wrister short side past goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
“Obviously, I’m a lot more comfortable now and getting used to the speed of the game and yeah, I think it’s just a confidence thing,” Kesselring told The Hockey News before Christmas. “You’ve seen (Sidney Crosby) and some of the top players in the league now and you start to adjust and gain confidence from each game. So I think that’s happening right now.”
It was a big night for Granite State hockey when Kesselring scored the game-winning goal on Dec. 19 against Ottawa. The goal was assisted by Pinkerton Academy and Green Acres Elementary School grad Zach Sanford — who was coached by Kesselring’s dad, Casey, at Pinkerton — and it all happened the same night former UNH star Angus Crookshank scored his first NHL goal in his second NHL game for the Senators. Crookshank, a dynamic player on some offense-challenged UNH teams, was on the fast track to Ottawa before his tore his ACL in a rookie game in 2021. Warms the heart to see him back.
The UNH football team announced the commitments of 16 players who signed a National Letter of Intent. Five are from New Jersey, three are from Pennsylvania, two are from Massachusetts, two are from New York and two are from Connecticut. Coach Ricky Santos also grabbed an offensive lineman from Virginia and a wide receiver from Sulphur, Oklahoma (population 5,065).
The new Holy Cross football coach is former UNH fullback Dan Curran, who has coached at Merrimack College for the past 11 seasons. Among the Crusaders’ returnees is North Hampton’s Jordan Fuller, an all-Patriot League and academic all-district running back this past fall as a junior.
UCLA football coach and Granite Stater Chip Kelly turned to his New England connections in recruiting his next quarterback: Henry Hasselbeck of Xaverian Brothers High School (Westwood, Mass.). You may remember Hasselbeck’s dad, Matt, or grandfather, Don. Pick your generation.
Rollinsford’s Rachel Hill is on the move. Hill was one of five players taken by Bay FC (San Francisco) in the National Women’s Soccer League expansion draft, which was held Dec. 15. Hill, most recently a member of the San Diego Wave, has played in 140 games since her NWSL debut in 2017. A forward, she has 17 career goals.
Still miss those New Year’s Eve Monarchs games.