Category: Dartmouth Big Green

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Posted on Posted in Dartmouth Big Green, ECAC
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The National Hockey League premiered Wednesday, December 19, 1917. Two hockey games were held that night. The NHL started out with four teams, so the entirety of the league was in action. The Montreal Wanderers hosted Toronto while the other game was played in Ottawa. One of the skaters on the Montreal roster included a former Dartmouth hockey star by the name of Gerry Geran. The Wanderers defeated Toronto 10-9 in what is now known as the very first game in NHL history. The other game between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators was scheduled to start 15 minutes later. Geran didn’t make it on the score sheet that night, but he will be forever remembered as not only the first former college hockey player to suit up for the NHL, but the first U.S. born player to ever do so.

Geran was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and earned the nickname of the Mystery Man of Hockey. One of the reasons behind this nickname is because he was mysteriously suspended by Dartmouth despite being one of the most talented players on the team. After Dartmouth, Geran played amateur hockey and then signed with Montreal in the NHL. However, the team only played six games before being disbanded, finishing with a 1-5 record. The lone win coming on opening night. The Wanderers home rink burnt down in early January 1918, ending the team’s season and forcing it to disband. This wasn’t an end to an upstart expansion team; the Wanderers had been around since 1904, playing in previous leagues and associations. In fact, the Wanderers had won the Stanley Cup four times (1906, 1907, 1908, 1910).

The following season, Geran went back to amateur hockey and then later played across the pond in France. He played one season away from the U.S. and then returned to amateur hockey for several years. In 1925, Geran’s former Wanderers teammate, Art Ross, contacted him to see if he wanted to play for the Boston Bruins. Ross was now the coach and general manager in Boston. Geran returned to the NHL nearly eight years after his debut. He made history again when he scored a goal December 11, 1925, becoming the first U.S. Born player to score a goal in the NHL. He scored a second goal later that same game.

Geran also represented his country at the 1920 Olympics. The team won silver and he scored a hat trick against Sweden. The United States asked him to play in 1924 as well. Geran didn’t give the team a definitive answer about whether he would participate. Ultimately, he never showed up. This added fuel to the Mystery Man of Hockey nickname.

After one year with the Bruins, he returned to amateur hockey again; this time in Saint Paul with the Saints. His final year of playing hockey was back in France. Overall, Geran may not have scored many goals or earned many points in the NHL, but his name will forever be etched in the record book as the first college hockey player in the NHL, first U.S. born player in the NHL, and first U.S. born player to score a goal in the NHL.

Posted on Posted in Dartmouth Big Green, ECAC, Yale Bulldogs
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There was a specific time in the 1950s when the Ivy League hosted its own hockey conference. This occurred in the six seasons between the ending of the Pentagonal League and formation of the ECAC. The 1957-58 season took place during that time. Dartmouth posted a 13-12-0 record the season before. The team also had a winning Ivy League record of 5-3-0. Yale came into the season looking to improve upon a 10-15-0 overall and matching 5-3-0 Ivy League record from the previous season.

The game that took place on the Dartmouth campus January 11, 1958, was technically the Ivy League opener for both teams. However, Yale played Brown in the third game of the RPI Tournament in Troy, New York, the week before. The Indians (later renamed the Big Green in the 1970s) touted a 7-2-0 nonconference record. Yale was looking to rebound from an early hole of 2-6-1 and get back into the win column for the first time since December 4, 1957.

The game was played on campus at Davis Rink – the precursor to Thompson Arena. The home team would end up victorious by a score of 5-2. In the featured photo, sophomore Ryan Ostebo scores as a Yale player defends. Ostebo grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was a standout defenseman on the Dartmouth team. He was twice named to the All Ivy Team and once to the All New England Team.

The nonconference hot streak at the beginning of the season would help Dartmouth finish with a 13-10-1 winning record despite the team’s 2-5-1 Ivy League record. Yale bounced back after this game and went 2-0-1 in the following three games. The Bulldogs ended with an 8-12-2 record yet were even with a 4-4-0 in-conference Ivy League record.

The six Division I men’s hockey programs that are a part of the Ivy League today are currently members of the ECAC. The Ivy League team with the best record against the other five teams are crowned the Ivy League hockey champion. There was no Ivy League champion crowned last season during 2020-21 due to the schools not participating during the pandemic. Cornell was the Ivy League champion for the 2019-20 season with an 8-1-1 Ivy League record.

The Dartmouth Library Archives noted the game was from January 1, 1958, due to the hand-written note on the back of the featured photograph. However, Dartmouth and Yale archives state the game was played January 11, 1958, with neither team playing January 1. This archival date was likely due to an overzealous comma in the hand-written “January, 1958” note being mistook as the number one on the back of the photo.

Photo Credit: Ostebo, Ryan. “Hockey Games 1, Davis Rink and Before.” Dartmouth College Photographic Files, 1958. Dartmouth Digital Library Program, collections.dartmouth.edu/archive/object/PhotoFiles/PhotoFiles-Icon1647-1044-0000030.