After 23 years as head coach at Dartmouth College, Bob Gaudet is retiring, the school announced Wednesday evening.
A 1981 alum of Dartmouth, Gaudet was head coach at Brown for nine seasons before returning to his alma mater to become the bench boss prior to the 1997-98 season. Gaudet is the program’s all-time leader in wins with 331.
"It has been an honor and privilege to serve in the Dartmouth men's hockey program as a student-athlete, assistant coach, parent, head coach and a proud alumnus," Gaudet said in the school’s press release.
Gaudet’s departure means there is yet another job opening in Division 1 hockey. Dartmouth’s announcement comes just a week after Vermont filled its opening by hiring Todd Woodcroft. The Catamounts were the only college hockey program with a head coaching void this off-season, prior to Gaudet’s retirement.
Dartmouth director of athletics Harry Sheehy will be tasked with leading the search for Gaudet’s successor. While Dartmouth won’t attract quite the group of candidates that Vermont did, there will be no shortage of applicants.
I don’t see Northeastern associate head coach Jerry Keefe or UMass associate head coach Ben Barr throwing their hats in the ring, and Dartmouth probably will be looking in a different direction than American International head coach Eric Lang. Those three were the big names that were passed up by Vermont AD Jeff Schulman.
Still, there are some intriguing names to consider when contemplating who will be the next head coach of the Big Green. With the right hire, Dartmouth should be even more competitive in ECAC Hockey. It’s a great school in a beautiful and affable college town with a nice rink, and Dartmouth’s proximity to the Canadian border is an asset. The new coaching staff needs to rethink its recruiting philosophy and expand from what it has been doing lately, which is seemingly just going after mostly USPHL NCDC and BCHL players. Dartmouth might struggle to overtake Cornell and Harvard, but there is no reason the Big Green can’t be better on a more consistent basis.
There is a lot of speculation that former NHL defenseman and Dartmouth alum Ben Lovejoy could be in line to take over. The Concord, N.H., native played for the Big Green from 2004 to 2007 before embarking on a 620-game NHL career that included a Stanley Cup title, in 2016 with Pittsburgh. Lovejoy spent the 2019-20 season as a volunteer assistant for the Big Green. What Lovejoy lacks in coaching experience, he makes up for in other areas. He’s extremely intelligent, driven and well-liked, according to numerous college hockey sources I spoke with on Wednesday night.
Associate head coach David Lassonde is another name to consider from within the cozy confines of Thompson Arena. The 1983 Providence alum is a former goaltender who has been an assistant coach for some good programs, including New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Miami and Denver. He was with the Wildcats during their heyday from 1997 to 2011. He also has more recently been involved with USA Hockey as an assistant at world juniors and for some other teams during the summer.
After that, there are some outsiders who should be given consideration. Oftentimes, Ivy League schools look to hire coaches with backgrounds at other likeminded institutions. A few current assistant coaches come to mind.
Holy Cross alum Paul Pearl would be a good hire. The Winthrop, Mass., native spent 19 seasons as head coach at his alma mater and has been an assistant at Brown, Harvard and Boston University. He just concluded his second season as an associate head coach with the Terriers.
Another great, but often overlooked candidate would be Cornell associate head coach Ben Syer. The Kitchener, Ont., native has been on Mike Schafer’s staff in Ithaca since 2011. Prior to that, he worked under Rand Pecknold at Quinnipiac from 2003 to 2011. He knows what it takes to win and do a great job, if given the chance.
Providence associate head coach Ron Rolston also would fit the mold of having experience at another Ivy. The Michigan Tech alum has been an assistant at Lake Superior, Clarkson, Harvard and Boston College, in addition to spending the past three years on Nate Leaman’s staff. He was head coach of the Buffalo Sabres for parts of two seasons and has experience with USA Hockey’s NTDP.
Former Merrimack head coach and current Binghamton Devils head coach Mark Dennehy would be a qualified candidate who would do things the right way. The Boston College alum was formerly an assistant at Princeton and UMass, so he has an Ivy background.
Matt Greason, the bench boss at Division 3 Trinity College, would be a candidate with head coaching experience. The North Bridgeton, Maine, native played at Trinity and understands the ins and outs of the New England prep scene. He also spent a year working for USA Hockey’s NTDP, so he has some high-level experience.
A couple of other ECAC Hockey assistant coaches deserve a look as well. Quinnipiac associate head coach Bill Riga has been on Pecknold’s staff since 2008. He also served as an assistant at Union and with the Junior Bruins. The Westboro, Mass., native and UMass Lowell alum knows the area and certainly has proven he’s a winner on the various staffs he’s been on for more than two decades now.
Clarkson associate head coach Josh Hauge has proven he can help build a winner with the Golden Knights. The Apple Valley, Minn., native previously was a head coach in the USHL and NAHL with Tri-City and Fairbanks, respectively. He played at Division 3 Bethel University.
Barr gets a lot of the attention when it comes to job openings, but the other UMass assistant deserves credit as well. It might be time for Jared DeMichiel to throw his hat into the ring. He was the goaltender who led RIT to the 2010 Frozen Four, and he served on Greg Carvel’s staff at St. Lawrence before following him to Amherst.
Former UMass Lowell associate head coach and current Norwich head coach Cam Ellsworth would be another solid candidate. A goaltender in his playing days at Michigan Tech, Ellsworth has won everywhere he’s been as a coach.
There also are a couple of long shots to consider. Merrimack head coach Scott Borek likely would have to take a pay cut to head to Hanover, but he’s a Big Green alum. New York Rangers assistant coach Greg Brown, a longtime associate head coach at Boston College, his alma mater, might be interested. He reportedly had some form of dialogue with Vermont.
