Hanover
It’d be hard not to have a little confidence considering the numbers he put up as a 16-year-old one year ago. Hughes finished the year with 116 points, just one point shy of Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews’ program record. Upper Valley hockey fans must not have taken notice; there were likely more National Hockey League scouts than fans at Monday’s preseason exhibition against the Dartmouth College men’s hockey team at Thompson Arena.
“I’m kind of the same (mentally),” said Hughes, a 5-foot-10, 168-pound lefty from Orlando, Fla. “I’m worried about my game and let the rest take care of itself. I’m happy with where I’m at; I’m happy with what’s going on with our team. I think it’s a good start for everyone.
“Of course, I have more to prove,” he added. “Nothing is set until … whenever. I’m just having fun, enjoying it while I can.”
Hughes — projected by many to become the eighth American to go No. 1 overall in the NHL Entry Draft next year — didn’t disappoint, providing three assists in a 6-4 win over the Big Green. Alex Jasiek finished the game with a goal and an assist for Dartmouth. Big Green goaltenders Adrian Clark and Justin Ferguson combined for 19 saves in the loss.
“It was way better than practicing,” said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet.
The game was Dartmouth’s first against an opponent wearing another uniform; the Big Green was the last college hockey team in the country to begin its schedule.
“There are things that we can do better,” Gaudet said. “The transition, it was probably a fun game to watch — we would come down with an odd-man rush, they would come back. We want to cut that down, obviously. We want to be a little bit more of a solid team.
“Decisions with the puck, you just have to be in game situations. You try to recreate it in practice and it’s really hard to do.”
Team USA head coach John Wroblewski said the win was his team’s sloppiest of the three-game trip through the Northeast. It lost, 5-4, to Boston University on Friday and defeated Harvard, 6-3, on Saturday.
“As the weekend went on, we had too many guys lose momentum, which is understandable, but it’s also something that we need to adjust as aspiring professional hockey players and college players,” Wroblewski said. “You can’t have the drop off we had from certain individuals.”
Dartmouth, catching Team USA on the tail end of a road trip, gave the visitors all they could handle.
Jasiek opened the scoring for Dartmouth, taking a pass from freshman Jeff Losurdo behind the net between the circles 10 minutes, 16 seconds into the opening frame. Jasiek scored four goals and had 15 assists in 2017-18.
“I think it being our first game since the spring, and with our seven new guys, I think we actually played pretty well,” Jasiek said. “I thought, for the most part, we played with them, even outplayed them. We had a couple of defensive breakdowns … Offensively, I think we’ve taken a step forward this year.”
Trevor Zegras, a Boston University commit, answered 1:26 later for Team USA, taking a pass back on a 2-on-1 with Hughes, tying the game, 1-1, after the first period. Zegras, Boston College-bound Matthew Boldy and Notre Dame recruit Ryder Rolston all scored for Team USA in the second period. Losurdo and senior defenseman Connor Yau scored for Dartmouth, which trailed, 4-3, headed into the second intermission.
Carl Hesler, who missed all of last season for undisclosed reasons, tied the game, 4-4, in the third. But two Dartmouth defensive breakdowns in transition led to odd-man rushes for Team USA. Cole Caufield scored the game-winner, off a nifty pass from Hughes. Sean Farrell iced it with 2:28 remaining.
“I just think they didn’t have their offensive timing,” Wroblewski said. “I really liked them. They started strong, and they continued that momentum throughout the game. They were the better team, I would say. We had some pretty special performances and made them pay when they did make a mistake.”
Dartmouth started off slow once again last season, getting off to a 2-8-1 start through Dec. 15 before turning things around down the stretch. The Big Green finished the season on a 11-6-1 tear, the second second-half performance in the conference, earning Dartmouth the No. 5 seed in the ECAC tournament. The Big Green knocked off No. 12 St. Lawrence before falling to future Boston Bruins center Ryan Donato and No. 4 Harvard in the conference quarterfinals.
Jasiek, in his fourth season with the Big Green, is anxious for his team to get off on the right foot. Playing catch up midway through a season can be risky business. Dartmouth opens its season Saturday at home against the Crimson.
“My first three years here, we’ve been slow starters and good finishers,” Jasiek said. “You know, it’s hard to explain. It’s crazy. Judging off of our record last year, I think we just can’t get complacent.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.