They say you can never get something for nothing. But this weekend Dartmouth students will get a triple treat -- free admission to three important ice hockey games at Thompson Arena.
With the men's ice hockey team on the cusp of making the playoffs and the women's ice hockey team already in the ECAC quarterfinals, the College's Athletic Department is pulling out all the stops to encourage Dartmouth students to come out and support their teams this weekend.
All students can gain free admission to Friday's and Saturday's men's games and Saturday afternoon's women's playoff game simply by showing their Dartmouth ID upon entry into Thompson Arena before any of the games.
The men's team takes on Brown tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. and faces Harvard on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the last two games of the regular season, and perhaps the last two home games for eight Big Green seniors.
And the women's team, seeded third in the ECAC postseason tournament, plays host to Providence in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. If they advance, the Big Green will land in the final four for the second straight year.
Attendance at Thompson for both men's and women's games has been dwindling for the past few years. This year the average attendance for men's home hockey games has been 1,730, and even fewer fans have watched the women's games. Thompson seats a capacity crowd of 5,000, but the attendance hardly ever approaches that number, except when the men play host to their local rivals, the University of Vermont Catamounts.
Men's Head Coach Bob Gaudet '81, who as a Dartmouth goaltender in the late 1970s and early 1980s played before huge crowds at Thompson, emphasized that the bigger the fan base, the easier it is for the home team to get fired up for the contest.
"If people don't come, hey, you go out and play hard regardless. But if people do come, it can be a really positive thing for the guys who are out there," Gaudet said.
Both Gaudet and Women's Head Coach George Crowe are no doubt hoping that the free admission will act as a big incentive for students to fill Thompson Arena and cheer on the Big Green hockey teams as they play their most important games of the 1997-98 season.
Non-students will still be charged admission to both men's games and to the women's playoff game.
