Wednesday, December 4, 2002

HANOVER, N.H. -- Hugh Jessiman has quickly established himself as a dominate force in college hockey. The freshman forward for the Dartmouth men's hockey team recently was named ECAC Rookie of the Week and was honorable mention for the Commissioners' Rookie of the Month.

The Ice Hockey Collegiate Commissioners' Association (IHCCA) is comprised of the six commissioners of the NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences, and the player and rookie of the month awards are announced each month.

In the month of November, Jessiman collected 14 points in 10 games. His 10 assists are tied for the team lead while two of his four goals were gamewinners. Jessiman has recorded six multiple-point games and has been held off the scoresheet just twice.

Most recently, he had a four-point weekend, recording back-to-back multiple point games against then top-ranked Boston College and UMass-Amherst. Jessiman set up the gamewinning goal in the victory against the Eagles, beating a defender behind the net and feeding linemate Mike Ouellette in front for the goal. Jessiman also assisted on Lee Stempniak's team-leading 10th goal that tied the game, 3-3 in the second period. In the loss at UMass, Jessiman scored a power play goal and added an assist.

The National Hockey League recently released its central scouting information and Jessiman was listed as the 16th highest college player.

"Hugh has made an extremely quick adjustment to Division 1 hockey," head coach Bob Gaudet said. "He has natural offensive ability and has the reach, skating ability and can handle the puck as well as any player I have ever coached. His defensive game continues to develop, but his offensive package is a huge asset to both his game and our overall offensive attack."

Dartmouth will skate in an exhibition on Saturday, December 14 against the US National 18-Under team at 7 p.m. before breaking for the holidays. The Big Green will return to regular season action on Saturday, December 28, hosting Notre Dame in first round action at the Ledyard National Bank Tournament at 7 p.m.