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Princeton University Athletics
Family Ties
November 19, 2001 | Men's Ice Hockey
Families play a prominent role in most sports, perhaps more so in hockey. But to say Princeton senior Dave Bennett comes from a hockey family would be quite the understatement.
Bennett's bloodlines are reminiscent of former Princeton forward Chris Patrick '98, who has family members in the NHL Hall of Fame. There are no Hall of Famers in Bennett's family tree, but his father and two uncles both played in the NHL, as did his grandfather.
"It's been great having my family there for their support," says Dave Bennett. "They have an experienced eye for the game."
Harvey Bennett Sr. was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1925 and went on to play 24 NHL games for Boston. In the '40s and '50s he had a prolific minor-league goaltending career in the days before expansion, when NHL jobs were scarce. Most of his time was spent in Providence, where he made a home and family. Harvey Jr., Dave's father, played 268 NHL games with five teams in the '70s. Dave's uncle Bill played 31 games, and perhaps the most successful Bennett brother, Curt, scored 334 points in 580 NHL games, mostly in Atlanta.
Despite all of this family history, Bennett says he was never pushed towards hockey and doesn't feel any pressure to live up to his family reputation.
"I've never really felt that. This is probably my last year playing," says the economics major from Warwick, R.I., "and I'll use my education to get a job."
Modern times also bring a whole new dimension of "family" to hockey. This fall Bennett's sister Briana enrolled at Princeton and plays on the Tigers' women's team.
"I try to see her play as much as I can," Dave says. Bennett's father played college hockey at Boston College, and three other relatives played at Brown, but the current generation of Bennett siblings were both enamored with Princeton from the start.
Bennett had visited Dartmouth and Brown before making the trip to Princeton, but his attraction to the University was almost immediate.
"After I saw the campus, I knew I wanted to come here," he says. "When [former assistant coach] Mark Dennehy drove me in the gates, I said, 'Let me come.' It looked like a program where players were serious and committed to hockey and still able to get it done in the classroom."
Bennett's commitment to his education is a far cry from his early years, when he and his cousin would routinely skip out. Of course, they can be forgiven. They were barely four years old, and no one spoke English.
Bennett's father and uncle Curt extended their playing career by signing with a Japanese league in the early '80s. Patricia Bennett gave birth to Briana while in Japan. Dave was young, but it was an experience that was hard to forget.
"I remember running away from school with my cousin," Bennett says. "My cousin and I would make a plan during the [Japanese] national anthem to meet each other. We'd run across the street and run home. We made it once or twice. Everyone was speaking Japanese, and we didn't know what was going on."
His hockey mentors have been far easier to understand. It was Don Cahoon's straightforward approach that Bennett appreciated most when he was recruited at Princeton.
"Cahoon was very up front, concentrating on what I needed to work on, instead of 'You're great at this, great at that.' He was very straight with me."
Cahoon, of course, left, after Bennett's sophomore year. Cahoon handed the reins to longtime assistant Len Quesnelle, and Bennett says, Cahoon left the program in good hands.
"I was surprised when he left, but Coach Quesnelle has done a great job coming in," says Bennett. "It's very hard to do. The assistant is more of a friend to the players. When you're the head coach, it's your team.
"They have different approaches to game. Cahoon was fiery and emotional, and he got that out of players. Lenny has a very mental approach, he's more calm, but he gets the same response."
This season has been another transition for Bennett, having been moved to forward full time.
He had played some forward while in juniors and was pressed into duty there for 10 games of his sophomore season, including the first game of the playoff series at Clarkson. An injury in that game to Neil McCann pushed Bennett back to defense.
The whole next season Bennett was back on the blue line.
Moving back and forth may have some difficulties, but Bennett doesn't mind the challenge.
"I actually love that. It's a lot of fun. I had a great time in juniors and in the playoffs. I slid from forward to defense every game," he says. "Once in a while I find myself cheating back and doing things I shouldn't be doing. But overall I like the adjustment. It keeps you mentally in the game.
"I talked to Coach last spring. He asked if I'd like to play forward, and I said I'd love to do it.
"We lost four of our best forwards. Ethan Doyle and Shane Campbell were great penalty killers, Kirk Lamb was our captain, and Chris Corrinet is in 'The Show,'" he says referring to Corrinet's recent promotion to the Washington Capitals. "When you lose four like that ... I think Coach wanted some experience up front."
With the move will come some pressure to pick up the scoring slack. Bennett had four goals during his sophomore season, but none last year and none so in the first four games this year.
"I definitely want to score a couple goals this year," says Bennett. "I'm hoping they'll be big goals. I wasn't that upset not scoring as a 'D' man, but as a forward it's something you have to do."
As a freshman he was part of a team that advanced to the ECAC Final Five in Lake Placid. He wants to experience that postseason excitement again and be part of making it happen in this, his last chance.
"I want to improve as the year goes on and have a good senior year, mostly for the team. My freshman year we had a great team, and I'd like to try to capture that one more time."
-by Adam Wodon