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2008-09 Miami Season Preview

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“We feel really good about our team,” says Miami head coach Enrico Blasi. It’s just worth repeating.

With Miami’s success in recent years and a gorgeous newer facilities to keep the RedHawks in the thick of the recruiting battle, there’s no reason why Blasi should feel anything but good about Miami hockey.

The RedHawks matched league champ Michigan’s 33 overall wins last year, finished one point behind the Wolverines in conference standings, lost the title game of the CCHA championship tournament 2-1 to Michigan, beat Air Force in the first round of NCAA tourney play, and ended their season against eventual national champions Boston College, 4-3, just over 12 minutes into overtime.

That is quite a ride, and there’s nothing serendipitous about it.

Not Just the Numbers

“We feel good that the culture is very stable and our guys understand how to prepare and play and what the process is throughout the entire season,” says Blasi, “and what it takes to compete at a high level.”

It’s creating the kind of culture that Blasi and his staff have at Miami that has the potential to produce excellence consistently for years to come. It’s a CCHA given that when the Michigan Wolverines lose marquee players they still return high achievers ready to regroup and maintain, yearly. It’s also been a CCHA given that in recent years that few other teams have been able to imitate and recreate the same kind of success that Berenson has in Ann Arbor.

But one look at Blasi’s returning RedHawks, and any fan can see the real potential for consistent success.

Sure, the ‘Hawks had said goodbye to superstar forward Ryan Jones and the often overlooked goaltender Charlie Effinger, and would-be senior goalie Jeff Zatkoff opted out of his last year for pro play, but look at who remains. Sophomores Carter Camper and Tommy Wingels, junior Jarod Palmer, and seniors Brian Kaufman and Justin Mercier accounted for 77 of Miami’s 169 overall goals last season, and a slew of other players are capable of finding the net for the RedHawks. Miami’s defense corps is young, but led by the more than capable senior Kevin Roeder.

Carter Camper is Miami's top returning scorer (photo: Ray Bartnikowski).

Carter Camper is Miami’s top returning scorer (photo: Ray Bartnikowski).

And don’t forget about Andy Greene. No, the former captain hasn’t returned to Oxford, but Greene (2002-06) was in part responsible for selling Blasi’s brand of hockey to the RedHawk program. As captain, Greene helped create that culture that produced Ryan Jones and that will no doubt live on in this year’s captain, Kaufman.

Shades of Ann Arbor.

One Little Number

The only question mark for the RedHawks is in net. Miami will have two freshman goaltenders, Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard, for the first time since the 2003-04 season, although Reichard is legal to consume adult beverages in his home state of Ohio. This will test whether the RedHawk machine is truly self-perpetuating.

A Coincidence, Really

In the offseason, Miami lost another key component to the RedHawks’ success, assistant coach Jeff Blashill, who joined the program in 2002. The former goaltender for the Ferris State Bulldogs left to become head coach of the Indiana Ice of the USHL.

That left an opening on the coaching staff, and joining Miami is Brent Brekke, former Western Michigan captain and the CCHA’s Best Defenseman of the Year (1993-94).

The CCHA acquired Brekke through a trade with the ECAC. In order to take Brekke back into the league and specifically into Ohio, the CCHA was forced to send Ohio State associate head coach Casey Jones to the ECAC. It’s complicated and involves considerations to be named later, but Brekke spent nine years as an assistant at Cornell, to which Jones — a former Big Red player and assistant coach — returned after 13 years.

Really.

2008-09 Lake Superior State Season Preview

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In 2007-08, Lake Superior State showed the league what a Laker team was without superstar goaltender Jeff Jakaitis — a team that went from 11 league wins and eighth place in both 2005-06 and 2006-07, to a 10th-place team with seven conference wins and a 12-game winless streak to bookend the midseason break.

“We hope to have a much better start this year and get back to Joe Louis,” says head coach Jim Roque.

Just the first half of that statement would be an enormous improvement over last year’s Laker hockey season.

No Coincidence

Last year, Laker goalies Pat Inglis and Brian Mahoney-Wilson combined for an .891 overall save percentage. Mahoney-Wilson saw 350 more minutes in net during conference play than Inglis did, and during his 16 decisions, Mahoney-Wilson’s save percentage was .894.

It’s been some time now since a save percentage hovering on the backside of .900 was respectable or even acceptable in college hockey. For four years with Jeff Jakaitis, the Lakers could rely on a guy putting up numbers more than respectable numbers; even in his sophomore season when he allowed nearly three goals per game, Jakaitis’ save percentage was still .917.

It took half a season for Inglis and Mahoney-Wilson — and the rest of the Lakers — to adjust to life post-Jakaitis. The raw goalie stats belie solid second halves from both netminders; Inglis’s save percentage was .933 in his final seven games, while Mahoney-Wilson had a .905 save percentage in the last two months of the season.

It’s no coincidence, then, that the Lakers ended the second half of the season much stronger than they did the first. LSSU went 7-7-3 to end regular-season play, and came this close to upsetting Bowling Green in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. BG needed three games to win that series. The Lakers lost the first and third games of that set by 4-3 scores, the last game in overtime.

“If we can just build on the second half we had last year…and the boys can build on the positives that they had,” says Roque.

Yes. If they can just.

Some Numbers

ROQUE

ROQUE

In order for the Lakers to move up and back to JLA, they’ll need more than improved goaltending. Tied for 10th in league scoring, LSSU needs to support the improved efforts of its two goaltenders.

“We need Troy [Schwab] and Josh [Sim] to return to form as they were as freshmen and sophomores.” So said Roque at the CCHA media day. Schwab, according to Roque, put excessive pressure on himself last season as a junior captain. Sim was hurt and underwent offseason hernia surgery.

Lake State returns two of its three double-digit scorers from a year ago. Nathan Perkovich improved upon his 15-goal rookie season with a 17-goal performance last year. Sophomore Rick Schofield had 10 markers in his debut.

Additionally, the Lakers need to improve special teams in a year when the two-ref system will undoubtedly highlight their play. The Lakers play a disciplined brand of hockey and take few penalties themselves, but who knows how that will change under the new system. Being able to take advantage of power plays themselves would help their overall cause; Perkovich had nine man-advantage tallies last season.

2008-09 Nebraska-Omaha Season Preview

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The 2007-08 Nebraska-Omaha season was one of just this close, just this far. UNO finished eighth in the league, two games under .500 in both CCHA and overall play. One-goal regular-season losses to Michigan and Notre Dame, two teams that went on to the Frozen Four. A two-goal loss to the defending national champion Michigan State Spartans one night after an overtime win. A three-game, late-season losing streak in close contests against Bowling Green and Northern Michigan, teams with whom the Mavericks were competing for position among spots 5-8 in the CCHA standings.

So close, and then so far. A hard-fought, best-of-three, first-round CCHA playoff series against Alaska, one that required three overtimes in the final contest to decide.

Then a 10-1 loss to Michigan to open the second round of the playoffs before the 2-1 Wolverine win that ended Nebraska-Omaha’s season, a game in which Jerad Kaufmann made 34 saves.

Tantalizingly close, numbers that all add up to a disappointing season for a team that had finished no lower than fifth in its three previous campaigns.

Some Impressive Numbers

While it seemed that the Mavericks were never able to jump that one last hurdle that would lift them closer to the top of the standings last season, there were two bright spots for UNO: the power play, and the Mavericks’ road record.

Clicking along at 24 percent, the UNO power play was the best in the nation last year, thanks in large part to the now departed Mick Lawrence, Bryan Marshall, and Brandon Scero; between them, Lawrence and Scero had 26 power-play tallies, or nearly half of UNO’s 53 goals with the man advantage.

“To look back at last year and evaluate our success on the power play, there is no secret formula,” says UNO head coach Mike Kemp. “The players had creativity to make something out of disaster or create a scoring opportunity that wasn’t drawn in X and O before the game started.

“While we lost three key members of the power play unit…with the insertion of a couple of our key young players [and] some of our returning players…our power play will still be efficient.”

The Mavericks will have eight freshmen and as many sophomores on their roster in 2008-09, so there is a variety of “key young players” to choose from to fill the skates of the three top departed scorers. Freshmen forwards Alex Hudson and Ryan Kretzer both put up numbers in the USHL, and sophomore Joey Martin, junior Jeric Agosta, and senior Tomas Klempa are likely candidates to ascend to double-digit goal status and power-play productivity.

KEMP

KEMP

And then there’s the Mavericks’ lead returning scorer, Dan Charleston, the only returnee with more than 10 goals in overall play and the guy who scored UNO’s last goal of the season.

With as much road success (9-10-0) as at home (8-9-4) last season, Kemp sees travel as a plus for his young Maverick team. “The real key to our success on the road last year was team unity,” says Kemp. “Our focus is greatly enhanced when you eliminate distractions from class and family coming to town. For us, it’s been a positive building block for our team.”

It’s a good thing, then, that UNO begins the CCHA season with a four-game road trip, a set in both Bowling Green and Kalamazoo.

No Coincidence

It’s no secret that Nebraska-Omaha needs to work on building a better defense in order to approach the top of the CCHA pack again, and it’s no coincidence that last year’s blue line was particularly young — and last year’s finish worse than that of the previous three seasons.

“Our defense corps last year was very green,” says Kemp of a group that included five freshmen. “That group of defensemen should be able to give us an anchor back there and provide support for our goaltenders.”

Although Jerad Kaufmann played 30 games for the Mavericks last year, his numbers (.890 SV%, 2.97 GAA) don’t suggest job security. Both junior Jeremy Dupont (.816 SV% in 455 minutes played) and freshman John Faulkner (WOHL) should challenge Kaufmann for the starting position.

2008-09 Ohio State Season Preview

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What do the Buckeyes need to climb out of the CCHA cellar? Well, scoring comes to mind. And goaltending. But four games each against Michigan and Michigan State?

According to head coach John Markell, this may be the ticket. The Bucks are perennially paired with powerhouse-come-lately Miami, so Ohio State faces 12 regular-season games against three teams that could contend for a national title.

“You know, selfishly, I’m happy to be in this cluster,” says Markell. “Miami has been an unbelievable rival for us. Obviously, the Big Ten with Michigan and Michigan State — we draw our largest crowds if we play them at the right time.”

Ah, there’s the catch. Playing Michigan and Michigan State at the right time. “Right time” means “not during football season” in Columbus speak. Well, at least the Bucks host Michigan twice in February. That should bring in more than 30 students to the Schottenstein Center. Maybe.

The Buckeyes are the poor little rich guys of the CCHA, and that’s not meant as a slam. They play in a gorgeous building that’s a fairly effective recruiting tool, at a school with an appealing tradition of Big Ten athletics, in a city that many incoming freshmen find enticing.

The only problem is that they play in a gorgeous big building in which they are secondary tenants at best, and which they never seem to fill. And they play at a school with a rich tradition of Big Ten football. And there are a lot of things other than hockey games to draw students on Friday and Saturday nights in a city as enticing as Columbus.

So thank the hockey gods for that heavy-handed cluster. If only the Buckeyes weren’t 1-8-0 against that field in 2007-08.

Fated?

“We have aspirations of moving up,” says Markell, “but we also understand that we’re such a young team that we’re going to have to work very hard to do so.”

The OSU roster includes three seniors and two juniors. The good news for the Buckeyes is that their sophomore class looked pretty good a year ago, and their incoming freshmen class is supposed to be one of the best recruiting classes in the nation this year.

“We’re looking for places for John Albert, Kyle Reed, and Peter Boyd to take care of things this year,” says Markell. Reed and Boyd are the only two double-digit goal scorers returning for OSU this year, but the Bucks only had three in all with Tommy Goebel last season.

Markell says that the sophomore class “had tremendous success last year,” and that they “understand the rigors of playing back-to-back games in a tough league.”

Boyd, a compact, speed forward from New Brunswick, has also been named one of two co-captains for the season. Boyd had four power-play goals and four game-winners last year.

Boyd, Albert, Reed — no one in the league has even heard of these guys after Ohio State’s 10th-place finish a year ago. That’s kind of the way that Markell likes it.

“How many teams fly under the radar and all of the sudden they’re very good?” asks Markell. “With these young kids, the expectation is for them to compete every night. Last year, we had some inconsistency with that. With consistency can come success.”

Unpretty Numbers

Peter Boyd is OSU's top returning scorer (photo: Jason Waldowski).

Peter Boyd is OSU’s top returning scorer (photo: Jason Waldowski).

The single area where the Buckeyes need the most improvement was evident to anyone watching an OSU game last season. “An .888 save percentage is not good enough,” says Markell, referring to the critical statistic of goaltender Joseph Palmer’s sophomore season.

“We’re just not consistent in that position,” says Markell. “I’m not saying we need great goaltending, but we need consistency.”

Pushing Palmer for the starting position will be sophomore Dustin Carlson and freshman Cal Heeter.

Three Not-So-Random Things

Returning to the Buckeyes this year are assistant coach Steve Brent and video coordinator JB Bittner. CCHA fans know these two players as guys with heart, and the OSU faithful know them as the two best captains in OSU hockey history.

Brent returns after two years spent running a daycare — no lie — and steps in where associate head coach Casey Jones steps out. Jones returned to his alma mater, Cornell, to assist there. Bittner returns after hanging up his skates.

Zach Pelletier also returns for Ohio State, and fortunately for Buckeye fans — not so much for opponents who like to remain intact — Pelletier returns to the ice. The senior missed all of last season after breaking his ankle and subsequent surgery in preseason. He also managed to graduate with his degree in criminology.

Brent and Bittner can only be positive additions to this Buckeye staff. Pelletier, the other Buckeye co-captain, is notable for his momentum-changing, regulation, open-ice hits.

2008-09 Notre Dame Season Preview

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In the span of three short years, Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson has taken his team from eighth place, to a regular-season CCHA championship, and back down to fourth place — with its first-ever Frozen Four appearance and a season ended only by a loss to Boston College in the title game.

The big question coming in to this season for the Fighting Irish is how the team will respond to so much change combined with success in such a short period of time.

“It’s still hard to say,” says Jackson. “Based on the guys I know returning, we should be okay.”

Jackson is hoping that last year’s trip to the Frozen Four will give his team “incentive to get back there.” He admits, though, that he gets “a little nervous about them knowing that they got there and thinking it’s not so difficult.”

There are at least half a dozen teams in the CCHA whose coaches wish they had the same thoughts to keep them awake at night.

No Coincidence At All

The steady climb of the Irish under Jackson came as no surprise to anyone familiar with the coach’s history. As an assistant at Lake Superior State, Jackson helped the Lakers earn the 1988 NCAA championship. Between 1990-96 as head coach at LSSU, Jackson coached the Lakers to two regular-season CCHA titles, four CCHA championships and two NCAA championships (1992, 1994).

Even if you didn’t know Jackson’s backstory, a quick look at his numbers from his brief time in South Bend tell you everything necessary to understand where Notre Dame hockey is going. Since 2005, Jackson’s record is 72-42-11. In his second season behind the bench, Jackson won the Spencer Penrose Award.

He’d be the first to tell you that his assistants, Paul Pooley and Andy Slaggart, and the entire Notre Dame staff and all of his players deserve credit for this program’s quick turnaround. They, in turn, would point to the main man himself.

Some Notre Dame Numbers

One of the dangers of the kind of late-season success that the Irish experienced last season is that it may soften the memory of what happened leading up to that run. Sure, Notre Dame went to the Frozen Four and beat CCHA regular-season and Mason Cup champions Michigan to get to the title game against Boston College, but before they got there they finished fourth in the CCHA.

And when they played BC, they lost — and Jackson knows exactly how they did it. “We scored only one goal against Boston College in the championship game. In that game against BC, we had chances.”

Scoring was one issue for the Irish last season, who were just seventh in league play offensively. “In January and February,” says Jackson, “our offensive consistency, our offensive production, our power play — those are the kinds of things that we need to continue to improve.”

Jordan Pearce and the Irish are co-favorites with Michigan this season after an epic run in the NCAA tournament (photo: Candace Horgan).

Jordan Pearce and the Irish are co-favorites with Michigan this season after an epic run in the NCAA tournament (photo: Candace Horgan).

After a first half last season that saw a 17-5-0 record — including a nine-game win streak — the Irish struggled in through the second half with four-game winless stretches in January and February, and — as Jackson implies — offensive inconsistency. Points lost to Alaska, Ferris State, Ohio State, Western Michigan, all teams behind Notre Dame in the standings. WMU blanked ND 3-0.

Along with a mediocre power play, those are the kinds of numbers that the Irish wouldn’t care to revisit.

Facts and Fate

Notre Dame returns 18 letterwinners from a year ago, and a veteran squad with postseason success can be a very powerful contender.

“When Erik Condra got hurt last year, some guys elevated their game to new levels and I’m really curious to see whether those guys will continue to be difference makers,” says Jackson. “That’s going to be huge.”

Condra was ND’s top scorer last season, as he was the two previous years, in spite of not playing the final six games of the campaign because of a knee injury. Condra returns healthy this year, and some of those guys that Jackson was talking about — juniors Kevin Deeth, Dan Kissel and Ryan Thang, and senior Christian Hanson — also return with their combined 51 overall goals. Add Condra’s totals to sophomore Ben Ryan’s, and that’s 76 of ND’s 136 markers from a year ago. In other words, six of Notre Dame’s top seven scorers — five double-digit goal scorers — are returning.

Also returning is senior goaltender Jordan Pearce, who backstopped the Irish for 2,558 minutes with a .914 save percentage.

Those are the kinds of facts that make fate.

2008-09 CCHA Season Preview

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The 2008-09 CCHA: A Numbers Game

“Coincidence,” says science fiction and fantasy writer Emma Bull, “is the word we use when we can’t see the levers and pulleys.”

On April 12, 2008, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame played the Eagles of Boston College for the NCAA men’s ice hockey championship. Notre Dame was the fourth-place CCHA team for the 2007-08 season.

On April 7, 2007, it was the Michigan State Spartans who faced Boston College in the national title game. The Spartans finished fourth in the CCHA in 2006-07.

All right. So the Irish didn’t actually win their match against the Eagles one year and six days after MSU defeated BC to give the CCHA its first national championship since Michigan beat Boston College in 1998.

And I’m sure that my colleagues Jim Connelly and Dave Hendrickson will be all blahbitty-blah all season long about the fact that Boston College won this time. Yada, yada, yada. Whatever.

Red Berenson's Wolverines are the co-favorites, along with Notre Dame, in the CCHA (photo: Melissa Wade).

Red Berenson’s Wolverines are the co-favorites, along with Notre Dame, in the CCHA (photo: Melissa Wade).

The fact remains that for the second consecutive year, the CCHA sent its fourth-place team to a national championship game — and sports prognostication is all about the facts. (Like that little stat about BC appearing in three consecutive title games. I’m sure that must mean something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.)

While the league finish of the last two CCHA national contenders may be coincidental, the league did send a team to the title game for two years running — and sent two different teams to that match, and three different CCHA teams have made Frozen Four appearances in the last two seasons.

That has to count for something.

In the 2007-08 NCAA tournament, all four CCHA teams to receive a bid — Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, and Notre Dame — advanced past the first round. The CCHA’s record in the NCAA tourney last year was 7-4, technically. Notre Dame eliminated Michigan State in the West Regional, and the Irish finished the Wolverines at the Frozen Four.

In 2006-07, the CCHA was 6-2 in NCAA tournament play (and MSU took out ND in the Midwest Regional). That’s a record of 13-6 in the past two postseasons. Compare that to the dismal league showings from 2004-2006 in NCAA tournament play (3-11), and there are your levers and pulleys.

“Ferris State, Northern Michigan, Ohio State — just the consistency of the improvement in our league and I think that our conference will be the most elite conference in college hockey this year,” says Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson. “I think that any one of the chosen top six teams could finish first and it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

If that were any coach other than Jackson, that might sound a little glib. But coming from a man who brought his team to the NCAA championship game in his third year as head coach, that carries some weight.

Or — maybe — Notre Dame is a sleeping giant that has awakened and only to add another perennial powerhouse to a rather predictable league.

Two Plus Two

There are two changes that have nothing to do with the way last season ended for the CCHA that will impact the league in yet undetermined ways.

The first is the addition of the second referee, which of course affects all of college hockey. The rationale here is that rules will be better enforced, the game will be better controlled, and each league will have a better chance to develop new referees.

Ohio State head coach John Markell welcomes this change. “It will help to clean up the game,” says Markell, who adds that certain unwanted behaviors “have crept back in” in recent seasons.

Jackson, however, has his reservations. “We tried that a long time ago and it only took us a year to move back to a one-man system.”

Every league will be making adjustments to this, but there’s a belief among fans in the CCHA — justified or no — that this league spearheads rules enforcement to such an extent that it takes half a season to make the necessary on-ice adjustments, and half a season to see real consistency in the way the new rules are enforced.

The Big One

The second major change is the addition of the shootout to decide overtime contests.

“I think the shootout is exciting,” says Michigan State head coach Rick Comley. “I think we need to eliminate ties.”

The NCAA gave leagues the opportunity to use a shootout to determine the winners of contests this season, and it should come as no surprise that the CCHA jumped on this immediately. This is a league unafraid of pioneering change in college hockey. This is also a league that has seen 90 regular-season games end in ties since the 2005.

When the league announced in August that it would go to the new shootout format, CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos said, “The drama it creates is very popular with fans and, importantly, today’s players love it.”

Sure, if they play for Miami or Michigan. Not so much, perhaps, if they’re Broncos or Nanooks.

It’s an NHL-style, three-player shootout. The teams will play a regular five-minute sudden death before going to OT, and the games will be considered as ties for purposes of NCAA tournament selection. And just like the NHL, if a team wins in regulation or overtime, it earns two points. Both teams that tie at the end of 65 minutes of play will earn a point, with the shootout winner earning an additional point, all of which will affect the league’s standings.

“I’m in favor of moving the game forward, trying to make it better, and generate a little bit of an up-tempo game,” says Jackson.

“I think it’s a heck of a way to lose a hockey game,” says Markell.

Quick to jump on the shootout bandwagon was Greg Hammaren, the vice president and GM of FSN Detroit. “This is a bold move and I think it’s a great one,” said Hammaren. FSN will televise 17 regular-season and postseason CCHA contests in 2008-09.

And that is no coincidence.

Four Never Looked Better

While the two-ref system and the new shootouts will undoubtedly impact the 2008-09 CCHA season in yet unpredictable ways, there’s one thing that everyone can count on: Northern Michigan will be playing for a national championship!

Um, that is, if Miami doesn’t head to the title game.

You see, the Wildcats were picked fourth in the CCHA preseason coaches poll, while the RedHawks were tabbed for fourth place by the media. Given the last two NCAA tournaments, one of these teams will be playing Boston College for the national championship in April.

Positively.

Of course, noted mathematician John Allen Paulos might say something completely different about the ascension of fourth-place teams from the CCHA to the NCAA championship game in two consecutive years. Writes Paulos, “A tendency to drastically underestimate the frequency of coincidence is a prime characteristic of innumerates, who generally accord great significance to correspondence of all sorts while attributing too little significance to quite conclusive but less flashy statistical evidence.”

Hey! Our fourth-place team can beat your anyplace team. Probably. Maybe. And as long as you’re not affiliated with Hockey East.

And who’s he calling an innumerate, anyway?

Here’s a look at each team, in my predicted order of finish. Individual team previews can be accessed by clicking on each team’s name.

Do not take these to Vegas.

1. Michigan

Head coach: Red Berenson
2007-08 record: 33-6-4, 20-4-4 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: first
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: first/second
Necessary repetition: “I never thought I’d be here for 25 years,” says Red Berenson. Given the consistent excellence Berenson’s been able to establish in Ann Arbor, there are probably 11 other guys in the league who would love to attend his retirement party.

2. Notre Dame

Head coach: Jeff Jackson
2007-08 record: 27-16-4, 15-9-4 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: fourth
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: first/fourth
Necessary repetition: “We only scored one goal against Boston College in the championship game,” says Jeff Jackson, emphasizing his team’s need to produce offensively when it counts — and it always counts.

3. Michigan State

Head coach: Rick Comley
2007-08 record: 25-12-5, 19-6-3 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: third
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: first/fourth
Necessary repetition: “I think you enjoy coaching young teams because they’re very enthusiastic,” says Rick Comley. With 11 freshmen on the roster, that’s a lot of enthusiasm.

4. Miami

Head coach: Enrico Blasi
2007-08 record: 33-8-1, 21-6-1 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: second
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: first/fourth
Necessary repetition: “We feel real good about our team,” says Enrico Blasi, the CCHA’s new master of understatement. Sure, the RedHawks parted ways with highlight-reel players, but the gents who remain are very photogenic.

5. Northern Michigan

Head coach: Walt Kyle
2007-08 record: 20-20-4, 12-13-3 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: sixth
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: fifth/eighth
Necessary repetition: “I’m happy with our group,” says Walt Kyle. Why wouldn’t he be? With nothing riding on his young Wildcats last season, NMU returned to Joe Louis Arena to lay a solid foundation for this season.

6. Ferris State

Head coach: Bob Daniels
2007-08 record: 18-16-5, 12-12-4 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: fifth
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: fifth/eighth
Necessary repetition: “We only have four returning defensemen,” says Bob Daniels. With Pat Nagle in net, though, this may not be an issue — and defense never seems to be the problem for the Bulldogs, anyway.

7. Nebraska-Omaha

Head coach: Mike Kemp
2007-08 record: 17-19-4, 11-13-4 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: eighth
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: fifth/eighth
Necessary repetition: “The real key to our success on the road last year was team unity,” says Mike Kemp, whose Mavericks played as evenly away from Omaha as they did at home. Chemistry is nice, but finding players to score 50 goals lost from last season would be even nicer.

8. Ohio State

Head coach: John Markell
2007-08 record: 12-25-4, 7-18-3 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: 11th
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: sixth/10th
Necessary repetition: “As far as our cluster, I think this is a 12-team cluster,” says John Markell. That’s a very healthy approach to being perennially paired with Miami and being clustered with Michigan and Michigan State this season.

9. Bowling Green

Head coach: Scott Paluch
2007-08 record: 18-21-0, 13-15-0 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: seventh
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: sixth/10th
Necessary repetition: “I think it’s going to be a challenging cluster,” says Scott Paluch, whose Falcons are perennially paired with new superpower, Notre Dame. Add NMU and LSSU to that mix — and miles and miles and miles.

10. Alaska

Head coach: Dallas Ferguson
2007-08 record: 9-21-5, 8-16-4 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: ninth
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: seventh/12th
Necessary repetition: “I think what’s important,” says first-year head coach Dallas Ferguson, “is our identity of Nanook hockey and what it’s been.” Given that Ferguson is the third head coach in three years, that is a very interesting statement indeed.

11. Lake Superior

Head coach: Jim Roque
2007-08 record: 10-20-7, 7-15-6 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: 10th
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: seventh/12th
Necessary repetition: “We hope to have a much better start this year and get back to Joe Louis,” says Jim Roque, whose Lakers were 2-11-3 in the first half of the 2007-08 season.

12. Western Michigan

Head coach: Jim Culhane
2007-08 record: 8-27-3, 4-22-2 CCHA
2007-08 CCHA finish: 12th
2008-09 predicted ceiling/basement: ninth/12th
Necessary repetition: “Goal scoring for us at times last year was difficult,” says Jim Culhane. With the 53rd-best offense in the nation in 2007-08, that’s no understatement.

2008-09 Alaska Season Preview

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Quick: What do you think of when you think of Alaska hockey? Hard-hitting, up-and-down action that results in tough competition? A community that’s over the top about its local Division I team? A very long road trip for a weekend series, no matter your home base?

Sure, the Nanooks can be a handful for CCHA opponents, and their fans are in love with them, and the distance between them and their nearest league neighbor, Northern Michigan, is 2,540 miles as the crow flies.

But they’re also on their third head coach in as many years, and their six seniors who enjoyed 18 wins during their rookie season spent this past summer thinking about the nine victories they had in 2007-08.

“I think what’s important is our identity of Nanook hockey and what it’s been,” says Dallas Ferguson, UA’s new head coach and former four-year assistant. “We need to make sure that the work ethic has to be there when we talk on a daily basis and don’t take it for granted.”

If it were only a matter of the Nanook work ethic, Ferguson — also a former Nanook defenseman and captain — might have his team vying for an NCAA title in three years.

Not Just the Numbers

It’s hard to turn a season around after beginning with an eight-game winless streak. That’s what the Nanooks saw at the beginning of the 2007-08 season with new head coach Doc DelCastillo. Forget that four of those losses were to Michigan State and Michigan; Alaska never recovered, the rest of the season is unremarkable, and DelCastillo is gone.

When he resigned in April, DelCastillo cited family circumstances. His wife was pregnant with their sixth child and the DelCastillos wanted to be closer to family and friends in the Lower 48 as their numbers grew.

Before his resignation, however, DelCastillo’s status was “under review,” according to University of Alaska vice chancellor Jake Poole, who spoke to the Fairbanks News-Miner.

There is no indication that DelCastillo resigned in advance of anything untoward, but there are plenty of signs that his single year in Fairbanks was something from which the team must also recover. Not only did the Nanooks fail to reach the 10-win mark for the first time since the 2000-01 season, but UA lost five underclassmen during the 2007-08 season and subsequent summer, including two of the Nanooks’ top three scorers.

Ferguson has a lot to do in Fairbanks — but he also has a pretty good number to work with in his first year during the upcoming season.

Hoping It’s No Coincidence

The Nanooks bring in a dozen newcomers this season, a fresh slate with which to work to rebuild that Alaska brand. And yet in spite of the number of freshmen, the average age of the team is 21.7 years, the second-oldest in the CCHA. Enthusiastic new players plus experience could pay immediate interest for Alaska.

Dallas Ferguson takes over behind the Alaska bench.

Dallas Ferguson takes over behind the Alaska bench.

“I think with the insertion of the 12 freshmen we have coming in, I think that it’s going to enable us to be a little more attacking this year,” says Ferguson. “I think [with] their skating ability and hockey IQ…we have improved in that department.”

The last time the Nanooks brought in such a large rookie class was the only year Alaska made an appearance at the CCHA tournament in Detroit, back in 2004-05.

Two freshman forwards, Carlo Finucci (BCHL) and Ron Meyers (AJHL), each netted 33 goals in junior hockey last season. Finucci comes in legal to consume adult beverages in every state of the Union, while Meyers is relatively young at 19.

Offense is an area that UA needs to address, having averaged 2.18 goals per game in CCHA play last season. But even being tied for 10th among CCHA teams offensively, the Nanooks were capable of playing it close, outscored in 28 league games by fewer than 20 goals.

One of Alaska’s double-digit goal scorers from a year ago, Dion Knelsen, returns. Landon Novotney, who netted 16 goals as a rookie for UA last season, is now playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.

Both Finucci and Meyers are capable of replacing Novotney’s output. Then again, Knelsen scored 39 goals in the AJHL before registering five as a freshman at Fairbanks, and 11 last year. There’s just no knowing.

Fate or Fact?

The Nanooks never use their location as an excuse for anything and suggesting that their distance from the rest of the league might be an insurmountable disadvantage is near blasphemy among the UA faithful, but there is no question that where they are affects how and what they can produce. That’s not to say that they can’t orchestrate greatness from Fairbanks, but those Nanook faithful are still awaiting its arrival.

Fairbanks provides challenges for recruiting both players and coaches. Two notably good coaches in recent Nanook history — Guy Gadowsky and Tavis MacMillan — have left for more southerly pastures. Gadowsky took the Princeton Tigers to the NCAA tournament last season, and MacMillan scouts for the Atlanta Thrashers.

To be sure, the departures of Novotney and outstanding junior defenseman Tyler Eckford will factor in to this year’s season for the Nanooks. So will having to say goodbye to Wylie Rogers, who logged nearly 1800 consistently excellent minutes in net for UA last season.

Ferguson says that he’s confident that senior netminder Chad Johnson, injured last season, will be able to backstop Alaska, and that the multidimensional Eckford will be replaced “by committee.”

The committee that matters most for the Alaska Nanooks this season, though, is a committee of one: Dallas Ferguson.

2008-09 Michigan Season Preview

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Michigan head coach Red Berenson has something he wants you to know.

“Even though our team finished in first place and we won the CCHA championship and we got to the Frozen Four, we still have something to prove this season,” says Berenson. “We won everything but the national championship.”

Ah. That little piece of hardware.

There is no mystery to Michigan’s consistent excellence. It comes from the top down. Berenson has built the kind of hockey culture in Ann Arbor that nearly any team in the country would want to emulate.

“We’ve been lucky to obviously recruit good players,” says Berenson. “I can’t say we’ve been able to keep them. We’ve had a lot of players leave early but we’ve had a lot of players stay.”

One player who opted out after only one season is forward Max Pacioretty, the 2007-08 CCHA Rookie of the Year. Last year, he played with seniors Kevin Porter and Chad Kolarik, and the trio was responsible for 78 of Michigan’s 170 overall goals.

Actually, Pacioretty only netted 15 of those goals, with Porter and Kolarik splitting the remainder nearly evenly. They’ll score more in San Antonio. They play a longer season in that league.

No Coincidence At All

Pacioretty walked out the door, but senior defenseman Mark Mitera decided to stay. This year’s Wolverine captain and first-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks “had the opportunity to leave Michigan more than once,” says Berenson, but has remained a Wolverine.

“He’s our captain and a great example of a true student-athlete,” says Berenson, “one of those top students who’s also a top player. These are the kinds of kids that I think the CCHA should be proud of, the kids that stay and graduate and then move on and make us proud.”

If Billy Sauer can repeat his outstanding 2007-08 season, Michigan could be in for another long run (photo: Melissa Wade).

If Billy Sauer can repeat his outstanding 2007-08 season, Michigan could be in for another long run (photo: Melissa Wade).

With such glowing praise from a man who doesn’t offer what’s not deserved, it’s a wonder anyone leaves Michigan early at all.

Early departure may be the price of excellence, but there are always other talented players in Ann Arbor ready to emerge into the CCHA spotlight.

“When you lose a player, we’re not a one-player team,” says Berenson. “Last year, there were a lot of questions. We lost T.J. Hensick, Andrew Cogliano, Jack Johnson, but we wound up with a better team with Porter’s leadership and Billy Sauer’s emergence.”

Also Not Coincidental

Last year, what had been a liability for the Wolverines for two years, the play of goaltender Billy Sauer, became one of the team’s biggest assets. Sauer was 17 when he started in net for Michigan, and in his first two seasons of play, he averaged a .897 save percentage.

Last year, an older and more confident junior, Sauer’s save percentage soared to .924. It certainly helped to have former UM goaltender Josh Blackburn back to mentor Sauer.

“It helps to have Bryan Hogan ready to take his job,” says Berenson.

Brilliant.

Fact and Fate

“We have to replace our top line,” says Berenson. It’s a fact that Porter was key in every situation, with a plus-minus that was +35 overall, 15 power-play goals, and five game-winners. Kolarik had seven game-winning goals himself.

But putting together another top line shouldn’t be to hard for a team that has learned to create its own fate, year in and out. Sophomores Louie Caporusso, Carl Hagelin, Aaron Palushaj and Matt Rust all had double-digit goal totals during their rookie years, and senior Travis Turnbull netted 15 goals.

The Wolverines also return veteran defensemen.

With Sauer in net and so many guns, this new shootout thing probably worries the Wolverines as much as the loss of Max Pacioretty.

2008-09 Ferris State Season Preview

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There’s nothing complicated about the Ferris State Bulldogs. They play hard. They win games. They have depth and good special teams. They’re well coached.

It’s just that a Chris Kunitz doesn’t come along very often for a team like Ferris State.

At the CCHA media day this year, head coach Bob Daniels was keenly aware of the repetition of the league’s annual preseason exercise. “I feel like I usually come here and say we are going to struggle to score and it will be scoring by committee,” said Daniels.

The thing is, whenever Daniels speaks, he’s usually right.

A Number of ‘Dogs

The Bulldogs return four double-digit goal scorers this season, two juniors and two seniors: Cody Chupp, Blair Riley, Brendan Connolly and Justin Lewandowski. While it’s unlikely that any one of them will put up Kunitz-like numbers this year, the four were responsible for 49 of FSU’s 109 overall goals. Sophomores Mike Fillinger and Justin Menke kicked in another 14. That’s a pretty good committee.

“We do return a lot of scoring,” says Daniels. “Our expectations are high, [but] I think confidence will only last the first couple of games.”

In other words, these ‘Dogs have to do some barking early. How smart was it, then, for Daniels to schedule two home games against Canisius and two on the road against Robert Morris to begin Division I play? With the 47th-best and 57th-best defenses in the nation last year, respectively, these two teams may provide an opportunity for Ferris State to exercise those scoring muscles before heading into CCHA play.

No Coincidence

Bob Daniels enters his 17th season as FSU head coach (photo: Melissa Wade).

Bob Daniels enters his 17th season as FSU head coach (photo: Melissa Wade).

The Bulldogs landed in fifth place in the final CCHA standings last season, with a .500 record in league play and six points behind fourth-place Notre Dame, against whom they had a 2-1-1 regular-season record and one win in the best-of-three, second-round playoff series.

This was the best showing for any Ferris State squad since 2002-03, the year that Kunitz helped take the Bulldogs to the CCHA regular-season championship and the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament invitation.

Not only did the 2007-08 Bulldogs score by committee, but their 2.51 goals allowed per game put them among the top 20 defensive teams in the country.

In short, FSU improved in any every last season, and there are plenty of returning Bulldogs (18) to help carry that momentum into this season. “We would like to make a push for the top four of the league,” says Daniels. It’s a lofty goal for a team always holding up the middle of the pack, but if any team can make the climb, it’s Ferris State.

Another Interesting Number

Ewigleben Arena, the barn the Bulldogs call home, underwent a $3.3 million renovation last season in an effort to help keep up with the Joneses. The Joneses in the CCHA neighborhood are, of course, Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, and Notre Dame, teams that now seem poised to occupy the top four league spots annually, teams that have inherent recruiting advantages that the Ferris States of this world are always lacking.

The improvements to Ewigleben include new piping and cement on the ice floor, new dashers, new seamless glass panels, new lighting, and some locker-room upgrades.

2008-09 Michigan State Season Preview

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It’s a fact that hockey players don’t like to be referred to as elfin. It’s a theory that’s been tested on several players from Parma, Ohio, and word that was bandied about among the local reporters in the press room at the 2006 Frozen Four in St. Louis.

Still, if you play for Rick Comley, you’d better have a really good sense of humor — even if it’s about your stature.

At this year’s CCHA media day, Michigan State’s head coach began his remarks by introducing senior goaltender Jeff Lerg, who will be this year’s Spartan captain.

“I would like to announce that we put Jeff Lerg on a stretching program this summer, and he is now five-eleven,” Comley said.

Lerg, listed as 5’6″ on the MSU roster, could do nothing but smile. Laughter is a requirement for the Spartan locker room, and not because it makes up for shortcomings in the Michigan State hockey program. (See? It’s contagious.)

It’s just that Comley brings a demeanor to his job that’s easy to be around. He and his staff are all business, but they can afford a little perspective. Sure, losing to Notre Dame in the West Regional of the NCAA tournament was a hard way for the Spartans to end their 2007-08 season. After all, they wanted to defend that 2006-07 national championship.

Aha! That’s what makes it work in East Lansing. There couldn’t be any coincidence.

A Few Numbers

Too much has been made about Jeff Lerg’s height. The kid plays like a giant, especially in postseason. What makes him remarkable is the way he prepares for playing with chronic asthma, the way he keeps an astronomically high GPA while logging nearly every minute in the Spartan net, and the way he’s easy to smile — even at jokes at his own expense — when he’s not getting down to business.

No one thinks higher of Lerg than Comley. “When we pick captains within my program,” says Comley, “there are basically two votes. The players get one, and I get one. And if there’s a tiebreaker, I get another one. Fortunately, we didn’t need a tiebreaker this year.”

In his first three seasons, Lerg posted an average save percentage of .922. This year, he becomes the second goalie in Spartan history to wear the “C,” after Dave Versical, who did so in 1977-78, nine years before Lerg was born.

Like any captain, Lerg will be the leader of this Spartan team in more ways than one this season. MSU welcomes 11 new players this season, three of whom grace the blue line: Tim Buttery, Matt Crandell, and Brock Shelgren.

How respected is Jeff Lerg in the Spartan locker room? The goalie is MSU's captain this season (photo: Ray Bartnikowski).

How respected is Jeff Lerg in the Spartan locker room? The goalie is MSU’s captain this season (photo: Ray Bartnikowski).

“I think I learned on our campus very early that it doesn’t do you any good to talk about freshmen,” says Comley. “When they put jerseys on and skate on the ice, our community, our media expect that they’re all great players.”

The price of excellence.

Levers and Pulleys

Like other consistently excellent programs, Michigan State pays another price for excellence: early departures. Tim Kennedy and Justin Abdelkader — MSU’s top two scorers a year ago — left early for professional hockey, as did sophomore defenseman Michael Ratchuk.

Lost the right way (that would be, through graduation) are Bryan Lerg and Chris Mueller. Kennedy, Abdelkader, Lerg and Mueller accounted for 72 of MSU’s 135 overall goals.

But just like other consistently excellent programs, the Spartans are still loaded while reloading. Seniors Tim Crowder, Matt Schepke, and Nick Sucharski can help carry the proverbial torch; they had 35 goals between them last year and 12 power-play markers. Look for sophomore Corey Tropp and a few of those untalked-about freshmen to fill out the ranks.

“I think you enjoy coaching young teams because they’re very enthusiastic,” says Comley. “They’ll play hard.

“We know what battles we have ahead of us. We’ve had a pretty good run here in the last couple years and I expect that to continue, although we’ll have to grow as the year goes on.”

Pure Coincidence

MSU welcomes 11 newcomers. Comley needs 11 wins to reach 750 all-time.

If the Spartans streak out of the gate, Comley could reach that plateau in the 11th month of the year.

2008-09 Bowling Green Season Preview

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“As far as our club,” says Bowling Green head coach Scott Paluch, “we’re going to get going.”

Paluch, now entering his seventh season behind the BG bench, is a sincere and genuinely optimistic guy. It’s hard not to respond to the earnestness of his voice when he talks about his team’s future — and last season, it seems, the Falcons responded.

Bowling Green finished seventh in CCHA play with 13 league wins after two consecutive seasons in 12th place. The Falcons were 8-8-0 overall in the first half of the 2007-08 season, including a five-game win streak in November. But BGSU struggled to find consistency throughout the rest of its season, putting together back-to-back wins just twice more for the rest of the campaign.

This year, the Falcons draw Northern Michigan and Lake Superior as clustermates, teams against which BGSU had a 2-2-0 regular-season record. The Falcons eliminated the Lakers in three games during the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

Bowling Green lost all four of its contests to perennial partner Notre Dame last season. “I think it’s going to be a challenging cluster,” says Paluch.

No Coincidence

The entire team was elevated last season by the play of three key players. In his senior season, Derek Whitmore had 27 goals, making him sixth-best nationally in goal production per game. “Twenty-seven goals is a very difficult number for players to get these days,” says Paluch. “I think we are in a situation where we have a lot of guys who are capable of improving our numbers from a year ago.”

One of those guys is one of the other three key Falcon players from last year’s squad, sophomore Jacob Cepis, BGSU’s leading returning scorer. Another player poised to improve is junior Todd McIlrath, who had pretty good numbers in the USHL for two seasons before joining the Falcons. Look to sophomore Dan Sexton and junior Kai Kantola to join the Whitmore Replacement Committee as well.

The third player key to last year’s team improvement is sophomore goaltender Nick Eno, who won 12 games overall for Bowling Green and seemed to provide a steady and promising presence in net.

Not Just Numbers

Scott Paluch looks to build on last season's improvement at Bowling Green (photo: Melissa Wade).

Scott Paluch looks to build on last season’s improvement at Bowling Green (photo: Melissa Wade).

Last season, Falcons had that certain indefinable quality that can elevate a team when it’s feeling down. Defenseman Kevin Schmidt embodies this — shall we call it passion? — better than any other player on the BG roster.

Paluch calls Schmidt an “underrated defenseman” and is counting on the blueliner to have a career season his senior year. “Kevin Schmidt had two overtime game winners amongst his goal production last year,” says Paluch. “Kevin gets up and down the ice very, very well, and gets the puck up the ice.”

Schmidt’s transition game is indisputable. So is his, um, passion, something at which he and the Falcons excelled last season. Bowling Green was the third-most penalized team in college hockey last season, sharing that passion with Western Michigan — a team whom the Falcons beat thrice in overtime, four times altogether.

It was in that third game that Falcons and Broncos shared something very passionate: 207 combined penalty minutes. That was also the only game in the season series that did not go into OT.

Even without last season’s special moments with Western, Bowling Green was a rather, um, physical team. If the Falcons are going to continue in this vein, they’ll need to improve their penalty kill, which at just over 82 percent was 36th-best in the nation.

And don’t forge the extra set of eyes on the ice this season, eyes capable of seeing a whole lot of love and probably eager to call it tightly in the first half of the year.

An Interesting Fact

Bowling Green was the only team in the league not to have registered an overtime tie last season. The Falcons’ overall record was 18-21-0. Given the committee necessary to replace Derek Whitmore, BGSU will probably play just as hard to win in OT this season as it did in 2007-08.

2008-09 Mercyhurst Season Preview

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The injury bug hit the Lakers pretty hard last season. Mercyhurst was without goaltender Matt Lundin for the first part of the season and lost star forward Ryan Toomey in December. Leading scorer Ben Cottreau was lost for a crucial seven-game stretch as well.

But Rick Gotkin’s team played though the adversity and came within a goal of the NCAA tournament, losing to Air Force in overtime in the Atlantic Hockey title game. It was the Lakers’ third game in three days under the league’s “Final Five” format. Lundin was outstanding the in postseason, allowing five goals in five games leading up to the title game.

And what do they say about doing it with one hand tied behind your back?

“(Lundin) was at 50% last season,” said Gotkin. “He was a warrior. The shoulder would pop out and he’d throw himself down on the ice to pop it back in. He basically played with one arm.”

Gotkin is excited about the possibility of a healthy Lundin, who had surgery in the offseason.

“Knock on wood, he seems to fine,” Gotkin said. “And we need him to be. He’s the center of our universe.”

Toomey got a medical redshirt and will play again this season.

“He’s the first fifth-year senior in the history of the program,” said Gotkin. “We’re excited to have him back. We’ll need him and the rest of the guys to step up.”

The Lakers will look to Matt Lundin, coming off offseason surgery, to raise their hopes this year (photo: Angelo Lisuzzo).

The Lakers will look to Matt Lundin, coming off offseason surgery, to raise their hopes this year (photo: Angelo Lisuzzo).

The key cog that’s missing is Cottreau, who tallied 156 points in 132 games for the Lakers.

“The only way to replace a guy like that is by committee,” said Gotkin. “We had some guys finish strong last year but we need them to get off to good starts this season and get the ball rolling.”

Also back are forwards Matt Pierce (27 points) and Scott Pitt (21 points) as well as blueliners Cullen Eddy and Matt Fennel. Ryan Zapolski did a decent job filling in for Lundin (.896 save percentage in 13 games), so Gotkin now has an experienced backup if he needs one. Newcomer Max Strang is also expected to fight for time in net.

Last year, Mercyhurst had a monster non-league schedule, which included Notre Dame, Main, and Michigan State. This year is no different with an opening trip to St. Cloud, followed the next weekend by a trek to Alaska and then back on the road again to Nebraska-Omaha.

‘We thought last year was too easy,” Gotkin laughed. “We’re not the type of program that’s going to be known for a glossy win-loss record. That’s our scheduling philosophy — to play tough games and that will make us a better team down the stretch.

“We hope to reap the rewards.”

2008-09 Canisius Season Preview

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The steadily-improving Golden Griffins are probably a year away from challenging for an Atlantic Hockey title, but things are certainly moving in the right direction.

“This is the most talented team I’ve had,” said coach Dave Smith. “We’ve had two really good recruiting classes and I think we have a third. Every class has come in unproven and stepped up to make significant contributions.”

The large junior class includes Josh Heidinger (26 points last season), Jason Weeks (20), defenseman Carl Hudson (four power-play goals) and goaltender Andrew Loewen (.911 save percentage).

If it seems like these guys have already been at Canisius a long time, it’s because they were given significant responsibilities as rookies.

“From day one we have expected a lot from that class,” said Smith. “Now they’re upperclassmen and even more comfortable with what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Add last year’s freshmen to the mix — Vinnie Scarsella led the team with 31 points, and Cory Conacher’s 0.85 points per game was tops for Canisius — and you have the makings of a team that’s both young and experienced.

SMITH

SMITH

“Our seniors have been our character guys and good leaders,” said Smith, “We’ll miss David (Kasch) and Kyle (Bushee). But I think we have more skill than ever before.

“Winning takes depth. You need to be able to go four lines deep in this league and I think we’re able to do that. Depth takes time but I think we’re there.”

The Griffs’ nonconference schedule will take them to Ferris State for a pair to open the season, with a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Clarkson.

“It’s a tough test on the road right away,” said Smith. “Then we get right into league play at Holy Cross. We’ll reassess after those four games and have a better idea of what we have.”

2008-09 RIT Season Preview

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The Tigers didn’t show signs of a sophomore slump last season, their second in Atlantic Hockey. After winning the regular season title in 2007, RIT finished second in 2008 before falling to eventual champion Air Force in the semifinals.

But gone are Hobey Baker finalist Simon Lambert (51 points last season) and Matt Smith, who led the nation in power-play goals (17).

Losing 47% of your goal production might keep a coach up at night, but coach Wayne Wilson says he thinks his team will score as many goals as last season, if not more.

“We’re going to need a lot of guys to step up and fill those roles, and we have the skill to do it,” said Wilson. “It was hard to argue with our power play when you have a guy like Smith scoring the way he did, but it was one-dimensional at times and not as good as it could have been. We want to involve more guys and will need to get scoring from a lot of people.”

Junior Matt Crowell had 11 goals last season, a distant third on the team, but Wilson says he and others, including freshmen, will be playing big roles.

“Matt has a sense of being a guy who’s counted on this season,” said Wilson. “(Sean) Murphy had an unbelievable season last year under the circumstances. Al Mazur will be playing a much bigger role on the power play.”

Louis Menard, now a junior, will man the pipes again for the Tigers.

Louis Menard, now a junior, will man the pipes again for the Tigers.

All-league defenseman Dan Ringwald is back for his junior campaign, leading a group of blueliners that includes four veterans and four rookies.

“It’s going to be very competitive for (the defense),” said Wilson. “We’ve got eight guys that can all really play.”

Up front some rookies will see their fair share of playing time, including freshmen Mark Cornacchia and Scott Knowles, as well as sophomore Tyler Brenner, who was ineligible last season.

“Cornacchia is one of the fastest skaters in college hockey,” said Wilson. “Knowles is quick, productive player and Brenner is a big, strong forward that will have an immediate impact on the power play.”

Goaltender Louis Menard (.902 save percentage) returns, backed up by fellow junior Jared DeMichiel.

“Jared came in way more prepared than last year and is ready to play,” said Wilson, whose team played postseason hockey for the first time in three years last season.

“It was an adjustment after having nothing to play for but the regular-season title (the year before),” he said. “We learned that we need to change the focus and not make the regular season the be-all, end-all.”

2008-09 Air Force Season Preview

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When Eric Ehn broke his leg on January 19 of last season, many saw the Air Force Falcons’ chances of repeating as Atlantic Hockey champions carried off on a stretcher with him. Ehn had been a Hobey Hat Trick finalist the year before, and was the reigning Player of the Year in the AHA.

The Falcons did indeed go into a funk after, getting swept by arch rival Army and having to settle for a tie against Bentley at home. But after that, Air Force suffered only two losses the rest of the way, winning the AHA playoff title and taking Miami to the limit, falling 3-2 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

What the Falcons were able to accomplish without Ehn, who did play in the loss to Miami, bodes well for this season now that he has graduated.

“No question that what we accomplished without Eric was big for us,” said Falcon coach Frank Serratore. “It showed we weren’t a one-man band.”

Two players that stepped up their game last season and have to be counted on again are senior forward Brett Olson and junior goalie Andrew Volkening. Both were superb down the stretch.

Volkening played in all 39 games last season, posting a 2.08 GAA and a .911 save percentage, both school records. After competing with three other goalies for playing time as a freshman, Volkening got the start in the 2007 Atlantic Hockey final and has rarely left the net since.

“That was the gutsiest decision ever made by this coaching staff,” Serratore recalled. “(Ben) Worker had done the job for us but didn’t look good in the semifinal (a 5-4 overtime win over Sacred Heart). “Andrew had lost the (starting) job and hadn’t played for a month. But he had been working hard and looking good in practice.”

Serratore’s hunch paid off and he expects Volkening to again carry the load.

“He’s an unassuming guy who comes to work every day,” Serratore said. “He leads by example. All our upperclassmen do.”

SERRATORE

SERRATORE

Olson, who led the team in goals last season (18), is another example. He was bounced off the team for grades his sophomore year, but returned with a vengeance last season, getting results on and off the ice.

“He’s really developed here,” said Serratore. “He’s transformed himself physically and mentally. With Brett it’s all about the work ethic.

“There’s not a bad player in the junior and senior classes. All lead by example. This team definitely belongs to the upperclassmen.”

That group also includes all-conference defenseman Greg Flynn and forwards Jeff Hajney (38 points) and junior Matt Fairchild (29 points). In all, the Falcons return 11 of their top 13 scorers and four defenseman.

“It’s going to be a real battle (to repeat),” said Serratore. “Every team has a good goalie and every team can beat you. We didn’t get a sweep at home all season until the playoffs.

“We need to play our system and bring our new players along. If we do that, we’ll be O.K.”

2008-09 Atlantic Hockey Season Preview

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“It’s a goalie’s league.”

I agree completely with Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin’s assessment. It’s shared by all the coaches in the league as well. AHA returns all ten of its starting goaltenders in 2008-2009, and only three are seniors.

“Every team has a goalie that can beat you,” said Army coach Brian Riley. “Goals are so hard to come by in this league.”

Who’s the best on any given night? All-American Josh Kassel of Army? All-League netminder Beau Erickson at UConn? All-Rookie goalie Joe Calvi of Bentley? What about Andrew Volkening, who led Air Force to its second consecutive title? Matt Lundin of Mercyhurst, who, now healthy, may be the best of the bunch? RIT’s Louis Menard? Sacred Heart’s Stefan Drew? Adam Roy at Holy Cross? Andrew Loewen at Canisius? AIC’s Dan Ramirez?

Air Force's Andrew Volkening is among the plethora of returning netminders in Atlantic Hockey this season (photo: Melissa Wade).

Air Force’s Andrew Volkening is among the plethora of returning netminders in Atlantic Hockey this season (photo: Melissa Wade).

All but Ramirez had save percentages over .900 and GAA’s below 3.00 last season. All stole at least one game for their teams.

Some rule changes might help increase scoring — moving more faceoffs to the lower dots and not letting the defensive team change on an icing are on the books this season. Adding an additional referee will probably result in more power plays.

“I think (the rule changes) will create more offensive opportunities,” said Sacred Heart coach Shaun Hannah. “But you have to take advantage of those chances. These teams all know how to play defense and all have talented and athletic goalies.”

While the guys in net will be the same this year, the playoff format won’t.

Again.

For the sixth time in as many seasons, a new postseason format is being rolled out. This year, Atlantic Hockey decided to abandon its “Final Five” format and will send four teams to Blue Cross Arena.

Teams finishing seventh through 10th will play a single first-round game with the higher seeds hosting on Saturday, March 7. The quarterfinals, held at the top four seeds, will be a best-of-three series played March 13-15. The surviving four teams will play in the semifinals at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester on Friday, March 20, with the title game slated for Saturday, March 2

Who will be there is anyone’s guess, but one thing for sure is that the guys between the pipes will have their say.

“It’s tough sometimes,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore. “You play well, you do everything right you need to do to win the game. You should win the game.

“But you don’t because of their frickin’ goalie.”

Click on any team name at the top of a section below to view its individual season preview. Teams are listed in order of predicted finish by USCHO.com

Air Force

2007-08 overall record: 21-12-6
2007-08 AHA record: 14-9-5
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Third
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): First
Outlook: Can the Falcons three-peat? Losing Eric Ehn to injury didn’t slow them down last year, so losing him to graduation probably won’t either.

Mercyhurst

2007-08 overall record: 15-19-7
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 11-10-7
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Fifth
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): Second
Outlook: A healthy Matt Lundin is a scary thought for the rest of the league.

RIT

2007-08 overall record: 19-12-6
2007-08 AHA record: 15-8-5
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Second
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): Third
Outlook: The Tigers lost a lot of offensive production to graduation, but now have four full classes of Division I recruits.

Army

2007-08 overall record: 19-14-4
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 17-8-3
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: First
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): Fifth
Outlook: Losing 12 seniors will hurt, but having the best player in the league is a nice consolation.

Sacred Heart

2007-08 overall record: 16-19-3
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 14-11-3
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Fourth
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches poll): Fourth
Outlook: Always near the top of the standings, expect Bear Trapp to have a monster year and the Pioneers to again challenge for the league title.

Canisius

2007-08 overall record: 11-20-6
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 10-13-5
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Tied for Sixth
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): Seventh
Outlook: The Griffs may be a year away, but I think they’ll make some serious noise this season and wouldn’t be surprised to see them holding a home-ice playoff spot if they play to their potential.

Bentley

2007-08 overall record: 9-21-6
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 9-13-6
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Eighth
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll) : Ninth
Outlook:The coaches picked the Falcons to finish ninth, but with everybody back and an All-Rookie goalie, I think they’ll be better than that.

Connecticut

2007-08 overall record: 13-21-3
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 11-14-3
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Tied for Sixth
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): Eighth
Outlook: The Huskies will be young and will probably go as far as Beau Erickson can carry them.

Holy Cross

2007-08 overall record: 10-19-7
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 9-15-4
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Ninth
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): Sixth
Outlook: Besides Adam Roy, the key to the Crusaders’ season will be killing penalties. Their power play was outstanding last year. The PK? Not so much.

American International

2007-08 overall record: 8-23-5
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey record: 8-17-3
2007-08 Atlantic Hockey finish: Tenth
2008-09 predicted finish (coaches’ poll): Tenth
Outlook: Each of the past three seasons have meant more wins for the Yellow Jackets, but they’ll be hard pressed to do it again with the loss of some key talent.

2008-09 Holy Cross Season Preview

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Take a team that last year defeated Providence, Army, Sacred Heart (twice), and tied Merrimack, Vermont, Western Michigan and Air Force, sported one of the top power plays in the nation (25.2%) and had 10 seniors on the roster. What would your guess be at their overall record? Probably better than 10-19-7.

But that was the story for the Holy Cross Crusaders, who played very well at times, but could never string together more than two straight wins last year.

“We had some bad breaks last year,” said coach Paul Pearl. “We struggled scoring goals five-on-five and had our problems on the penalty kill.”

The stats bear Pearl out. Despite having a top-notch power play, the Crusaders finished second last in the league in goals per game (2.36) and last in penalty kill (75.4%).

“We couldn’t clear the puck (on the penalty kill),” said Pearl. “Some bad breaks, but you make your own and we didn’t do that.”

While Holy Cross loses those 10 seniors, the silver lining is that the Crusaders return eight of their top 10 scorers, including leading point-getter Brodie Sheahan (33 points last season). Also back are sophomore Everett Sheen (a team-leading 15 goals) and Mark Znutas, who had an outstanding rookie season on the blue line.

PEARL

PEARL

“We had two good power-play units last season and we expect to this season,” said Pearl. “And we’re going to get better defensively.”

Goaltender Adam Roy saw a lot of shots in his rookie season but posted a .911 save percentage. That’s something the Crusaders can build on.

“We have the personnel to get it done,” said Pearl. “And Adam is a good goalie in a league filled with good goalies. And our other two goalies will challenge him. Sometimes that’s what a game will come down to — whose goalie plays better. Every team looks better when their goalie is playing well.”

One key for the Crusaders is how long it will take its large freshman class to jell. RPI transfer Jordan Cyr will also be in the mix.

“Our goal is to get better as the season progresses and get one of those top four spots,” said Pearl. “Home ice is such an important advantage in the playoffs. We want to do well in the regular season. I think that’s the true test because it’s such a long battle.”

2008-09 Bentley Season Preview

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The Bentley Falcons’ goal is simple — recapture the magic that saw them reach the Atlantic Hockey finals three years ago.

Since then, Bentley has finished in eighth place the past two seasons. Coach Ryan Soderquist says the lack of improvement last year was especially disheartening.

“I was extremely disappointed in the way we finished,” said Soderquist. “We didn’t have the effort we needed at the end of the season and in our playoffs with Air Force.”

The good news is that despite being picked to finish ninth in this year’s preseason poll, the Falcons return almost intact and can hopefully use that experience.

“We have what it takes,” said Soderquist. “We need these 27 guys to decide what kind of season they want to have.”

Bentley will look to seniors Dain Prewitt (32 points last season) and Jeff Gumaer (18 points), as well as AHA Rookie of the Year Erik Peterson (16 goals) to light the lamp and All-Rookie goaltender Joe Calvi (.913 save percentage) to hold down the fort.

SODERQUIST

SODERQUIST

Soderquist says the Falcons have added some talented freshmen to a defense has to provide better support to Calvi, who saw 1,025 shots last season.

“We need to play with more confidence on defense,” he said. “We gave the opposition too much room to work last season.”

Bentley’s schedule includes nonconference games at Ohio State, Maine, Colgate, and Rensselaer.

“It’s the best schedule we’ve ever had,” said Soderquist. “Senior leadership will be the key. When this senior class were freshmen, they took us to the (AHA) finals. They know how hard you have to work to get there. We’re a senior-heavy team and we finish up with a lot of home games. Hopefully, that will work to our advantage.”

2008-09 American International Season Preview

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The AIC Yellow Jackets have shown steady improvement in recent seasons, but haven’t been able to escape the Atlantic Hockey basement. The problem for AIC is that everybody’s getting better.

“The league has really been surging in terms of the emphasis schools are putting on their programs,” said coach Gary Wright, in his 25th season behind the AIC bench. “Air Force and RIT joining the league really stepped it up another notch.”

Last season the Yellow Jackets played some good hockey at times, tying Rensselaer and defeating RIT twice, but went into a funk at the end of the year, going 0-7-1 in their final eight games.

“We had a tough schedule down the stretch and didn’t respond as I’d hoped,” said Wright. “But last year I think we were a significantly improved team. We had a freshman goalie that played well and were better from top to bottom. But we have to start having it make a significant difference in terms of wins and moving up in the standings.”

Rookie goaltender Dan Ramirez was a bright spot, in net for all eight of AIC’s wins last season. But the Yellow Jackets’ team defense was last in the league, and will be even more pressed to keep opponents at bay as Wright’s squad has graduated four of its top five scorers, including all-star Jereme Tendler.

WRIGHT

WRIGHT

“How do you replace a guy like that? You don’t,” said Wright. “His skating alone was exceptional. He was a natural scorer and those are hard to come by. But we’ve got a pretty good crop of freshmen and we need our returning players to upgrade their game.”

Mike McMillan, who had a team-high 24 points last season, returns for his junior year, as well as senior David Turco (16 points) and defenseman Frankie DeAngelis (14).

“The bottom line is we need to cut down on our goals against and win more hockey games,” said Wright. “We were out of the basement for a while last season, and it felt good.”

2008-09 Sacred Heart Season Preview

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Almost every year, the Sacred Heart Pioneers are near the top of the Atlantic Hockey standings. Losing the likes of Pierre-Luc O’Brien and Jason Smith hasn’t set Sacred Heart back in recent seasons, and the same will probably be the case this time around, as Alexandre Parent graduated and took his 141 career points with him.

The Pioneers are again expected to challenge for the AHA title.

“I think it’s the consistency of having good balance year in and year out,” said coach Shaun Hannah. “We’re pretty balanced in terms of class size, so we don’t lose a lot of guys in any given class. Of course, replacing a 40 point guy (Parent) is never easy but we have other guys that will step up.”

Bear Trapp is an obvious choice. He matched Parent’s 40 points last season and is set to become the AHA’s all-time leading scorer this season.

Trapp leads a well-balanced (there’s that word again) attack that includes four other players who were in double digits for goals last season: Dave Jarman (12), Nick Johnson (12), Eric Boisvert (11) and Eric Giosa (10).

The Pioneer defense looks solid with senior captain Dave Grimson leading the way, and Stefan Drew (who was ably backed up last season by Olivier St. Onge) returns for his senior season in net.

HANNAH

HANNAH

“We’ve got the experience and the talent,” said Hannah. “The key is getting everybody together and going in the right direction.”

Hannah says two things have kept his team, which has bowed out in the AHA semifinals the past two seasons, from reaching its ultimate goal.

“Consistency (of play) and winning on the road,” he said. “You have to bring your best effort every night, and especially on the road, where it’s so hard to win in this league. Everybody’s rink is a little different, and we have to adjust to those conditions.”

The Pioneers will play four teams that made the NCAA tournament last season, including trips to Colorado College and Notre Dame, as well as hosting Niagara for a pair of games.

“It’s great for the league to get some of these games in our barns,” Hannah said. “We’re seeing more and more of it and I think it will help with (the league’s) nonconference record.

“Plus, if we’re fortunate enough to find ourselves in the national tournament, we’ll have that experience.”

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