MCHA 2002-2003 Season Outlooks

Lawrence University - Appleton, Wisconsin

The Lawrence University hockey team took a step in the right direction during the 2001-02 season. The Vikings are looking to continue that improvement during the upcoming campaign.

Lawrence finished tied for third place in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association and took the consolation championship at the MCHA Tournament for the second consecutive season. Lawrence finished the season with a 9-19 record, and that set a record for the most varsity wins in school history.

Lawrence said goodbye to five seniors, including All-MCHA forward and Hockey Humanitarian finalist Tom Conti, but the good news for the Vikings is they return a talented group of players.

Junior captain Matt Melchiori returns to anchor the team. The Appleton native set a team record with 30 points last season. He led the squad with 18 assists and was third on the team with 12 goals. Sophomore forwards Mike Burkhart and Ryan Blick also turned in outstanding freshman seasons. They will be looked upon for continued improvement and are keys to the Lawrence offense. Burkhart, a native of McKinney, Texas, led the team with 15 goals and added 13 assists for 28 points. Blick, who hails from Canton, Mich., also finished the season with 28 points after scoring 13 goals and adding 15 assists. The Vikings should get immediate help from freshman forwards Mason Oakes of Madison, Pete Mossberg of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Appleton's Paul Melchiori, the younger brother of the Vikings' captain.

The defense starts in goal with junior Jim Pfeiffelmann, a native of Kalamazoo, Mich. Pfeiffelmann had a solid season and started eight games. He took over the starting role for the last six games of the season and had a 3.81 goals against average and an .880 save percentage. Juniors Andy Fieber and Andy Gillies are critical to the Lawrence defense. These two players will serve as assistant captains and provide stability and experience to the defense. Gillies, a native of Hollywood, Fla., scored a pair of goals and had eight assists for 10 points last season. Fieber, from Dousman, had seven assists last season. Two newcomers should provide an immediate boost to the defense. Sophomore Steve MacDonald of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and freshman Andy Link of Rochester, Minn., will figure into the mix immediately.

The Vikings also welcome back 12 other letter winners and four more newcomers for the 2002-03 campaign.

Marian College - Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

The Marian College hockey team had its share of success a season ago. An 18-7-2 overall record included an undefeated run through the MCHA season at 16-0-0 and two more wins in the season-ending tournament. They ride a 27-game win streak over league opponents into the 2002-2003 season. The success on the ice led to numerous national NCAA rankings, as the Sabres were eighth in scoring margin (+2.48), ninth in scoring offense (4.93 GPG), eleventh in win percentage (.704), eleventh in scoring defense (2.44 GAA), fifteenth in penalty kill (.854), and nineteenth in power-plays (.223).

The MCHA will definitely be a challenge this season, as all the teams will be better. The Sabres will also have their opponents shooting for them as they look to be the team to beat and are defending champions. “The challenge for us will to be our best every night,” said Chris. “But we can only focus on one game at a time and see what happens at the end of the season.” Since the MCHA does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, their schedule will be a big factor: Games against St. Norbert College, Elmira College (NY), UW-Stevens Point, Gustavus Adolphus, and Augsburg College highlight a non-conference schedule against some NCAA Division III hockey powerhouses. “For the third straight season, we have a great non-conference schedule,” explained Brown. “We start with arguably the best team in the country and all of our non-conference games will be a challenge. But we have to look at those challenges as opportunities.” That list of quality opponents will put the squad into a position to be successful if they perform on the ice. “We were playing at the best level (at the end of 2001-2002) since I have been coach here,” noted Brown. “We found ways to win games even when we were not playing our best.” Returners are another important piece of the puzzle. Marian skaters tormented opposing goalies to the tune of 336 points on 133 goals and 203 assists last season. Returning this year are the top 12 scorers from a season ago, as well as a line-up from top-to-bottom that accounted for 294 of the 336 points (an impressive 88%) in 2001-2002. “The players sense this is an important year,” Brown continued. “We want to be the best team we can be at the end of the season. They know they can be a highly competitive team at this level, and we believe we will arrive there this season.” Another asset will be the senior leadership of the squad, as the core of the seniors this year are four-year players in the program. “These players came to Marian with goals in mind as freshman,” explained their coach. “They want to leave their mark on the program this season. The seniors are all good students, they are hard-working, good people. The team will rely on that and the experience they have gained from playing big games together over their careers.”

This is the most experienced squad that head coach Chris Brown has had. Captain Dan Odegard and assistant captains Dan Weymann and Pat Telford will all be back for their senior seasons. Also expecting big things is junior Brad Hawkins, the team’s leading scorer from a season ago. A large freshman class from last year has a season of collegiate-experience under their belts.

Also added is assistant coach Tim Warrilow, who enjoyed a successful four-year college playing career on the ice for Canisius College and will bring another excellent source of knowledge to the program. But coach Brown notes this is all on paper. “The team expects a lot out of themselves and a lot of success to follow,” he said. “But we need to go out and perform – put some wins together – and then we will earn some respect nationally.”
-Note: For a more in-depth preview of the squad, please go to the Marian College hockey website.

Milwaukee School of Engineering - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The 2002-2003 MSOE Raider hockey team is well prepared to combat the grueling Division III hockey season, mainly due to a spring and summer strength and conditioning program that saw the MSOE Hockey team become better without even touching the ice.  The coaching staff feels the team will be stronger at the end of each period and will even improve on the third period success demonstrated last season because of a renewed physical presence.

The returning players, although young, are seasoned veterans of MCHA and NCAA Division III battles. Knowledge was gained as the Raiders fought through 12 pressure-packed one-goal games.  This experience, with added depth and strength, should make the Raiders win total rise. The young team in Coach Ostapina’s inaugural campaign finished with an 8-8 record, good for a second place finish in the MCHA and a drastic turn-around from the previous year’s dismal 3-21-1 season.

The team returns 12 veteran players and a group of fresh recruits who look to challenge for significant playing time with the first drop of the puck. The added depth will be a luxury for the coaching staff as they will be able to vary the tempo and style of play this season.

Leading the way for MSOE, in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association is last years leading goal scorer Joe Swanson (Superior, Wis.). He will be aided by junior captain Rob Kaufman (Gig Harbor, Wash.), the top returning plus/minus Raider and a player who is not afraid to get his nose dirty. The coaching staff also expects good numbers from forwards Jake Basten (DePere, Wis.), Andy Eisch (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and David Pederson (Butte, Mont.).

On defense, the Raiders will be anchored by senior Jason Masterson (Beloit, Wis.), a fierce body checker who controls the defensive corners. The blue line also will be guarded by Brano Kruger (Evanston, Ill.) and Alex Kislia (Janesville, Wis.). Both players saw significant playing time as freshmen.

MSOE will need immediate help with scoring, as the team’s top two scorers from last season graduated, including two-time league MVP Ryan Moren. Forwards Joe Conners (Chicago), Nick Belleba (Rhinelander, Wis.), James Shipley (Oak Park, Ill.) and Jake Metro (Brookfield, Wis.) will be counted on for help. The team will look to incoming defensemen Greg Krahn (Greenfield, Wis.), Chris and Miles Wirkus  (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) and Nick Wedster (Chicago) to pick up the points lost with Moren’s departure.

University of Minnesota at Crookston - Crookston, Minnesota

Stopping by the “Rock Pile” at 7:00 am, one will see over-speed skating, agile inside and outside edges being worked on, basic hockey fundamentals being stressed, and up-tempo hockey being played. Yes, it’s October, the college hockey season has started and those “Golden Eagles” are back at the Crookston Civic Arena for their eye-opener practices. Early indications reveal that the Golden Eagles will have depth and speed for the 2002-2003 season. Team speed will be the strength with 17 forwards competing for ice time. Forwards returning from last year’s MCHA Runner-up squad are seniors Levi Lies, Jeff Johnston, Shane Aikenhead, Scott Mack and Adam Coe, juniors Mark Erickson, Jay Tupa, Ben Perkins, and sophomores Brock Anundson, and Theran Bauer. They comprise the top seven team scorers from the 2001-02 season. Tupa serves as  co-captain and Perkins and Coe represent the team as assistant captains. Anundson was an All MCHA Tournament Team selection.

Joining the returning forwards are freshmen recruits Rob Schneider, and Dustin Steigauf both Bemidji High School products. Junior transfer Mike Alvestad of MSU-Bottineau and Grand Forks comes to UMC after an All-American year. Two renowned high school standouts, that will add to the depth chart are, all around athlete Ryan Leadens from South St. Paul and one of Fergus Falls’ all time greats Ryan Kantrud. East Grand Forks native Patrick Knutson joins the Golden Eagles after spending the past two years in the USJHL, while Peter Duffy of the Northwest Knights in Spooner Wisconsin and the MJBHL will vie for a forward spot.

Four tail gunners return on the UMC blue line, co-captain and All-League defenseman, Todd Chandler will head up the group. Fellow senior Dustin Barton, sophomores Shawn Carlson, and Marc Tveit will round out the returning defensive corp.

Junior College transfer Josh Jaeger another MSU-Bottineau All-American along with Team North Dakota member Ryan Gardner, will team up on the point, both are from Devils Lake, ND. Section six standouts Andrew Golberg of Wadena Deer Creek and Ben Larson of the always state bound Fergus Falls Otters will shore up the defensemen.

The big question is who will fill the void left by departing all tournament goalkeeper Joey Reese, who’s academic schedule disallowed him the time to play. Top candidates are Aaron Kinslow returning junior from Moorhead, MN, freshmen Erik Kraska of the Northwest Suburban Champions Osseo High School and Brett Shelanski a Bloomington Jefferson graduate and Boston Harbor Wolves of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.

This year’s version of University of Minnesota Crookston hockey is very promising, and hoping to carry on the great enriched tradition of Golden Eagle Hockey. With this outstanding recruiting class, coupled with our fantastic upperclassmen leadership Coach Gary Warren and staff are extremely excited about the 2002-03 campaign. The Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament will be hosted by Minnesota-Crookston February 21-23, 2003 where their Golden Eagles will “Defend the Rock”.

Northland College - Ashland, Wisconsin

After faltering to a fifth place finish in 2001-02, Coach Dan Huntley knew that he would have to readjust many aspects of the Lumberjack hockey program for the coming season.  Improvement must be seen in the areas of their penalty kill and in lowering their goals against average.  Both statistics go hand in hand and last season led to the Lumberjacks often spotting their opponent an early lead.

The biggest change is in the number of freshman (17) seeking to make this year’s squad.  The Lumberjacks will be young in the class rank category, but Coach Huntley feels that this year’s incoming class has more than numbers to contribute.  Nine new freshmen have played junior hockey and are expected to contribute as everyday players right away.

The Lumberjacks were dealt a blow when 2^nd team All-MCHA Goaltender, Aivars Ziedins, decided not to return for his sophomore season.  This hole was quickly filled with the addition of Joey Ali, Vancouver, BC (Fernie Ghostriders, AWHL) and Reese Kalleitner, New Westminster, BC (Bay County Blizzard, CEHL).   Ali, led his team to the USA National Junior A Championship and Kallietner, led his team to the Continental Elite Hockey League Championship last spring.  “This will be the best goaltending that this school has seen.  Both players come into our program with great credentials.  I think the addition of these two players will translate into our team being more competitive,” said Coach Huntley.

It is yet to be seen where the other young players will fill into the roster. Huntley added, “We have two returning All-MCHA forwards that will lead us on and off of the ice, in 2^nd year players Ryan Becker, 11 goals and 18 assists, and Jon Geiring, 15 goals and 11 assists.”  They were 1 and 2 respectively, in scoring for the Lumberjacks last season.  1^st year players Jeff Affleck, Dustin Sieben and Ryan Potts will be looked upon early to help lead the Jacks.

Jeff Frey, the schools all-time leading scorer, 23 goals and 53 assists, moves into the role of Assistant Coach after fulfilling his eligibility last year.  “Jeff had a great career as a player here at Northland College and we hope he will enjoy as much success now that he begins his coaching career.”  Another alum, Brodie Dugger will join Huntley and long time assistant Jeff Spangenberg, behind the bench this season.  The Lumberjacks will also bolster their coaching ranks with the addition of Mike Sherry as a goaltending coach.  “I feel that we have a very cohesive and dedicated coaching staff to help these young men grow as people and players here at Northland College.  The addition of these three coaches will make a drastic change in the interaction we are able to have with our players on an everyday basis and will allow them to make the transition to college much more easily,” stated Coach Huntley.

As Northland College begins its 6^th year as a varsity sport, the emphasis will now change to continuing traditions instead of building them.  Change continues to bolster the Lumberjack hockey program each year.  The Lumberjacks hope to be in a new campus arena within the next few years and are committed to making a European tour during the 2004-05 season.