Feature: Keeping the Gate Shut

The following feature on Colgate goaltender Mark Dekanich appears on the CSTV.com Web site. The complete article can be accessed on the CSTV site by clicking here. 

By Elliot Olshansky
CSTV.com

When you hear the name "Colgate," chances are, you think of toothpaste. Colgate senior Mark Dekanich doesn't do much to fight plaque or cavities, but his play certainly has the potential to brighten smiles among Raider hockey fans.

The native of North Vancouver, a fifth-round draft pick of the Nashville Predators, enters his senior season as a third-year starter for Colgate, building on two consecutive all-conference honors, honors that are well-deserved according to his head coach.

"He's a pretty focused kid," Colgate bench boss Don Vaughan said, "He's very driven and pretty intense. He's tough mentally, which bodes well for any elite goaltender, and he's a tremendous athlete. That's a very good starting point for any elite goaltender and he has all those qualities."

Those skills were displayed prominently in the 2005-06 season, when Dekanich posted a 2.29 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. He was even better in conference play, with a .934 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average, backstopping his Raiders to the Cleary Cup as regular-season champions and earning the Ken Dryden Award as ECAC Hockey's top goaltender.

"It was awesome," Dekanich said. "We had a great team, they were great in front of me all year, and we won the regular season. It was a great experience."

That summer, Dekanich was drafted by the Predators, and with Dekanich back in the fold along with the likes of Tyler Burton and Jesse Winchester up front, bigger things were expected from Colgate in 2006-07. The Raiders brought all those expectations with them to Miami's Steve Cady Arena to start the year. In the first game of the 2006-07 college hockey season, Dekanich and his teammates took the ice against Vermont and promptly fell flat, losing by a 6-0 margin.

"I don't think we were prepared going into that tournament as well as we could have been," Dekanich said.

While the Raiders improved slightly in a tough loss to Denver the next day, then returned home and picked up three consecutive wins, they opened ECAC play with a loss to Yale and a tie at Brown. There were flashes of brilliance from the Raiders that suggested they might recover, but Colgate never seemed to be able to get in a groove.

"There were all kinds of spots where we turned the corner," Vaughan said. "I don't know, it was just a crazy year."

All the while, though, Dekanich remained steady. His numbers suffered a near-insignificant drop-off. He posted a 2.33 GAA and a .923 save percentage, earning second team all-conference honors and breaking his own school record with 993 saves, but the numbers and individual honors were little consolation. The season that had begun with so much promise was over after the second round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs.

"He played out of his mind a lot of nights for us," Vaughan said. "He really allowed us to stay in games when we probably shouldn't have had a chance. He made more saves last year than any goalie that's come before him, so we didn't give him a lot of support on a lot of nights. He played great last year."

Lack of team success notwithstanding, Dekanich's consistent play didn't go ignored in Nashville, which raised the possibility that he might be encouraged to move on.

"There's always that outside concern you have with goaltenders of his caliber," Vaughan said. "I think [Predators assistant GM] Paul [Fenton], of all the guys I've dealt with at the pro level, was extremely forthright. He said, `We'll let you know, step by step, what we're thinking.' Until the summer, after the draft and free agency and all of that, there was still an outside chance he might be made an offer.

"Mark was very open with us, too. He was going to take a serious look at it if, indeed, the offer came."

In the end, though, the Predators decided that the best thing for the Raider backstop was a fourth year in Hamilton, N.Y.

"Fortunately for us -- and Mark, in my opinion -- it didn't happen," said Vaughan. "I think they feel like another year in this league -- they know he's our guy, they know he's going to get a lot of time -- so they were comfortable leaving him here for one more year until things settle down in their own organization."

Add in the returns of other top Raiders like Burton and Winchester, and Colgate has a lot to be excited about.

"This team had so many high expectations last year," Vaughan said, "and the nucleus of that group is back. I think this group, because of that [letdown last year] has some things that they want to prove, and I think that that, probably, is enough motivation for anybody on our team."

Now entering his last go-round at Colgate, Dekanich is looking to have a greater hand in the Raiders' approach. While he won't wear a letter in his senior season, Dekanich is looking to establish himself as a leader in the Colgate locker room, much as former Raider backstop Steve Silverthorn did when Dekanich was a freshman.

"I want to take a little bit more of a leadership role, on and off the ice," Dekanich said. "With [Silverthorn], it was always results, and he was such a good goalie and such a good influence in the room, and I really strive to be the type of guy that `Silve' was for us my freshman year."

His coach has the utmost confidence in the senior netminder's ability to step up vocally.

"Even though he's not wearing a letter, he's certainly one of the leaders on this hockey team," Vaughan said. "What we're trying to get Mark to do, because he has so much respect from his teammates, is to open up a bit more, be a bit more vocal. It's not something that I think comes natural to him. He's a pretty intense kid, and during the games, he's pretty focused, but I think he has a lot to offer from a leadership standpoint."

Dekanich is confident and prepared as he enters his senior season, knowing that while he hopes to help his team bounce back from 2006-07 and expand on the success that the Raiders enjoyed in 2005-06, the 2007-08 campaign will be something all its own.

"I don't think any of it is going back to my sophomore year," Dekanich said. "I think we have a completely different team. We don't want to get going on the past, whether it be last year's disappointment or my sophomore year's good season. I think it's a new season, and we're going to have to focus on everyone doing his individual job and doing what's best for the team."

And as ECACHL opponents already know, Dekanich's best can be quite scary, indeed.