Season Outlook: Saints will be Tested in 2008-09

CANTON, N.Y. -- The first test for a host of new faces on St. Lawrence University’s men’s hockey team comes Sunday night when the Saints take on the University of Guelph in an exhibition game at Appleton Arena. The second test, this one for real, is even more formidable as the Saints officially open their 2008-09 NCAA season at the University of Michigan on Oct. 10-11.

The Saints have 34 players listed on their 2008-09 roster, the most in program history, and 11 of them are new to the Saint program. The Saint staff plans to use the Guelph game to give a lot of the younger players a good look under game circumstances and to help establish the travelling squad for the Michigan trip.

“We will play a lot of guys in different combinations early in the year,” said veteran coach Joe Marsh. “That’s what we want to do with our non-league games…we’re going to be out to win as many as we can, but we also want to use them to give the younger guys experience and to build our team.”

The non-league portion of the schedule will certainly be a good test for a Saint team which includes depth and talent along with a mix of youth and experience. The first five NCAA games are against teams ranked in the top three in their conference. The Saints will play two against Michigan, ranked first by the CCHA media and second by the coaches, then play at College Hockey America pre-season favorite Niagara and meet RIT, picked third in Atlantic Hockey, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester before their official NCAA home opener against New Hampshire, picked third in Hockey East, in a 7:30 ESPNU game on Oct. 26. The Saints also play at Massachusetts (6th Hockey East) and Boston University (2nd Hockey East) on Nov. 28-29, host Vermont (5th Hockey East) on Dec. 13 and play Ferris State (6th in the CCHA pre-season poll) at Vermont on Jan. 2. Two other non-league games will be played against North Country rival Clarkson with the Knights visiting Canton on Jan. 10 and the Saints playing in Potsdam on Sunday Jan. 11 in another nationally televised game on ESPNU.

“It is a tough non-conference schedule, but one that will build confidence as we go along,” said Marsh. “If you can play in Yost Arena, you can play anywhere, and over the years we have gone into some pretty tough places to play and held our own.”

The Saints are coming off a 13-20-4 2007-08 season and have been tabbed for the middle of the pack in pre-season ECAC Hockey polls, but Marsh and assistants Bob Prier and Mike Hurlbut feel the potential is there for a good season for the Saints.

“We played hard last year,” said Marsh. “The difference between last year and the team which won the ECAC regular season title the year before was primarily in the one-goal games. We were able to win them two years ago, but came up just short last year.” The Saints played in 16 games which were decided by a single goal last season and were 5-11 in those 16 games with three of the losses coming in overtime. Two seasons ago the Saints played in a dozen one-goal games and won ten of the 12.

There are areas the Saint staff will look for definite improvement in as they head into the new season. “We definitely want to shore things up defensively and we need to be better on special teams,” said Marsh. “We want to improve on the penalty kill and we need to be more productive on the power play, although power plays tended to be down nationally last year.”

With the large roster, the Saints will expect some spirited battles for regular spots in the lineup and will have some extra depth to fend off injuries which had some impact on last season’s team. “We seem to have balance and should be able to roll four lines consistently and not worry about matching up with the other team, which is always a bonus for a coaching staff,” said Marsh.

The Saints are basically a senior-freshman team, and Marsh feels the two groups could mesh well for the Saints. “The younger guys bring some energy to the program and make us a little bit bigger physically. They came into camp in great shape and have already established a pretty good chemistry. The older guys are pretty hungry after last year, and I think the combination of the two groups are one of the intangibles that could really help us. We have different aspirations for the two groups, but we certainly want them to come together.”

The Saints have a core group of four senior defensemen who should help Marsh and his staff meet the goal of tightening things up defensively. Zach Miskovic, a All-ECAC Hockey choice a year ago, has never missed a game in his previous three seasons while captain Shawn Fensel has missed just five games in three seasons, captain Jared Ross has played in all but 14 games in his career, missing 11 of those due to injury as a freshman, and Matt Generous has played in all but 12 of the116 games over the last three seasons. “To have four senior defensemen and none of them ever having been a healthy scratch during their career is pretty impressive,” said Marsh. “Those guys are definitely going to play a big role for us this season.”

But shoring up the Saint defense won’t fall solely on the shoulders of the blueliners. “We play a team defensive concept, and the forwards have a big part in it as well,” Marsh explained. “We want to force more turnovers and possess the puck more, and that will help us as a team defensively.”

Goaltending was a four-man rotation for the Saints last season, and while the Saints graduated two of the four netminders, four are on the roster again this season. Juniors Alex Petizian and Kain Tisi return and are joined by newcomers Robby Moss and Joe Spadaccini. “Ideally we’d like to have someone step forward and take command,” said Marsh. “Alex and Kain have two years of experience at this level and Robby had a tremendous season a year ago in junior hockey while Joe is a good athlete who will help us in practice and should battle for a regular spot down the road.”

Offensively, the team returns five of its top six scorers from last season and has a pair of players who are destined to be 100 point scorers, the first since T.J. Trevelyan and John Zeiler in 2005-06. Brock McBride enters his senior season with 77 career points while Kevin DeVergilio is just 18 points away from the 100 point plateau. McBride led the team last year with 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points and could be an impact player in the league this season.

“Brock had a tremendous year as a junior and we feel he is one of the best in the league,” said Marsh. “He is a strong skater and is explosive offensively.”

DeVergilio had eight goals and 17 assists last season and was second among Saint scorers while Mike McKenzie had seven goals and 13 assists as a sophomore and is looking for a big senior season. Senior Casey Parenteau was the second leading goal scorer for the Saints last season with 11 and finished with 19 points while Travis Vermeulen contributed eight goals and Aaron Bogosian chipped in with five goals and a dozen points, playing both forward and defense.

Alex Curran, Jeremiah Cunningham, Sean Flanagan, Jared Keller and Nick Pitsikoulis are the other returning forwards with experience while Derek Keller, Matt Raley, Dan Coughlin and Bobby Torney join the four veteran Saint defensemen on the roster. Additionally, Drew Weaver saw limited game action as a sophomore, but practiced throughout the season at forward and Pat Kelliher has worked with the team for two seasons on defense.

Jeff Caister, a two-year standout at Wayne State, joins the Saint program after the Warriors dropped their team at the end of last season and will give the Saints a proven Division I defenseman who has been a contributor on the power play and Augie DiMarzo, a speedy forward who played in 44 games at Union College will join the team as a transfer after sitting out last season under NCAA transfer rules.

Other newcomers up front include rookies Brandon Bollig, Mark Armstrong and Jake Klancher, all 6-2 or better, plus Rick Carden, Max Mobley, and Jacob Drewiske, all with impressive junior hockey backgrounds. Peter Child will be a candidate for a regular role on defense while Moss backstopped North Iowa to the Junior B National Championship and had a 1.91 goals against average and a 94 percent save percentage.