PAPILLION, NE – Last season, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, commonly known as the CCHA made a strong showing in the NCAA Championship Hockey Tournament placing two number one seeds, and one school into the National Championship game. While Miami would be the Cinderella team, and Notre Dame and Michigan would be the more prestigious qualifiers, the conference in whole made their mark known in college hockey.
With the upcoming season approaching quickly, Pro Hockey News will survey and review the upcoming season for a few schools, be certain to look for the remaining schools in our next preseason review. In today’s form will be the University of Alaska at Fairbanks Nanooks, the Bowling Green University Falcons, the University of Miami RedHawks, the University of Nebraska at Omaha Mavericks, the University of Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish, and The Ohio State University Buckeyes.
Alaska Nanooks
Last Season’s Record: 20-16-7
Players to watch: Scott Greenham, Andy Taranto, Dustin Molle
Alaska transitioned from the cellar during the 2007-08 season to a team that finished fourth in the conference last year. Second year head coach Dallas Fergusson has created a considerable buzz around the Nanooks as they begin this season looking for a tournament berth and the continued successes of a new beginning. Despite the loss of goalie Chad Johnson, the Nanooks are poised to make a solid run this season as they will attempt to reload their roster and move closer to title contention. Expect the excitement to carry this team far, but not far enough as the Nanooks will find themselves on the outside looking in on the NCAA tournament come seasons end. This is a young team that is quite talented and will make their presence felt in the CCHA. Predicted finish: fifth.
Bowling Green Falcons
Last Season’s Record: 9-21-5
Players to watch: Andrew Hammond, Kai Kantola, David Solway
For the Falcons to exist this season is their first victory. It seems that while hockey is still exists, it like the school is standing with a foot in the grave. The key here is not offense or defense, but money. With the distractions that abound and the rumors that will be created, Bowling Green will face far more difficult opponents at times then their CCHA conference mates. Expect the Falcons to be competitive as they always are, expect the players to show incredible heart as they always will. Just do not expect this team to be overly successful. The Falcons are going to need to place the “extra headaches” aside as they will struggle to finish .500. Bowling Green has a solid pool of talented players that will help this team out, first year head coach Dennis Williams will need to bring this team together quickly to avoid the circling sharks. Predicted finish: eleventh
Miami RedHawks
Last Season’s Record: 23-13-5
Players to watch: Reilly Smith, Carter Camper, Cody Reichard
In returning five of their seven key scorers, the RedHawks will be one of the superior schools to watch out for this season in the CCHA. While the usual suspects will dominate the league and gather the bulk of the interest, Miami will be in the mix and will have no problem placing themselves in position to follow lasts years incredible run. While Miami’s regular season finish left more to be desired, their successful first half allowed them the opportunity to dominate in the postseason. Predicted finish: third
Nebraska at Omaha Mavericks
Last Season’s Record: 15-17-8
Players to watch: Eddie Del Grosso, Nick Fanto, John Faulkner
The Mavericks have made incredible changes from last season to present. With a new athletic director, Trev Alberts, the Mavericks have begun to change the program for the very first time from the top down. Along with the addition of Alberts as Athletic Director, former head coach Mike Kemp has moved into the Assistant Athletic Director role. Replacing Coach Kemp is college coaching legend Dean Blais who has won two national championships previously at the University of North Dakota. These changes have ignited a new found excitement in the staling program that should give the school the boost it needs to make on its way to making its next step. The Mavs are a younger program and have yet to become a true winning program. This season will mark the beginning of a perestroika of sorts for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Predicted finish: sixth
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Last Season’s Record: 31-6-3
Players to watch: Kyle Palmieri, Brad Phillips, Billy Maday
Last season could not have ended any more disappointing for the Irish as Notre Dame became one of two number one seeds to lose in the first round of the tournament. While Notre Dame has seen a sizeable group move on from lasts years’ team, the Irish still have every opportunity to repeat this year, and rebound from last year’s collapse. Notre Dame will need to take care of business from start to finish this season to avoid their vulnerable aspects. While this can be true of any team, Notre Dame has the ability to beat any team, anywhere, any time. Predicted finish: first
Ohio State Buckeyes
Last Season’s Record: 23-15-4
Players to watch: Zac Dalpe, Cal Heeter, Cory Schneider
Ohio St. allowed last season to slip away from them as they played passively down the stretch. While this team is not last years, it has a lot of veteran leadership that should allow for the Buckeyes to become a very strong candidate to finish atop the rankings this season. The Buckeyes have added some quality freshmen and have matured yet another year. In doing so, Ohio St. must be considered one of the top teams “potentially” in the country and a shoe in for the CCHA tournament this spring. Predicted finish: second
You may contact the author at: john.strathman@prohockeynews.com
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