If only the hockey gods and maybe a friendly bounce or two had gone the right way for three teams from the west in last year’s NCAA tournament, the Frozen Four would have looked very different. All of those teams from the NCHA (Aurora, St. Norbert & Trine) are back and looking forward to bigger and better things in the upcoming season, and don’t forget perennial contender Adrian is likely to be a better squad this season.
While the NCHA isn’t going through some of re-alignment changes seen across other conferences, the competition level is certainly enough of a challenge for teams that will be chasing a limited number of at-large berths in the NCAA tournament due to new leagues and auto-bids taken. That certainly raises the stakes everywhere and especially in the highly competitive NCHA.
The Favorite
St Norbert under head coach Tim Coghlin always has a championship pedigree and this season is no different with the return of high-scoring forward Logan Dombrowski, defensive standout Dayton Deics and goaltender Hunter Garvey, the foundation is strong with a great supporting cast built for success. The Green Knights never take any game lightly so expect a fast start to the season as they pursue another conference title.
The Dark Horse
Aurora saw a year of firsts last season in terms of championship caliber hockey and a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Spartans have an offense that will scare many teams led by Hassan Akl and last year’s outstanding first-year player, Landry Schmuck. The balance of the roster is made up of sophomores and juniors that have now tasted success and will be looking to go beyond the outstanding results from last season.
Players to watch:
Adrian: Jacob Suede – forward; Ryan Piros – goaltender
Aurora: Landry Schmuck – forward; Hassan Akl – forward
Concordia-Wisconsin: Matteo Orme-Lynch – forward; Elowan Orme-Lynch – forward
Dubuque: Parker James – defense; Brock Weimer – forward
Lake Forest: Trevor Faucher – forward; Justin Ross – forward
Lawrence: Carter Cloutier – forward; Miles McCue – forward
Marian: Caden Carlson – forward; Noah Pickart – defense
MSOE: Seth Bernard – forward; Jacob Bosse – forward
St Norbert: Logan Dombrowsky – forward; Dayton Deics – defense
Trine: Sam Antenucci – forward; Logan Furstenau – forward
USCHO predicted finish
- St Norbert
- Aurora
- Adrian
- Trine
- MSOE
- Concordia-Wisconsin
- Lawrence
- Marian
- Lake Forest
- Dubuque
Trine will turn its sights east to open the season as the Thunder will face SUNY-Canton and Misericordia to start the season over the Halloween weekend. Aurora will play in the Dubuque hosted tournament; Adrian plays a two-game series at Utica and St. Norbert plays host to St. Olaf in a two-game series.