After a strong season and another NCAA post-season appearance for the young and upcoming Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team, the '05-'06 squad looks to build on their success and take the next step toward joining the truly elite teams in country. Should they succeed, they would essentially have home-ice advantage in the Frozen Four at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. This year, the road to the NCAA Finals starts with a home series against the St. Lawrence Saints of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League, a strong non-conference opponent.
Few outside the world of college hockey have heard of the small school-only 2,000 undergraduate students'?-of St. Lawrence located in Canton, NY, but St. Lawrence is home to one of the best programs in college hockey for the past 75 years. The program traces its division one hockey history back to 1925 and that history includes 15 NCAA appearances.
For longtime coach Joe Marsh, who holds a 358-298-47 record in his distinguished 21-year career at St. Lawrence, wins have not come easily in recent years. But the team has made steady upward progress over the past few seasons, and all signs point to this year being the year that the program crosses the hump and heads back into the spotlight of the college hockey world.
The Saints return five of their top six scorers from last season, and though the team lacks front-line depth, its top line has plenty of firepower. Senior forward John Zeiler is the playmaker on the Saint's top line. He finished with 23 assists and 32 points last season. Most of those 23 assists came on goals by senior forward T. J. Trevelyan, a pre-season ECACHL player of the year nominee, who piled up 25 goals and 45 points last year.
St. Lawrence's real strength comes from its blue-line. Despite the graduation of three of the teams top six defensemen, the Saints return two of the best in the country. Senior defenseman Mike Madill is a top candidate for defensive player of the year in the ECACHL, and junior defensman Drew Bagnall. Madill and Bagnall finished with 21 and 19 points respectively last season.
Goaltending is a huge question mark going into the '05-'06 season for the Saints. Former net minder Mike McKenna graduated last year. He saw the brunt of the action in the '04-'05 season, appearing in 35 games and compiled a 15-17-2 record, with a strong 2.73 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Senior goalie Kevin Ackley, who has three years of college hockey experience and started an average of 21 games in those seasons, is the leading candidate to take over for McKenna. Ackley sat out all of last season, red shirting for the year.
St. Lawrence will be an excellent test for the Badgers to open the season, and don't be surprised if the pesky Saints steal a win or two at the Kohl Center.
