By Nate Ewell

After three regular season games last weekend, college hockey season starts in earnest this weekend. The Ice Breaker Tournament, Friday and Sunday at Notre Dame, marks the traditional start to the season.

Ice Breaker Notes

Favorites take the ice – Minnesota is the only team in the Ice Breaker field not to lose a player from last season to an NHL contract, despite the fact the Gophers had 14 draft picks on the team that reached the NCAA championship game. That’s a big reason they enter the season at No. 1 in both polls. Among the returnees are Big Ten Player of the Year Adam Wilcox (South St. Paul, Minn./Tri-City-USHL/TB) in goal and last season’s top seven scorers, led by captain Kyle Rau (Eden Prairie, Minn./Sioux Falls-USHL/FLA).

Ice Breaker Tournament History | Top 12 Preseason Storylines

Happy returns – Notre Dame senior Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill./U.S. NTDP/NYI) and Rensselaer junior Jason Kasdorf (Winnipeg, Man./Des Moines-USHL/WPG) missed significant time last season, but they expect to be back on the ice in Friday’s second game of the tournament. Russo is an offensive defenseman who had 15 points in 21 games last season before missing the second half of the year. Kasdorf saw even less action last season, as the reigning ECAC Rookie of the Year goaltender suffered a knee injury in his second game that cost him the rest of the season.

Miscellaneous Ice Breaker Notes – Friday’s opening game between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth is the second meeting of two teams from the same state in the 18 years of the Ice Breaker (Army vs. St. Lawrence in 2009) … The tournament takes on a Friday-Sunday format this season due to Notre Dame's home football game on Saturday … Sunday could include a matchup of Notre Dame junior Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn./Penticton-BCHL/MIN) and his father, Minnesota head coach Don Lucia … College Hockey Inc. administers the annual Ice Breaker on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners’ Association … Next year’s tournament will be hosted by the University of Maine at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

National Preseason Polls | Conference Polls

Three More Can’t Miss Storylines

Raiders return to Minnesota – No. 5 Colgate travels to St. Cloud State this weekend for a top-10 series with the No. 6 Huskies. The Raiders turned last season around and began a march to the NCAA Tournament on another visit to Minnesota, winning the Mariucci Classic Jan. 3-4. Sophomore goaltender Charlie Finn (North Vancouver, B.C./Kingston-OJHL) starred that weekend and secured the starting job for the second half of the season. Finn and the Raiders have grabbed attention, not just in the form of the top-five ranking, but he was also invited to New Jersey Devils development camp this summer.

Key matchup starts Atlantic season – Atlantic Hockey’s first weekend series is a big one, as preseason favorite Mercyhurst visits Air Force, picked third in the conference polls. Both teams feature outstanding senior classes, including three of the top five active scorers in the conference (three of the top 10 nationally).

Active Leaders, Career Points:
Austin Czarnik, Miami – 124
Kyle Rau, Minnesota – 123
Matt Leitner, Minnesota State – 121
Alex Grieve, Bentley – 112
Cody Wydo, Robert Morris – 107
Matthew Peca, Quinnipiac – 107
Jean-Paul Lafontaine, Minnesota State – 103
Cole Gunner, Air Force – 101
Matthew Zay, Mercyhurst – 96
Ryan Misiak, Mercyhurst – 95
Find more facts like these in CHI’s Media Kit (.pdf)

Maverick matchup – Minnesota State and Nebraska Omaha face off this weekend after a one-year break in their rivalry, which is rooted in a shared nickname (Mavericks) and history (they joined Division I in 1996 and ’97, respectively). The winner claims the Spirit of the Maverick Trophy. Minnesota State senior Matt Leitner (Los Alamitos, Calif./Fargo-USHL) has led the team in scoring all three years on campus and could become the first MSU player to do so four times. He is one of 20 letterwinners returning on a team picked to win the WCHA.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Union will raise its 2014 NCAA championship banner prior to Friday night’s opener against AIC … RIT plays its first game at the new $38 million on-campus arena, the Gene Polisseni Center, Friday vs. St. Lawrence … Four teams – Alaska, Alaska Anchorage, Maine and Wisconsin – meet in Anchorage for the Kendall Hockey Classic … Bowling Green head coach Chris Bergeron faces his alma mater, Miami, in a home and home series to open the season.