Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Top Preseason Storylines, Part II

Top Preseason Storylines, Part II
Brett Gensler of Bentley is one of two returning 50-point scorers in the NCAA (Wisconsin’s Mark Zengerle is the other).

With the 2012-13 season rapidly approaching, College Hockey, Inc. takes a look at the top 12 storylines we look forward to following once the puck drops.

Monday, Part I looked at six top storylines; today we offer the rest in Part II.

Offensive opportunity – Sixteen of the top 20 scorers (points per game) from last season turned pro, which demonstrates a couple of things: one, experience matters in college hockey and two, there are lots of top offensive minutes available for new faces. Mark Zengerle (Wisconsin), Kyle Flanagan (St. Lawrence), Joey Diamond (Maine) and Brett Gensler (Bentley) are the returning top-20 scorers, while a number of players appear poised for offensive breakthroughs. Top candidates include seniors Ben Hanowski (St. Cloud State), Danny Kristo (North Dakota), Kyle De Laurell (Air Force), Andrew Miller (Yale) and Stephen Whitney (Boston College).

Second-year coaches – Only two schools have new head coaches in 2012-13, as John Micheletto is the new coach at Massachusetts and Mike Hastings takes over the Minnesota State program (Greg Carvel took over on a permanent basis at St. Lawrence after serving on the staff in Joe Marsh’s absence last year). With relatively little turnover, a bigger story to watch may be how the nine second-year head coaches further impact their programs. Four of them – Tom Anastos (Michigan State), Norm Bazin (UMass Lowell), Rick Bennett (Union) and Andy Murray (Western Michigan) – led their teams to the NCAA Tournament in their first year, while others saw significant improvement.

Celebrate the Legacy – Next season will witness seismic changes in the college hockey conference landscape, with the Big Ten and National Collegiate Hockey Conference coming on board, but 2012-13 will offer fans a chance to celebrate the legacy of the CCHA. The 42-year-old CCHA has produced eight national champions and seven Hobey Baker Award winners entering its final season. It will crown its final champion at Joe Louis Arena March 24 before its members move on to the Big Ten, NCHC and WCHA next season.

Happy returns – Last season Boston College’s Chris Kreider – after spurning offers from the NHL to leave school – helped lead the Eagles to the national championship. Several more top prospects opted to stay in school this summer, get closer to their degrees and pursue a national title. Top prospects among them are Minnesota’s Nick Bjugstad and Michigan’s Jon Merrill, whose teams are both in the top three (with Kreider’s former teammates at BC) in the preseason polls.

Little big men – From Paul Kariya to Martin St. Louis, college hockey has a long history of producing undersized players who can skate with the big boys. The 2012-13 season should produce more small superstars, as the top eight returning scorers in points per game all measure up under 6-feet tall. Leading the way in that group is Bentley’s Brett Gensler, a 5-9 skilled right wing who was named the top American-born player in New England last year as just a sophomore. Two more to watch – who didn’t quite crack that top eight – are Boston College’s Johnny Gaudreau (a Calgary draft pick) and Minnesota’s Kyle Rau (a Florida prospect). As freshmen last year they met in the NCAA semifinals (Gaudreau had two assists in BC’s win).

Will BC be back? – Boston College has been the dominant team in college hockey for the past five seasons, winning three national championships. Their last two attempts to repeat, however, both ended without an NCAA Tournament win. If the Eagles hope to reach the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh – home of last year’s tournament Most Outstanding Player Parker Milner – they will need to replace their graduating class, plus departed juniors Chris Kreider and Brian Dumoulin.