Senior forward Chris Cervellero said the Icer seniors have set the team goal for their season: to go out like they came in — National Champs.
When this year’s seniors came into the Penn State hockey program, they were freshmen on a team that needed to utilize its skill and speed.
“We came onto a team that expected a lot from us,” said senior Dave Murphy at yesterday’s news conference at the ice pavilion. “We were anxious to step up to the challenge.”
Murphy feels his class was a big part of the reason that the team as a whole did so well that year. He said his class was eager to play, and there was a lot of competition between the freshmen and the starters.
“It was a lot of us versus them when we were freshmen,” Murphy said. “We were anxious to play, and made everyone work for their positions. I think it helped us gel as a class.”
Coach Joe Battista plans to use this unity of his junior and senior oriented team to its fullest potential in their first season in the newly formed ACHL. Because many of the players have so much experience to offer the team, Battista said he will not have to spend nearly as much time teaching them the basics, and can spend more time working on different looks for the team.
Battista said this is possible only if the team can maintain a positive work ethic throughout the season. And if they can do this, the Icers “can capitalize on their gifts” and use new and creative systems to keep their opponents off balance.
“We’re going to win a lot if these guys work hard,” Battista said. “It all comes down to their work ethics.”
Murphy agreed and quoted his coach. “Hard work beats talent, if talent doesn’t work hard,” he said.
Battista said he would like to use the speed and agility of his seniors in a, “run-and-gun offense.”
“We’re trying to open things up,” Battista said. “We want to take advantage of the speed that guys like Dave Murphy have. We’re going to let the offense do the work because they are the ones who make things happen.”
Battista said that he wants to place a strong emphasis on a high tempo offense, and later will push for the defense. This year’s Icer defense is young and relatively inexperienced, and once they catch their stride, Battista said he expects a lot from them. He then hopes to find a balance between the quick and skilled offense, and his physical defense.
Matt Hoffman is the lone experienced defender, and he plans to lead the defense to attack, and to keep them honest. He thinks that the new “run-and-gun offense” will give his defense a chance to build up its attack.
To add some experience to his defense, Battista moved three-year forward Ben Bouma to the backline. Bouma said he welcomes the change, and felt at home when he played defense in the Blue-White game.
“I’ve sort of been missing pieces of the puzzle the last couple of years,” Bouma said. “I played defense all through high school, and in the Blue-White game it all came back to me. The instinct just came back.”
Until the rest of the defense is up to par, Battista plans to spotlight his offense.
“Don’t be suprised if you look at our lineup and see four forwards, and one defender,” Battista said.
As a result of this strong offensive look, Icer Captin John Adams expects that his team will be scoring a lot of short-handed goals this season. Cervellero agreed, and said if they can score short-handed, imagine what they can do on a power play, when they are a man up.
On the other end of the stick, goaltender John Gray feels he has a lot to prove this season, and has set some high expectations of himself, and the team. He is close to breaking two records and is quick to point out that these are Icer wins, not Gray wins.
“The wins are team wins,” Gray said, “and if I have a win so do the Icers. Of course, the records are nice, but it is the team wins that are important.”
If the team maintains this positive attitude, and continues to work hard, Battista and his team feel they are capable of fulfilling their goal to become National Champions.