Way back in mid-October, the OSU men’s hockey team got off to a promising start by posting back-to-back wins at the season opening Lefty McFadden College Hockey Tournament held at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. An opening round win over Mercyhurst, followed by a win over perennial power Wisconsin gave fans, and those associated with the hockey program, reason for optimism heading into the regular season schedule. Unfortunately, that promising start quickly fizzled out, as it was followed by an eleven game winless streak (ten losses and one tie.)
Coming down the stretch, however, the team seemed to find its legs, and more importantly, found the net a bit more often, in posting some good wins, and playing all their opponents tough. That improved play, once again, gave those around the program some basis for optimism heading into a best-of-three postseason matchup at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. The Buckeyes even had a revenge factor working in their favor as it was these same Northern Michigan Wildcats who knocked the Buckeyes out of postseason play at Value City Arena the previous year.
When the Buckeyes grabbed the opening game of the series on Friday night 4-3 behind seniors Tommy Goebel and Jason DeSantis who each had a goal and two assists, momentum certainly seemed to be on their side. The only dark cloud hovering over the Buckeyes after their opening night win was the memory of opening the playoff series last year with a win before falling the next two games to close out their season. Would history repeat itself? Sadly, it did.
The same weakness, which has plagued the Buckeyes throughout the season, an inability to finish scoring chances, led to 4-2 and 6-1 losses and yet another promising start came crashing down around the Buckeyes. Tommy Goebel and seven other seniors including Tom Fritsche, John Dingle, Kyle Hood, DeSantis, Johann Kroll, Phil Lauderdale, and Captain Matt McIlvane closed out their careers in disappointment.
The final numbers for the season, just twelve wins against twenty-five losses and four ties, are not pretty. And coming on the heels of two more losing seasons, 15-19-5 in 2005-2006 and 15-17-5 in 2006-2007 the obvious question is, “Where is the men’s hockey program headed from here?” Given the fact that the Buckeye icers play in the finest on-campus college facility in North America, and the fact that the program has had a high level of success in the not-too-distant past, frustration levels are quite high, and many people are asking “What changes, if any, are in the works to remedy the situation?”
If on-line reports are correct, head coach John Markell and his staff will return for another season after the coach met with AD Gene Smith recently. With one talented recruiting class now poised to become sophomores, and the second ranked recruiting class in the nation, with seven recruits coming on board next season, the athletic administration seems content to see if all this infusion of talent can change things around. How long Smith will remain content, remains to be seen, so we can only hope that the coming season is a sharp turn upward for the program, and happier times for all of us who want to see the program excel year in and year out.

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