Hockey season preview

The Bobcats seemed to have a bad season on the surface. However, their 5-15 record doesn’t tell the whole story. They played a difficult schedule and played many tight games against the best teams in their block. Plus, they’ve lost just a few players and have a lot of young talent ready to take their place.

This year, with a normal schedule and competitive level, Ohio has a good chance of returning to normal excellence. Prior to the shortened season in recent years, Ohio had not won 70% of its games just three times in the previous 17 years. The program had no loss period from 1986-87.

The Bobcats had a young list last season and only lost three key players later. They lost Kyle Craddick forward, but they have a lot of players ready to fill the void, including Drew Magyar. Magyar was the team’s best scorer last season and scored 12 goals and five assists. In addition, junior strikers JT Schimizzi and Andrew Sacca are also strong players. They were awarded honorable mentions in all tournaments in the playoffs of recent years.

While Ohio should be comfortable on the front line, it may have a little more trouble replacing two graduating defenders, Timmy Thurnau and Shawn Baird. The Bobcats struggled defensively at times last season, and losing their top two defenders won’t help it.

However, there are three reasons why Ohio should be able to cope with the loss of Thurnau and Baird. First, it’s playing on an easier schedule this year, and the defense isn’t so under pressure. Second, the Bobcats have an excellent goalkeeper standard in Max Karlenzig and Matt Server, who should be able to keep things under control. Finally, Ohio has a lot of returning talent in defense led by Sam Turner and Scott Bagby. They and others can step into Thurnau and Baird right away.

Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism this year is the goalkeepers mentioned above. A great goalkeeper can win games almost alone. In Karlenzig and Server, the Bobcats have two excellent goalkeepers, and if they can perform as well as last year, it’s a huge part of the teams ’success.

Overall, despite last year’s poor record, there are many reasons why Ohio should return to its usual excellent form. They have a young, talented list and they had a strong last season, so an improved season should be on the cards.