Buckeye Hockey Team Kicks Off Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/1/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
October 1, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State (0-0-0) is one of three college hockey teams in the nation that will open the 1998-99 season Friday night at 7 p.m. The Buckeyes will face Wilfrid Laurier University (0-0-0) in an exhibition game inside the OSU Ice Arena (1,400).
THE OPPOSITION
Wilfrid Laurier University (enrollment: 6,300) is located in Waterloo, Ont., hometown of current Buckeye Dan Cousineau. The game between the Buckeyes and Golden Hawks is an exhibition contest and will not count in OSU’s overall record. Statistics from the game are also unofficial and not calculated into a player’s season stats. Wilfrid Laurier last visited Columbus in 1995 for a two game series on Oct. 13 and 14. Current Buckeyes Brandon Lafrance and Brian Morrison each scored goals as Ohio State rolled 4-1 and 3-0. Ohio State leads the all-time series with Wilfrid Laurier, 8-2-1.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
None of the national college hockey polls had been released as of Monday, Sept. 28. Ohio State was picked to finish second in the CCHA in both the preseason coaches’ and media polls. The preseason ranking was the highest in school history. The complete poll can be found on page two of this release.
OPENING NIGHT
The Buckeyes have been unstoppable this decade in home openers. Ohio State is 8-0 since the 1989-90 season in openers played in Columbus. OSU has started the season at home each year during the 1990’s with the exception of 1996, when OSU fell 7-2 in Bowling Green. OSU is 20-14-1 all-time in openers, including a solid 20-5-0 mark at home.
INSIDE THE OSU LOCKER ROOM
Ohio State lost only four lettermen from last year’s 27-13-2 squad, and brought in one of the school’s top recruiting classes of all-time. Returning All-American Hugo Boisvert, the CCHA’s scoring champion last season, will anchor Ohio State’s first line of forwards. Chris Richards, unquestionably one of the most underrated players in the country, ranked third in the league in scoring last season and set a new career high with 52 points (22-30). Eric Meloche, Ohio State’s third big-gun offensively, enters this year as one of the most prolific goal scorers in the CCHA. The son of former NHL goaltender Gilles Meloche, he led OSU with 26 goals last season and is intent on reaching the 30-goal plateau this year.
After a roller-coaster second half run that ended in the Final Four, starting goalie Jeff Maund may be the most experienced sophomore in college hockey. He saw more last year than some player’s see in their entire career – being an integral part of the nation’s hottest team, a double overtime loss in a league championship game, a berth in the NCAA Final Four. Maund will enter this year as the top returning goaltender in the league, statistically speaking. He put up All-American type numbers a year ago (2.31 goals against average; .922 save percentage), and should be even better with a season behind him. Andre Signoretti, Ryan Skaleski, and Ryan Jestadt are OSU’s most experienced returning defensemen. The Buckeyes are forced to replace Ryan Root and Taj Schaffnit on the defensive end, both of whom were lost to graduation. Freshmen Jason Crain and Scott Titus and sophomore Jaisen Freeman are the leading candidates heading into the season.
INSIDE THE WILFRID LAURIER LOCKER ROOM
The Golden Hawks finished last season with a 6-18-12 mark and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight year. Jeff Ambrosio, Dave Kline, and Chad Brezynskie accounted for more than half the team’s scoring last year, and all three return. Captain Martin Kearns, a 6-3, 210 pound defenseman, will anchor the blueline. Tony Martindale, in his first year as head coach of the Wilfrid Laurier program, brought in 15 new faces – many of which will get the chance to play immediately. Goaltender Frank Ivankovic joined the team after Christmas last season, and returns to mind the nets.
NEW FACES
The only three-time captain in the history of Ohio State hockey has joined the Buckeye coaching staff. Steve Brent was named an assistant coach at his alma mater this summer, and will assist with recruiting and on-ice instruction efforts. He served as an undergraduate assistant coach last season while completing his degree. Brent is a native of Penticton, British Columbia.
John LaCoste has also been named goaltending coach at Ohio State. A 1986 graduate of the University of Maine, LaCoste enjoyed a four-year playing career with the Black Bears and spent one season playing professional hockey in Europe. He holds a pair of master’s degrees from Ohio State. LaCoste is originally from Montreal, Que.
OHIO STATE AWARDS CANDIDATES
Boisvert enters this year as Ohio State’s first legitimate Hobey Baker Memorial Award candidate since Paul Pooley in 1984. Boisvert and sophomore goalie Jeff Maund are OSU’s preseason All-America candidates.
DOWN THE ROAD
The Buckeyes face one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season, beginning with an Oct. 9 rematch of last year’s national semifinal game against Boston College. The Buckeyes and Eagles will square off at the Ice Breaker Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Minnesota-St. Lawrence game Oct. 10 for the tournament championship at 8 p.m. CDT. A consolation game will also be played that day at 5 p.m. CDT.
Ohio State could potentially face five teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament last season – Boston College, Michigan State, Boston University, Princeton (possible opponent), and Michigan. THREE MONTHS FROM A NEW HOME
Jan. 2, 1999 will mark a historic day in the history of the Ohio State hockey program. That evening, the Buckeyes will face defending national champion Michigan in the first ever game played in the Jerome Schottenstein Center – college hockey’s premier facility. Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center will seat 17,500 fans, making it by far the largest collegiate hockey venue in the nation. The Center features a 200' x 85' ice surface and is larger than nearly forty percent of the arenas currently used in the National Hockey League.
Ohio State will play six games in the OSU Ice Arena while construction on the Jerome Schottenstein Center is completed (Oct. 2 vs. Wilfrid Laurier; Nov. 13 vs. Michigan State; Nov. 14 vs. Northern Michigan; Nov. 20 vs. Miami; Dec. 4 vs. Notre Dame; Dec. 5 vs. Notre Dame).
KEEPING PACE WITH THE BUCKEYES
Last year’s success has translated into a pair of new partnerships with the Ohio State Hockey team. WOSU Radio (820 AM) has announced plans to broadcast a minimum of 25 Ohio State games, beginning with an Oct. 9 game against Boston College in the Ice Breaker Invitational. Herb Howenstine will call the action with former Buckeye John Mowat providing color commentary. Visit the OSU web site for the complete broadcast schedule (www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com).
FOX Sports Detroit will continue its partnership with the CCHA this season. Ohio State will appear on Fox on at least two occasions this season, including once at home (Jan. 2 vs. Michigan; Feb. 6 at Michigan). Fox Sports Detroit, which reaches 2.3 million homes in Michigan and northwest Ohio, will also air four CCHA Tournament games. The package will be made available to Fox affiliates across the nation, including Fox Sports Ohio.
Central Ohio Sport, the state’s newest all-sports channel, will also air six Ohio State hockey games on a tape delay basis. Columbus radio personality Randy Rhinehart will call the game. Central Ohio Sport, a partnership between two Columbus cable companies with the ability to reach over 300,000 households, can be found on channel 36 on the Columbus Coaxial system and channel 24 on the Columbus Time Warner system. Current plans call for the following six game to be televised: Dec. 4 vs. Notre Dame; Dec. 5 vs. Notre Dame; Jan. 2 vs. Michigan; Jan. 9 vs. Lake Superior; Jan. 30 vs. Western Michigan; March 2 vs. Bowling Green.
ONE-TIMERS
Ohio State head coach John Markell is 2-0 in home openers, including a 4-1 win over Wilfrid Laurier in 1995…Senior Dan Cousineau hails from Waterloo, Ont., where Wilfrid Laurier is located. Cousineau is returning this year after recently being granted a medical redshirt for the 1995-96 season that he missed with mononucleosis…Tonight’s game features a goaltending battle for Mississauga, Ont. – both Jeff Maund and Frank Ivankovic hail from the Toronto suburb…The Buckeyes finished last season ranked fourth in the CCHA in power play percentage (39-219; .178) and third in penalty killing (200-230; .870).
MORE ON LAST YEAR
The Buckeyes won 18 of their final 21 games last season, earning the school’s first ever NCAA Tournament berth and eventually a trip to the Final Four in Boston, Mass. Ohio State finished the season 27-13-2 overall (19-10-1 CCHA), and advanced to the CCHA Championship for the first time in 17 years. The 27 total wins last year were the second most in school history.
