Head coach Nate Leaman is entering his seventh season as Union’s leading man and ever since taking over for the 2003-04 season, his teams have continued to climb the ranks. Two years ago, the Dutchmen earned its first postseason bye in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Playoffs and last season they won their first postseason series. Using these two examples to go on, most would assume Union is ready for the next step. It certainly is a goal of Leaman’s.
“We can’t be satisfied as coaches,” Leaman said as he glanced away at his computer, which happens to show a picture of Union’s 2008 Governor’s Cup Championship celebration. “Every year the goal is to keep elevating the program step-by-step; it was nice that we accomplished great things last year and the year before. The big picture is there are still a lot of improvements to make and build the infrastructure of this program, so that we can compete within ECAC Hockey and nationally.”
In the years past, Leaman’s teams were known for their defense, but this year’s squad has a different feel. The rink seems to be tipping the other way.
“We’ll be strong upfront – maybe the strongest group I’ve had as a head coach here,” Leaman said. “I’m pleased with what we have at the forward position and the type of talent and depth we have. I feel much more confident that our goaltending position will be improved and solidified. We have to be patient with our defensemen, because we have a lot of young defensemen that are going to play and see a lot of ice.”
When the puck drops on Friday, Oct. 9 against Maine at Messa Rink, Union’s roster will include 20 returning letterwinners from the 2008-09 team, which produced a school-record 19 wins and came within a game of making it to the ECAC Hockey Championship Weekend.
“Our goal this season is the same as it is every year: to win our league,” Leaman said. “We want to win the championship. Looking at our non-conference schedule, we want to have a winning record there.”
Up Front
With one of the top lines in the country returning and five of the six student-athletes that made up the first two lines last year, Union is preparing for a high-scoring season. Junior Adam Presizniuk is returning from the greatest offensive year in school history, posting 38 points with 16 goals and 22 assists. Playing along side him are seniors Mario Valery-Trabucco and Jason Walters. Valery-Trabucco posted 29 points, including 15 goals and 14 assists, while Walters had 28 points with 13 goals and 15 assists.
Junior Stéphane Boileau and sophomore Kelly Zajac add to the depth. Boileau
had 25 points, including 10 goals and 15 assists, while Zajac contributed 20 points with four goals and 16 assists.
“We return our top line from last year,” Leaman said. “We have two seniors (Trabucco and Walters) that have played a lot of games. Adam and Stéphane are two guys that have contributed their freshmen and sophomore years. There’s not going to be a lot of pressure on our freshmen to put up a lot of offense, but I think they are capable of doing that. We can continue to throw more than one line at our opponents.”
Presizniuk finished fourth in ECAC Hockey for points and assists a year ago and scored in 24 of 29 games. He fought off the sophomore jinx and over the next two years is attempting to make a run at Jordan Webb’s career record of 114 points, but that isn’t to say Presizniuk doesn’t need to improve his game.
“He has to get better,” Leaman said. “He still needs to improve and pick up a half step in skating. He should be aiming for first team all-league. It’s more of just taking this team to the next level and that’s his greatest challenge – helping us do that. I think he’ll definitely see more ice time this year than he has in the past. There’s a lot more ability in Adam and a good challenge for us and him.”
Providing the top line some support is Zajac and junior John Simpson. Simpson, a center, had 15 points with five goals and 10 assists last year.
“Kelly is returning from a good freshman year and I think his goal is to be consistent,” Leaman said. “When he’s at top level, he’s a very good player and our goal this year is to get him to play at that level every game. Going into your sophomore year you know what to expect; he’s going to get big responsibilities in all areas.”
“John’s one of the fastest players in the league and he’s come back and put on a lot of strength in his upper body,” Leaman said. “I’m expecting great things from John. If you look at our top minutes played, he would be up there, because he plays in all types of situations. Adding the weight is going to help him. His goal is to step up and help all three lines contributing to our depth. He can help provide that on whatever line he plays with”
In order to succeed, the Dutchmen will count on their role players to contribute. Guys like seniors Jeff Christiansen, Jon Lareau, Jason Shaffer; juniors Andrew Buote, Justin Pallos and sophomores Luke Cain and Brian Yanovitch.
“Between them all it could be a very dominant line with crashing, banging and producing points for us,” Leaman said. “The key with championship teams is all four lines produce. They don’t produce a ton of goals, but do so in key games and situations. I think when it comes to our “role guys,” we want to make sure they’re better than everyone else is in the league.”
The key to offensive success might just lie in the hands of the three freshmen: Kyle Bodie, Wayne Simpson and Jeremy Welsh.
“I expect all three guys to be impact guys,” Leaman said. “Simpson has a very high skill level, tough to knock off the puck and has very tight hands. I expect him to be competing for all-rookie honors. Welsh is big, excellent shot and good release and I think it will take an adjustment to the level, but he’s a guy that below the circle will be dominant. If he gets the opportunity he could get a lot of goals for us. Bode has very good vision on the power play. He has very good skill level and will be terrific player for us. His role might bump around a little in the beginning, but only because he is so versatile.”
The Defense
With half of Union’s starting defensive lineup gone, the Dutchmen look to their underclassmen to fill the holes this season.
“You don’t just replace guys like Lane Caffaro, Brendan Milnamow and Mike Harr (all are currently playing professional hockey),” Leaman said. “Those guys had a lot of experience. We’re going to have to rely on three defensemen that didn’t play a lot last year and we’ll have guys competing for spots.
“Overall, we’re going to make mistakes back there, but we have to be patient and it’s up to the coaching staff to bring those guys along. Forwards will need to be supporting and we have three good goaltenders that can get in there and make the saves.”
Seniors Mike Schreiber and Mike Wakita have the most experience on Union’s blue line. Schreiber has logged 108 games heading into this season, and last year he played in 38, producing two goals and 12 assists. Wakita enters with 71 games played, including 34 a year ago.
“Schreiber needs to step up and be a dominant force back there,” Leaman said. “He has the ability; in our most important games he has been our best defenseman. I know he has the ability to step up and play. He has to make sure that he’s playing to the best of his ability. He’s really at an all ECAC Hockey level.”
“Wakita is a great defensive defenseman and he keeps it simple for us,” Leaman added. “He’ll log minutes and will be a good leader back there helping the young guys.”
Junior Brock Matheson, another defenseman who will likely see a lot of time, is coming off a breakthrough year. After playing 23 games during his freshman year, Matheson played in every game last season, posting six points.
“Brock is someone who has worked very hard this summer and had a great breakout year last season,” Leaman said. “He’ll see a lot of minutes this season if he keeps it simple and consistent. He has good skating ability and outlet pucks well. He’ll certainly be a guiding force that we’re going to need.”
The final three defensive spots will be filled by either sophomores Nolan Julseth-White, Taylor Read, redshirt freshman Carl Ekström or freshmen Jean-Sebastian Bergeron, Greg Coburn, Ryan Forgaard or Shawn Stuart.
Between the Pipes
How do you follow a school-record 19 wins? That is a question Corey Milan faces at the start of the new season. This junior played in every game last season and will look to improve all around, dropping his goals-against average, while raising his save percentage.
“Corey needs to have a good, competitive mind frame going into every game,” Leaman said. “This year we have to get better in that area to win the league. Because of our young defense, we are going to call on him to make some big saves. I think Corey has the ability.”
Freshman Keith Kinkaid is expected to compete for game time. The Farmingville, NY native is coming off a banner year with the St. Louis Bandits of the USHL and participated in a couple of NHL prospect camps this summer.
“Keith is coming in as a freshman, but has as much experience as any freshmen we’ve recruited,” Leaman said. “He’s won championships, received MVP of his league and went to two NHL camps this summer. I look for those guys to compete for that position.”
Entering his last season, Rich Sillery will make a push for playing time. Last year he played in two games.
“Rich competes everyday in practice and really has to be there if he’s called upon,” Leaman said. “I think he’ll compete for the position this year.”
Special Teams
When the special teams are working, hockey teams will win games. That seems like a common statement passed throughout the hockey world. Union will try and improve upon a 17.1 power-play percentage.
“Chemistry is a big part of special teams’ success,” Leaman said. “We obviously lose Matt Cook and Lane Caffaro – two of our top power-play guys. We feel we have a couple guys who can step in and contribute. I feel like with our depth up front we could put three power plays out there, which will push us to compete in practice and get that chemistry.”
At the opposite end, the penalty kill unit will certainly be called upon at key times this season. Last year the PK posted an 83.1 percent, coming on strong in the later half of the season.
“I look for Andrew Buote, John Simpson, Lareau and Shaffer to be key penalty killers right from the start,” Leaman said. “With the depth up front we’ll be able to roll more pairs than we have in the past. Bottom line: the goaltender has to be the best penalty killer. If we have the strength in that position like I anticipate we’ll have, I look for our penalty kill to improve.”
