"In regards to our team, a little bit like Bowling Green from the standpoint that we did have a good second half as well that we'd like to build on. We were 6-2 in February; I think one of the hottest teams in the league down the stretch run against some pretty good opponents such as Notre Dame and Michigan State. We felt like we had a real good finish to the season. Quickly from goal out, in net we return both goaltenders from a year ago. We are also bringing in a freshman that we have high hopes for in Pat Nagle. We are hoping some increased competition in that area will lead us to realize a little more consistency in that position. On defense, I would say we're probably in the top four in the league, top 10 in the country in terms of defensive corp. We are led back there by third-time captain (first time in the history of the program that we've had a captain for three straight years), Adam Welch. We are real deep in that position. We have a couple newcomers, we are very comfortable on defense. Upfront is the real question mark. We've got some players with potential but that's what it's been and they need to realize that potential now. We've got some opportunities there with Adam Miller, Aaron Lewicki, Cody Chupp, Brendan Connolly. I think they all have ability to be scorers in this league but now it's a matter of doing that."
WCH says:
Ferris State certainly fits the model of a team that has built themselves from the goal out. Their deepest position is in goal, where they have three highly-recruit goalies in Derek MacIntyre, Mitch O'Keefe, and incoming freshman Pat Nagle. O'Keefe saw most of the playing time last year, but took a step backwards from his impressive freshman season. That leaves the door open for Nagle to take the starting job.
Whoever is in goal will have the benefit of an experienced defense. They lost two experienced defenseman in Jeremy Scherlinck, the last holdover from Ferris State's NCAA tournament, and Jon Van Culin, but return captain Adam Welch, and Chris Zarb, an NHL draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Bulldogs lost incoming freshman Pat Maroon to the OHL after he was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL draft. They do bring in a number of gritty, hard-working freshman, however. The offense will rely on sophomores Cody Chupp and Aaron Lewicki building off of their impressive freshman seasons.
