2017-18 Season Preview
It’s that time of year again, the students are back on campus and training camps and tryout skates are upon us once again. By September 22nd hockey will be back at Arrington Ice Arena for the eleventh season of Bulldog hockey.
This eleventh season brings about change in the Bulldog Hockey program with the addition of the Women’s ACHA D2 team, the Bulldogs now boast 7 hockey teams, more than any other school in the country, pretty cool for a school that only has 1700 students.
So, without further ado, let’s take a sneak peek at the 2017-18 season for each of the 7 teams.
Men’s Varsity
After making it to the National Semfinal game once again, the Bulldogs ended the season with a bitter taste in their mouths, dropping the semifinal game in overtime to the eventual National Champions, the Norwich Cadets.
The Bulldogs now have an opponent within reasonable driving distance this season with the addition of Trine University’s men’s hockey program. The Bulldogs will play a home at home with them the weekend of November 17th, something that has never been possible for the Bulldogs before this season.
Among the matchups this season is a trip out to the East Coast for the Codfish Bowl, hosted by University of Massachusetts-Boston. The Bulldogs will face Salve Regina and either Williams or UMass Boston over the course of the Codfish Bowl on December 29th and 30th. On January 2nd they’ll head to Connecticut to face Trinity College, the 2015 National Champions whom the Bulldogs were bested by in the 2015 National Semifinal game.
They will also travel to Plymouth, Michigan to face off against the United States National Development Team at USA Hockey Arena on November 22nd, the NTDP Team will come to Arrington Ice Arena as well for the home opener on October 28th.
Look for former standout Shawn Skelly behind the bench with former linemate Adam Krug this season as Skelly was named the new assistant coach after the departure of Chase Fuchs this summer.
Also keep an eye out for the members of the inaugural team, who will be back for homecoming weekend to be inducted into the Adrian College Athletics Hall of Fame.
Games to Watch
St. Norbert (1/26/18): The rivalry between the Bulldogs and the Green Knights is a storied one dating back to the National Championship game in 2011. The Green Knights would best the Bulldogs at the Big Dance and again this past year in the NCHA Harris Cup Finals. The Bulldogs swept the Green Knights back in the 2014-15 season and were the first team in 18 years to do so before beating them later that season for the Harris Cup and yet again in 2016. Games between these two teams are high flying, intense games and Coach Krug has said before that it’s like watching two D1 teams going at it when the Green Knights and Bulldogs clash on the ice. Make sure you grab your tickets early, as games against teams like St. Norbert sell out quickly.
MSOE (2/9/2018): Perhaps the first rivalry in Bulldog Hockey history is between the Raiders and the Bulldogs. After defeating the Raiders in their home rink in the semifinals of the 2008 MCHA Playoffs to win the Harris Cup, which is named after an MSOE alum, the rivalry between these two teams has been on fire. Even when MSOE became less of a powerhouse team the past few years, the battles between the two teams have still been heated and the Raiders even defeated the Dawgs last season in the home opener, but the Bulldogs bounced back the next day and won 6-0. Not only do the Bulldogs’ oldest rivals come to town on February 9th, but it’s also Pink the Rink night at Arrington Ice Arena, don’t miss the next chapter in this decade long rivalry!
Players to Watch:
Cory Dunn: The two time All American defenseman Cory Dunn will be going into his junior season with the Bulldogs as the best blueliner on the team. The newly named assistant captain may not be big, but his style of play sure is. Not only is Dunn the best defensive player on the team, as voted by his teammates, but he also was tied for first on the team in points this season.
Bryan Yim: Yim will also be heading into his junior season with the Bulldogs. His quickness and ability to score make him an integral part of the Bulldogs’ offensive core. Yim is calm, cool and collected and doesn’t spend a whole lot of time in the penalty box and is also seen on the Bulldog penalty kill as well as the powerplay. Yim may also not have the size of other players, but the way he plays more than makes up for it. Look for Yim on a line with fellow juniors Trevor Boyd and Connor Armour this season, as the three of them were unstoppable together last season.
Women’s Varsity
The Women’s Varsity team is coming off of a record year, making it all the way to the National Championship and hosting the Women’s DIII Frozen Four at Arrington Ice Arena this past March. The Bulldogs, unfortunately, dropped the game in overtime, but put up valiant efforts nonetheless.
The team also set an NCHA record with their 18-0 in league record this season, the best season in all of NCHA history. They also went undefeated at home for the entire season before dropping the National Championship game.
The Women’s Varsity team will also have a home at home series with Trine University this season the second weekend of November.
The dynamic trio of Kaylyn Schroka, Sarah Shureb and Kristin Lewicki won’t be hanging up their skates just because they’ve graduated college, the power forwards signed with the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women’s Hockey League this summer, becoming the second, third and fourth W. Varsity alumni to play for Buffalo.
Speaking of the Beauts, former captain and member of the Beauts, Hannah McGowan will be returning to campus after spending two years playing professional hockey in the NWHL and in Austria. McGowan was named the new assistant coach this August after Coach Skelly moved on to the Varsity team.
Games to Watch:
Lake Forest (2/19/18 and 2/20/18): Lake Forest and Adrian are typically the top two teams in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. The Bulldogs clinched the league title against the Lake Forest Foresters in the final series of the regular season in Chicago. The two teams met yet again two weeks later in the SLAATS Cup Finals where the Bulldogs would come out on top once again by a score of 5-1. These two teams are fast and competitive and you don’t want to miss this series.
@ Plattsburgh State (11/25/17): The Bulldogs and Cardinals will only meet once during the regular season this year. The November 25th match up will surely be a great one as the Bulldogs take on the Cardinals for the first time since the National Championship game. Although this game isn’t at home, fans will want to make sure to check for a live stream of the game this November.
Players to Watch:
Kelly O’Sullivan: The freshman All American Defenseman and NCHA Rookie of the Year will be the top defender for the Bulldogs this season. Her calm and collected style of play are beyond a rookie and her more veteran presence will be welcome this season with a large incoming freshman class.
MD1
The Men’s ACHA D1 team is coming off of a record breaking season of their own. Posting a 33-3 record, the Bulldogs made it all the way to the National Semifinals for the first time in program history this season. The MD1 team didn’t drop a game at home all season (although they did give us all a heart attack against Midland where they were down going into the last half of the third before forcing overtime..) and only dropped one GLCHL league game (which was a one goal game by the way).
While the MD1 team didn’t capture the National Championship, their season was one to remember nonetheless.
This season features two exhibition games to begin the season and a Homecoming Weekend opening series against Cansius College that will also feature Alumni Weekend.
The MD1 team was nearly unstoppable last season and this season will definitely be one to look forward too.
Games to watch:
Davenport (10/19/17): Davenport and Adrian teams have this unspoken rivalry thing happening between them (dating back quite a number of years) and that rivalry between the two MD1 teams is one that continues to stay strong. The Panthers were the only team to best the Bulldogs in the regular season last year, beating the Dawgs 5-4 in Grand Rapids last October but the Bulldogs would come out of the 3 game series with the Panthers with a 2-1 record, beating the Panthers both times they visited Arrington Ice Arena. Make sure you come out to Rivalry Night, as Coach Gary Astalos has dubbed it, on October 19th, you’re in for a great game of hockey.
Michigan Dearborn (11/9/17): UMD and Adrian also have a bit of a rivalry between them, dating back a few seasons. Last season, UMD beat out the Bulldogs for the GLCHL, despite Adrian sweeping the regular season series that year. Not only will November 9th have an action packed, high speed game in store, but it will also be MD1’s first Military Appreciation night in honor of Veteran’s Day that weekend.
Players to Watch:
Brad Kobryn: Would it even be MD1’s players to watch feature if I didn’t include senior forward Brad Kobryn? Kobryn broke Adrian’s all time goal record nearly a year ago now (103 goals in 79 games, you can read about it here) and is only 5 points away from the MD1 Team’s all time points record (196) and 39 points from the school’s all time points record (230). Kobryn has been a force to be reckoned with since he first stepped on the ice with the Bulldogs and will continue to be in his senior season. Keep an eye out for 27 flying around the ice and embarrassing defensemen across the ACHA in his final season as a Bulldog.
Mike Barrett: Mike Barrett is a brick wall, there really isn’t a better way to describe it. The rookie netminder was not only First Team All American in his freshman season (only the second MD1 player to pull of the feat in Adrian’s history after Brad Kobryn) but only dropped two games the entire season and went the entire regular season without a loss, dropping his only games in the GLCHL playoffs and National Semifinals. Barrett's freshman season was one for the record books, as he was the last undefeated goaltender in all of the ACHA as well as the leader in save percentage and GAA as well as the leader in wins, just what the Bulldogs needed after longtime starting goaltender Matt Schnoes graduated this past spring.
WACHA
WACHA once again made it to the National Semifinal this past season (in case you were wondering, that makes two semifinal appearances in their five year program history and their fourth appearance at the tournament). Despite their semifinal loss, the Bulldogs have a bright future ahead of them.
The Class of 2017 only consisted of 5 players, however, those players included Captain Paige Fuoco who was arguably the best defenseman in the league, defenseman turned forward Jessica Fabbro and high scoring forward Devyn Fitzhenry, who managed to finish top 5 in scoring despite not joining the team until the end of October.
The good news for WACHA is that they still have Alison Dungey on their roster, the now All American goaltender who has been backstopping the Bulldogs for two seasons now as well as veteran Jessie Rushing, blueliner and World University Games bronze medalist Sabrena Camp and Britt Levassuer, the only freshman on Team USA’s World University Games squad this past season.
Games to Watch:
Miami Ohio (11/10/17): Miami Ohio eliminated WACHA from the National Tournament this past season, strengthening the rival between the two powerhouse teams even more. The National Champions and CCWHA Playoff Champs haven’t been to Arrington Ice Arena since the 2015-16 season when WACHA pulled off not only a win against an otherwise undefeated team, but a shutout against a team who hadn’t been shut out in over a year. The RedHawks come to town on November 10th and 11th this season.
Michigan State University (10/17/17): An unlikely rival, Michigan State took down the regular season champions the Bulldogs in the CCWHA Playoffs this past February in what was undoubtedly the biggest upset of the season. The Spartans then ended up as WACHA’s opponent for the best of three series at the National Tournament. The series would take all three games and the Bulldogs narrowly beat the Spartans before moving on to the Semifinals. The Green and White will come to Adrian on October 27th.
Player to Watch:
Alison Dungey: Goaltender Alison Dungey was finally named All American this past season after the National Tournament after a phenomenal two seasons backstopping WACHA to record seasons each year. Dungey only dropped 3 games this past season, two of which came at the National Tournament and the other in the CCWHA tournament, going undefeated in the regular season. Dungey is now entering her senior season with WACHA and I look forward to watching her in her final year as the Bulldogs' netminder.
Kaillie Hardy: Junior forward Kaillie Hardy is probably the best player on WACHA's roster. Her size, speed and ability to score and make play is unprecedented and she's on track to take over Nichole Laflamme's ('16) point record for WACHA's team record. Look for Hardy on the ice with fellow junior Nicole Paradis this next season, the two spent a lot of time together on a line at the beginning of the season and the two were on fire together.
MD2
The Men’s ACHA D2 team is another “new” team to campus, so it’s hard to make any kind of predictions for this Bulldog hockey team.
Aaron Baine, former coach of Colorado State D3, will be the Bulldogs’ bench boss this season. Baine was the 2015 ACHA D3 Coach of the Year and spent 5 seasons at the head coach of the Rams before taking a year off this past season.
“It feels great to be brought in with Adrian Hockey's staff,” said Bain, “To be brought in to a successful program like Adrian has, it fits with my goals for the Division II team starting this year. My expectations are high and I am aiming to win our league, compete for and win a National Championship.”
The Men’s D2 team will take the ice for the first time on September 21st in an exhibition game against the Detroit Fighting Irish of the USPHL and their first regular season game will be held on October 5th at Arrington Ice Arena where they will face the University of Toledo Rockets at 7:15 pm.
WACHA D2
The newest team here at Adrian College, this will be the first season that the school will offer two women’s club teams. Samantha Fallon, a graduate of University of Massachusetts Boston and a member of their NCAA DIII team, was named the first coach in program history this past December.
“I'm very excited to be a part of the hockey traditions here at Adrian College and follow in the footsteps of the success of both the men's and women's various teams here on campus,” said Fallon.
The Women’s ACHA D2 team will take the ice for the first time Saturday, September 23rd against Pittsburgh at 7:00 pm at Arrington Ice Arena.
MD3
The Men’s side of the ACHA program has gone through changes over this summer. Without a roster, it’s hard to say who will be on what team and who will be making an impact.
The rivalries, however, will continue to brew against longtime foes such as Saginaw Valley State, Hope College, Oakland, Michigan Flint and Central Michigan, no matter who the players on the team are.
Games to Watch:
Central Michigan (1/11/18): The Chippewas eliminated the Bulldogs from Regionals two years in a row (2015 and 2016) and the two teams collided for the final regular season series of the year last year where the Bulldogs came out with the sweep and a share of the regular season title. It’s almost guaranteed that things will get physical and even a little dirty when they Chippewas come to town.
Oakland (1/21/17): The Bulldogs were the only team to beat the 2016 National Champions in the 2015-16 campaign and came away from the series undefeated with a win and a tie that year and then split with the Grizzlies this past season. Oakland is undoubtedly one of the top teams in the league and the Bulldogs give them a run for their money. Make sure you catch this matchup in the new year.
The first decade of Bulldog Hockey has now come and gone with a tremendous amount of success in the first ten seasons and I for one can’t wait to see what the next decade brings, starting with season #11 this year.