For the first time in Tufts hockey history, the Jumbos will put a squad on the ice this season that has been recruited to play in the four-year-old NESCAC hockey league. And the Jumbos appear to have their best chance in those four years to make a serious dent in the conference. The 2004-2005 version only loses four seniors from last year's squad which was a disappointing 8-15-1, so expectations are a bit higher than in year's past.
"As a team, we're a lot more experienced and stronger in a lot of areas than we have been coming into the season," senior forward and co-captain John Hurd said. "Most of us have been playing together for a while now, so a lot of people are a lot more confident this season, more than in the past."
Besides losing the graduated Pat Byrne, who took with him 91 career points, the Jumbos will have their full offensive arsenal in place. This includes senior Jason Boudrow, who hasn't played since the 2002-2003 season. He and his 128 career points will only be another positive to an attack that already has many weapons in place.
Among these weapons are seniors Hurd (21 points last year), Gino Rotondi (21 points), and Shawn Sullivan (team leader with 29 points). Sullivan, however, is suspended for this weekend's games in Vermont versus Norwich and St. Michael's.
The junior class has quite the batch of scorers, too, led by co-captain Ken Cleary, who had 26 points last year and led the team in goals with 19. Matt McCarthy and Adam Delaney-Winn, each with 11 points last season, will be big contributors for this year's team. Sophomore John Murphy, who chipped 11 points last winter, will be making his mark again.
With this firepower in place, the Jumbos see themselves being more competitive.
"We can approach every game this year knowing we have a chance, and that's a big part of winning in this league," Hurd said.
Besides the returners, there are a few freshmen who should be announcing their collective presence with authority. The goaltender position is the slot where they could be making the most waves. Newcomers Issa Azat and James Kalec will be competing for time with junior Matt Ninneman, who had an 0-1-1 record last season playing behind now graduated senior Ben Crapser. Crapser leaves quite the skates to fill, as he etched his name into the record books last season as the school's all time saves leader (2,139).
Regardless of who is put in net, though, the Jumbos are confident the job will get done.
"There is more upper classman leadership around here than ever, but the freshman recruits will play a big role in how this season goes," Hurd said.
Helping to protect the goalies and keep shot counts down will be the defense, which has had a bit of trouble keeping teams in check in recent seasons. Also losing only one contributor in John Van Pelt, the defense will be headed up by juniors Jack Thompson and Pat Walsh. Thompson had an impressive 16 points from his position and Walsh chipped in with eight.
This coming weekend, the Jumbos will match up with St. Michael's and Norwich; annual meetings to kick off the year. Tufts makes the trek to Vermont for Friday night's game with Norwich and then Saturday afternoon's with St. Mike's. Two years ago on this opening weekend road trip, Tufts was able to beat St. Mike's 6-3 and lost a tight one with powerhouse Norwich, 5-3. Last season at Malden Arena held a bit of a different fate as the Jumbos dropped both games 9-4 and 6-4, respectively.
Whatever happens, Tufts, and especially Hurd, is not falling into the trap looking past any games this season.
"We have to go one weekend at a time and just focus on the task at hand," he said.
