Watching as the seconds ticked off the clock in Ohio’s 4-2 semifinal loss Tuesday, I kept thinking about what coach Dan Morris said to me at the beginning of the season — this was the most talented hockey team he had ever assembled.
The Bobcats had it all: size, speed, skill. They replaced the club’s all-time winningest goaltender with a former NCAA Division I netminder in Blake MacNicol. They returned their top two scorers in Michael Schultz and Tyler Pilmore.
And to top it off, they had the senior leadership in players such as Mark Tracy and Billy Hemann to keep the team focused.
Players made no secrets of the season’s goal from the onset. They wanted to win a national championship. There are a plethora of teams around campus — clubs and varsity alike — with those lofty dreams in mind, but the Bobcats had the tools to bring one home.
Anything less would be a “tough hit to take,” senior Brett Molnar told me.
Were it not for a span of 15 seconds Tuesday night, the Bobcats could have been celebrating a national title today. But, that is of little consolation for Ohio and its six graduating seniors.
Two straight losses in the American Collegiate Hockey Association semifinals — both third-period collapses – will eat away at the players. Scenarios will be replayed, “what ifs” will be asked. But no amount of self-reflection can change the outcome.
For the returning Bobcats, they’re left with that four-word phrase synonymous with sports in the city of Cleveland: “There’s always next year.” Ohio Hockey fans need not be so cynical.
Next year the Bobcats will return their top eight scorers. The first line of Schultz, Pilmore and Nick Rostek will be back to defend their league title. Brett Agnew will be back to fill the net with rubber and camp out in the crease. Zander Dover and others will be poised for breakout seasons much like the ones John Luciana and Alex DiMassa enjoyed this year.
Four of the club’s defensemen will return to man the blue line. The freewheeling Zack Barbis will be on board to pile up points aplenty.
Jonathan Gulch and his bazooka slap shot will continue make opposing goaltenders and would-be shot-blockers quiver behind the protective padding.
In net, Morris has the luxury of picking between Fedor Dushkin and Bryan Danczak, both of whom looked very sharp in spot duty during the season. Either could have started for two-thirds of Ohio’s opponents this year.
And rest assured, the recruiting pipelines will be flowin’. They’ve already started.
The only thing that motivates a team more than getting so close to a national championship only to come up short is to have it happen again. There’s no need for bulletin board material when those pair of box scores scathe more than any words.
“Next year” might be the distant future, especially with the loss still so fresh in their memories. But I have a feeling Morris might use some strikingly similar words to describe his 2011-2012 team.
Bart Logan is a senior studying journalism. If you are an Ohio Hockey fanatic still coping with Tuesday’s loss, e-mail him at bl245106@ohiou.edu.
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