COLUMBUS — Senior captain Matt Hartman walked out of the locker room still wearing his uniform, the look of disappointment fresh on his face.
Hartman and Ohio had just lost to Central Oklahoma 3-0 in the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championship Game. He talked about heartbreak, saying goodbye to college hockey and the future.
Not his future, but the Bobcats’ future as a program.
Although Hartman won’t be with the team any longer, he talked about the next few years; how Ohio will be on this stage again, playing for another national championship very soon.
“We had a young team (this season),” Hartman said. “They’re going to be great for years to come.”
Hartman’s vision of success for the program in the future is not at all a radical idea.
After all, four of the Bobcats’ top 11 scorers were freshman. The goaltender of the national runners-up? Also a freshman. The starting defensive pairing featured a junior and a freshman. Put them alongside various other freshman, sophomores and juniors; the Bobcats won’t be an easy opponent for some time to come.
The key to success for the younger guys, according to Hartman and coach Sean Hogan, is experience.
Those younger players have now not only been to the ACHA tournament, but almost won the entire thing. That’s experience.
Not only for the players who saw extensive playing time during the tournament run, but even for those who didn’t dress for the tournament and were healthy scratches. Those who were referred to as “young” will be the leaders moving forward, Hogan said.
That valuable time spent in the tournament run will fuel the future. There are 10 seniors, including Hartman, who Hogan is crediting for that success already.
“Anything we do moving forward is built on what they did,” Hogan said.
So after a grueling loss to end his career in Bobcat green and white, Hartman did his duty as the team captain and talked to each player kneeling on the ice, mourning the loss of a national championship and ACHA immortality.
His message was simple. Take what was felt on the ice and apply it down the road, when a new opportunity for a national championship presents itself.
The pain can be put to good use. The last time Ohio lost in the national final, in 2003, the Bobcats proceeded to win the national championship the following season.
“We’re going to be a hard opponent for a lot of years with this group,” Hogan said.
After the toughest loss the program has had in years, it’s not all frowns. There’s optimism — with good reason.
