One month into the offseason, the Bobcats are already looking forward to 2017-18 after losing the ACHA National Championship game in March.
Ohio's task is simple: Return to, and win, the national title.
One-on-ones
The first part of the offseason process for coach Sean Hogan was one-on-one interviews with the players.
During these sit-downs, Hogan asked each player various questions about the past season, the future and what each player wants out of the Ohio hockey experience.
Also in those interviews, Hogan offered players advice on how to get noticed by professional scouts.
"'Do you want to play beyond your four years here? If you do, this is what you have to do,'" Hogan said in reference to going to free-agent camps in the summer. "At our level, you have to do the groundwork to get yourself noticed."
Constant Contact
Another part of the offseason is an obvious, but essential, piece to helping the Bobcats in the future: working out.
As far as the offseason workout program, Hogan said it’s not on the coaches to lead workouts. It’s the player’s responsibility — not only with working out but in regards to making things happen.
"You can’t have passion for somebody else," Hogan said. "If you truly want your goal to be having a career as a hockey player, you have to be passionate."
Although he doesn’t work the players out over the spring and summer, Hogan makes sure to stay in touch with them regarding how their workouts are going.
And when the players come back to Athens in August for the start of fall practice, it’s pretty easy for Hogan and his staff to see who worked hard and who is out of shape.
Pressure
With a talented young core returning for next season, there might be an added expectation of the team after making it to the championship game this past season.
Hogan doesn’t expect that to affect the Bobcats, in large part because, having already done it, they understand how difficult it is to make it to the last game of the tournament.
"The perspective (of 2016-17) helps," Hogan said. "We’ll have good leadership and they’ll be able to show how it’s done."
