Flashback to Dec. 10, 2016. The then-No. 3 Bobcats won their last game of the calendar year 3-1, and were 17-4-1 at the winter break.
Just over 365 days later, Ohio finds itself in the exact same spot; it won its last game of the calendar year 3-1, is No. 3 in the nation and is 17-4-1.
Point blank, Ohio year in and year out are a great program, but this is all too eerily similar; yet, it’s different from a year ago.
A year ago the Bobcats’ roster was comprised of 10 seniors that had spent the last three years building a chemistry both on and off the ice that would serve to fuel success, most notably, it took them to a place where they hadn’t been in over 10 years: the American Collegiate Hockey Association national championship game.
Ultimately, the experience and chemistry of the now-graduated crew couldn’t give Ohio its national championship.
But that was then, and this is now.
As the Bobcats came into the 2017-18 season, the main question that circulated around Bird Arena was in regard towards the youth of the team as well as the size of the roster itself. Of the 25 skaters listed on the team’s roster, 24 began the season eligible for play, two left the team citing personal decisions following the season opener against John Carroll.
Down to 22 in just the second week of the season, there was no other option than to rely on the raw talent that Ohio brought to the table. It would have to wait for the chemistry to grow.
Chemistry is a popularly discussed topic in sports and rightfully so. To have good chemistry on and off the playing surface, in this case ice, can lead to greater performance and an understanding of how individuals will play the game better as a team.
The 22-skater roster took even more of a hit toward the end of October during the Stony Brook series due to injuries. The injury bug nested within the locker room for roughly six weeks, and at times, Ohio played with a maximum of three lines (two and a half in a weekend sweep over then No. 13 Liberty).
This is when chemistry came into the spectrum; during the six-week stretch, the Bobcats went 8-1-1 that included three sweeps over nationally ranked teams and three Central States Collegiate Hockey League wins.
So after 11 weeks of play, a team that started out as young, untested as an entity, is at the same spot it was a year ago with a club that had been to hell and back with one another.
That team from a year ago cemented itself as national runners-up, without having faced nearly the adversity that this year’s team has – and it’s only been one half of the schedule.
Much like everything else, only time will tell to see where this Bobcats team goes. But history has been known to repeat itself. After all, this is the fourth season in a row in which Ohio has finished in the top-10 at the winter break in national rankings.
But with a No. 3 ranking, a 17-4-1 record and its last win being a 3-1 home victory, it’s not too far-fetched to say something special has begun much like last year.
The question at hand however, can it be identical to last year except one facet? Can it bring home hardware that hasn’t seen Bird in 14 years?
Only time will tell.
