With the Oswego State hockey season right around the corner, anticipation is building for the men’s ice hockey team to correct the issues they faced a season ago. Media day on Wednesday shed a little light on the state of the team moving forward as they prepare for their exhibition game against the CCHL All-Graduate team on Oct. 22.
The Lakers’ head coach, Ed Gosek, shouldered the majority of the blame that came with a SUNYAC powerhouse finishing 14-11-2 and missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008-09.
“As a staff, we self-examine ourselves on how we do things,” Gosek said. “Things that needed to be changed with what we do, accountability from our standpoint. I don’t think we can ask more of the players, as far as accountability, until we look at ourselves first and really make sure we can justify how we’re doing things.”
The Lakers will have co-captains this year with both wearing the “C” on their jerseys. Senior defenseman Chris Raguseo holds the captaincy for the second consecutive year and senior forward Kenny Neil joins him to share the duties. Raguseo is aware of what he needs to do to be a better leader for his team.
“I’ll be the first to admit there was a lot more that I could’ve done for this team,” Raguseo said. “Knowing what I know now, I wish I had that knowledge going into last year, but I’m glad Kenny is out here with me helping me lead.”
There is definitely reason for optimism heading into this season. One of those is the 11 incoming players that will bolster the Laker lineup.
“I think any good team, any good business, you need young guys to come in and push guys out of their comfort zone and it’s the new guys’ job to try to take those away,” Gosek said. “When you have that competitive atmosphere within a team concept supporting one another then you have something.”
However, junior level hockey is very different from the Div. III level. It is a process to get players acclimated to a new style of play and Gosek and his staff are “cautiously optimistic” with their new recruiting class, he said.
“Past experience would tell us some will be ready right away, some will need some time and some will need more than others,” Gosek said. “That’s the reality of it, depending on their strength, are they ready for the speed of the game, can they process the game mentally at a pace that puts us where we want to be.”
Make no mistake about it though. The success, or lack thereof, rests on the 12 seniors and the rest of the upperclassmen who will see major minutes this season.
“Experience would tell me that our success would be based upon our upperclassmen and what they bring,” Gosek said.
The Lakers’ early season non-conference schedule has them playing a home-and-home with Elmira College after their exhibition game on Oct. 22.
This should give the coaching staff a real feel for who deserves a spot in the starting lineup come their SUNYAC opener against the College at Brockport on Nov. 4, a team the Lakers beat three times last year.
