In my last blog I had given readers a little insight into our strong 2016 recruiting class. I am very excited about this incoming class of players as I know they will be early contributors to our success, but I am equally excited about the players that we have returning from last year’s team. I am going to talk about three areas: leadership, emerging players and players coming back from injuries.
First of all, I am excited about our returning leaders and veteran players. To lead this pack I have to mention #10 Huba Sekesi and #16 Dan McNamara, who were voted as our captains for the 2016-17 season. Both of these guys help this team in different ways besides their leadership. Huba is a guy that has led the Johnnies in scoring and will be a go-to-guy for goal scoring and he is a physical player. Dan is more of a role player in that he does whatever it takes for the team to win. Dan kills penalties, goes to the front of the net, gets in the opposition’s head and is a very vocal leader. Along with these guys we will be leaning on guys like forwards Tyler Dunagan and Kevin Becker, and defenseman Dan Tripicchio.
Last year we also had a number of players emerge as impact players. These players were either new incoming players or veteran players that moved to a new level with their game. Some new players that emerged were guys like #23 Matt Colford, #17 Mitch Fritz and #2 Sean Lang. All three of these freshmen saw power-play time and were able to score big time goals for this team. Some returners that emerged last season were #28 Sam Valerius and #25 Dan Voce. These two guys, along with Mitch Fritz, made up a 4th line that was our best line in many games the second half of the season. They not only had good shifts as a 4th line, but they also scored some of the biggest goals of the season for this team.
Finally, we have a number of guys that experienced significant injuries this past year that will be looked upon to contribute a lot more this season. We went into the season this past year with #4 Zach Glienke and Mitch Fritz watching from the sideline. Both were injured in the preseason and had to work hard to get back on the ice. Both came back and helped the team win a lot of games the second half of the season. #26 Garrett Riebling was lost to a season-ending knee injury just as he was playing some great hockey for this team. Garrett played in all kinds of significant roles for this team prior to getting injured and will once again be looked upon to get back out there and make an impact. Freshman #24 Joe Chitwood was also knocked out of the line-up for a significant portion of the season due to an injury. Joe was one of the guys I was most excited about at the start of the year. I can’t wait to see him at 100%, he is a very hard-working and competitive player that will help in all areas of the game.
Between the posts we have two returning goaltenders that are itching to fight for the #1 goaltender position. #1 Tyler Nelson will be a senior and has been waiting for this opportunity for 3 years. When he got in last year he played great and I can’t wait to see if he can bring that intensity and consistency more often this year. #30 Tanner Elmore will also look to compete for that spot as he showed a lot of promise in practice last year as our 3rd goalie.
I think as Johnnie hockey fans you will be in for an incredibly entertaining season. Our player depth is some of the best that I have had in my last eight years here as coach. We have a great mix of veteran leaders and young emerging talent that will produce results. Check out our player profiles below to find more information on all of the returning players this season.
