2007-2008 SEASON PREVIEW
Raiders look to continue success
With three consecutive Midwestern Collegiate Hockey Association championship banners hanging from the Kern Center rafters, the Milwaukee School of Engineering men’s hockey team is looking to build on an already-impressive winning tradition.
The Raiders, under sixth-year head coach Mark Ostapina, will be a motivated bunch. They came just short of clinching their third straight Harris Cup when Finlandia scored with 51 seconds left in last season’s championship game.
Ostapina won’t have to do much retooling with 16 returning in 2007. Senior forwards Lee Swallow and Blair Hanberg top the list of letter-winners. Swallow led MSOE with 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) a year ago and finished the season with 118 career points. A team captain, Swallow also added seven power-play goals.
“Lee already has earned the right to be considered one of the top scorers in the history of MSOE and he has only played three seasons.,” Ostapina said. “What further distinguishes Lee from others is that he is a better person than a player,” says Ostapina. “People and education are the cornerstone of our program.”
Hanberg led the team with 24 goals and pushed his career total to 54. His 37 points pushed him over 100 for his career, and he enters the 2007-08 campaign with 108. Hanberg will wear the “A” on his sweater again this season.
“Blair is that power forward who is able to bury the biscuit with the best of them,” Ostapina said. “Blair is to MSOE as Cam Neely was to the Boston Bruins.”
Ostapina will also look to a trio of juniors for leadership this season. Defenseman Jason Woll was named to the All-Conference team in each of his first two seasons and led Raider defenders in scoring last year with 23 points (6G, 17A). Ostapina calls Woll’s shot one of the hardest in NCAA Division III hockey.
“Jason is a player that can dominate a game from the first second he touches the ice to the final horn,” Ostapina said. “MSOE sleeps better knowing Jason patrols the defensive zone.”
The Raiders will need to find a way to replace the scoring and leadership of two-time MCHA Player of the Year Brian Soik. In 108 games, Soik scored 45 goals with 81 assists for 126 points – the second-best mark in school history. His seven-goal, 28-assist performance a year ago made him the first MCHA All-America selection, which was also the first selection for an MSOE male athlete. In addition, Soik was one of eight finalists for the Sid Watson Award, which recognizes the most outstanding NCAA Division III hockey player in the country.
“Our entire senior class last year will be missed,” Ostapina said. “They were the critical mass that was MSOE Hockey. Also the pro signing of RG Flath hurts the talent level, but we have a Soik to replace a Soik and a crew of newcomers with speed, skill and character.”
Ostapina will turn mainly to his returning players to fill the void left by Soik and six other seniors, including all three goaltenders. Sophomore Michael Bove spent the season watching Matt Burzon, Joe Dovalina and Josh Rudolph work the Raiders net, and will be among seven incoming players trying to win the job when practice begins.
The Raiders open the season with a home-and-home series against MCHA rival
