After 21 years, it’s nice to say that there will be college hockey in the town of North Adams, Massachusetts this winter. The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Trailblazers, or MCLA for short, will be competing in the MASCAC with an almost entirely freshman team under first-year head coach Jeremiah Ketts. Ketts is coming over from UMass Dartmouth after a seven-season stint which saw UMD make two MASCAC Tournament Finals appearances. I’ll dig more into Ketts’ potential with this team after I break down the key cogs of the MCLA roster. A heads-up in advance is that this will be a more in-depth look than my other NCAA looks due to our commitment to covering this group in-depth over the course of the season.

              I’m going to use a bit of personal positional bias and start with the d-corps for this group. The elder stateman of this group, Nathan Walerowicz, was a three-year contributor for Finlandia University before transferring to MCLA this year. Walerowicz is a 6’1” 201lbs stay-at-home d-man with impressive physicality and exceptional stick positioning and maneuvering in his own zone. His veteran experience and reliability will be a pillar for a very young, but talented defensive group. For d-men who can create offense, the Trailblazers expected creators will be Shane Green and Spencer Craig. Green posted 20 points in 46 games last season in the EHL for the Philadelphia Little Flyers. Additionally, at 5’11” and 201lbs, he’s a sturdy body who can move bodies in his own zone while executing effective zone exits to get the team’s offense started in the neutral zone. Craig posted 18 points in 43 games played for the Northern Cyclones of the USPHL Premier league, a team that he captained as well. Craig’s got great vision and instincts in his own zone, and much like Green, he does great work creating plays and opportunities in transition. Beyond the play creators on the blueline, the Trailblazers have a trio of notable body movers in Josh Romanowski, Matthew Castillo, and Colin Ogborn. Castillo is coming over as a transfer from MASCAC-rival Salem State, but prior to his freshman season there, he was a viable two-way defender with the New York Apple Core of the EHL. Romanowski is a technically skilled defender who does his best work killing plays in his own zone and pivoting to create the breakout from the defensive zone. Depending on his deployment this season, we could see a surge in his offensive efficiency if he is able to connect with some of the team’s high-end scoring forwards. Ogborn is a prototypical, rugged, stay-at-home defenseman capable of dishing out punishment to over-eager opponents along the wall, with a keen ability for snuffing out plays that go into the corners. The dark horse of the MCLA defensive group is Northern Cyclones product Alex Ferris. At 6’2” and having produced 11 points in 44 games played last season, if he can find his way on offense in Ketts’ system, he has the upside to be a steady playmaking contributor beyond the obvious ability of Green and Craig. Also, of note with this group is that there is a lot of leadership at the position, as three of these d-men wore letters on their sweaters last season.

              Transitioning to their forward group, I am once again going to look at a large percentage of the players on the team here as an introduction to my expectations for this group, with hopes that all these young men will exceed my current perspectives on them. The player whose name immediately stands out based on his Superstar* (*Using the Bader Model) production in the USPHL Premier league is Easton Moore. Moore posted an exceptional 71 points in 44 games played by leveraging his elite dexterity and incredible vision in the offensive zone. If Moore can make the jump to NCAA pace of play quickly, he should be able to set the standard, create space, and leverage matchups for the rest of this sneakily talented group. Next up are two Star* level producers: Cade Herrera and Sean Schifferl. Last season, Herrera posted 28 points in 35 games played for the Seahawks Hockey Club of the EHL. Most notable about Herrera was his 20 goals in that campaign, which was an extension of his remarkable goal scoring reputation that he has been establishing since 2020. If the Trailblazers see that trend continue, they should be able to compete in every game this season offensively. Schifferl only played in 26 games for the Manchester Jr. Monarchs in the USPHL Premier last season but recorded 22 points in those games. Like Herera, Schifferl has a great nose for the net and goal scoring instincts that have been on display since 2020, and he has the vision to be productive with a wide range of teammates and varying skillsets. In sheer terms of offensive output, the team also has two *Fringe Stars in Christopher Gallagher and Luke Rhoss. Gallagher, in 42 games for the Islanders Hockey Club of the USPHL Premier, posted 28 points. Gallagher is a great fit with the group as a big bodied (5’9” and 201lbs) finishing forward. It isn’t that easy to find guys with his track record and size in tight at the D-3 level, and MCLA did a great job bringing in such a nuanced type of player in the room. Rhoss brings a similar brand of scoring and physicality to the team after posting 28 points in 44 games for the Philadelphia Hockey Club in the EHL. Also, to the credit of Rhoss, despite the physicality in his game, he only took 12 PIMs last season, making him a valuable presence on the ice where he can set the tone for the game without hurting his team in the process.

              Now that I’ve covered the star producers of 2022-23, I’m going to look at the rest of the forward group. This is not a demerit to any of the guys in the paragraph as hockey is the ultimate team sport, and these guys will have the talent and the opportunities to make crucial plays for the Trailblazers this season. Two guys who have tremendous offensive upside, who could flourish in Ketts’ system this season are Cody White and Quinn Murphy. White saw top-six minutes last season for the East Coast Wizards of the EHL, having posted 25 points in 45 games played. White was an Assistant Captain for this group and was an effective play creator in transition for his team over the course of the entire season while also being a reliable defender. From the sample size I’ve seen Murphy had a similar tenure and impact with the Philadelphia Hockey Club a year ago and will be an asset in transition through the neutral zone. This brings me to the last trio of forwards that I’m super excited to see play this year: Charlie Addesa, Addam Brunner, and Gavin Glaubitz. Addesa was the captain of an exceptional Worcester Jr. Railers team in the EHL a year ago where he posted 21 points in 45 games while being a standout two-way player. Brunner, despite posting only 11 points in 38 games for the Walpole Express, was a key player for them in a lot of situations. Brunner is exceptional at disrupting opposing zone entries in the neutral zone and creating turnovers, while also having a ceaseless motor on the forecheck. Glaubitz posted 20 points for the Connecticut Chiefs of the EHL last season, and a key component of that was his effectiveness in transition, as mentioned with the other players in this paragraph.

This brings me to the final key part of this roster, which is the goaltending tandem of Mat Gover, Landry Laird, and Nick Imhof. At the time of writing, I don’t have enough data or eyewitness reports on Imhof, so I can’t give him the same level of analysis as the rest of the players in this article. Laird saw 10 games for the Springfield Jr. Pics last year where he posted a 0.903 Save Percentage against a 3.47 GAA. Based on those numbers, he was a competent backup playing behind a group that allowed a large volume of shots and will likely be asked to be a competent or better backup again this season. There will likely be some bias in the analysis of Gover due to him being the 4^th member of the Black Stitch Hockey team, so I will keep this to just the facts. Last season for the East Coast Wizards of the EHL, Gover posted a 0.923 Save percentage against a 3.06 GAA, which is a case of what I like to call “John Gibson Syndrome,” which is when a goalie’s GAA is inflated despite having a top 10 percentile save percentage in the league due to seeing a high volume of shots in high danger areas (what most hockey guys call “grade A’s”). In my time watching Gover, he’s an aggressive definitive number-1 goalie, and is the ideal backstop for this MCLA team which has the potential to grow into a very dangerous team over the course of their inaugural campaign.

              In conclusion, this MCLA Trailblazers team is very well built to be competitive in both the MASCAC and the NCAA Division 3 landscape from Day 1. Coach Ketts has constructed a solid and well-balanced roster that has a higher potential for individual and group growth over the course of one or several seasons as necessary. I have had the privilege to hear some of both coach Ketts and Mat Gover’s opinions and thoughts on this team heading into the “training camp,” and it has me excited to see what Ketts is going to be able to draw out of this group this season. Out of respect for the men involved (do I look like Mike Babcock to you?), I won’t reveal anything from those conversations here, but trust me: anyone with any interest in MCLA hockey should be ecstatic for the season to come. I look forward to following and covering their entire season, while getting the chance to talk to the young men mentioned in this article about their on-ice growth and perspectives as they try to takeover the MASCAC.