Fitchburg State will look to continue its long history of success in the MASCAC under head coach Dean Fuller this season. Coming off a season where the Falcons had a winning percentage over .500 and a GA of 75 (the second lowest in the conference) this group will look to build on that success, and ideally challenge the incumbent conference champions from Northern New Hampshire. This group has retained several of their strongest defenders from a year ago and recruited some unique and promising players.

              As was the standard in my Hockey East Primers, I’m going to look at a core group of returning players who will be critical for the success of the Fitchburg State Falcons (this will also be standard in these MASCAC reviews). Last season, Max Macchioni was a revelation for the Falcons, posting a 2.61 GAA against a 0.922 SV through 20 starts. Correlating those two stats, even on nights where the Falcons got hemmed down in their zone, Macchioni came up big for the boys, and if he can maintain the status quo, or improve during the 2023-24 campaign, this team will have real potential to ascend from their 3^rd place finish a year ago. The next key contributor will be defenseman Antoine Gignac. Gignac is Fitchburg State’s returning leading scorer from a year ago, and the Falcons will look to the 6’1” blueline to continue this trend into the new year. Gignac is a sneaky good player in the sense that he has high-end instincts to connect the Falcons game from the defensive zone to the offensive zone, which is my ideal defenseman in the modern game. The last returning starter from a year ago that I’m going to look at is big and bruising forward Toivo Kramer. Standing at 6’3” and 205lbs, Kramer is a force on both ends of the ice as both a back-checker and as the F-1 on the forecheck. Last season, Kramer posted 13 points in 25 games played, and I wouldn’t not be surprised if that number increases this season.

              Moving on to the incoming freshman class, the Falcons have four forwards and one defenseman that I am very excited about. Alexander Bauvais scored 37 points in 44 games played for H.C. Rhode Island last season and will look to contribute as a strong two-way player in his first year of college hockey. Of note with Bauvais is that he has spent the last two seasons transitioning to North American Junior hockey after spending five years in the French Junior Leagues. Next up is former Vermont Lumberjacks captain Jackson Collings. Collings posted 39 points in 45 games last season in the incredibly talented North Division of the EHL. Collings, like Bauvais, brings a physical two-way game to a Fitchburg State group that takes pride in being hard to play against. From the NA3HL’s Texas Sr. Brahmas comes forward Michael Imala. Imala was transcendent for Texas last season where he posted 75 points in 47 games. If Imala can adjust to the pace of play at the collegiate level, he can certainly add a boost to the Falcons’ MASCAC hopes. The headliner, in terms of offensive aptitude in the incoming Freshman class, is USPHL Premier standout Nik Millhorn. Millhorn, while captaining the Toledo Cherokee, posted a blistering 82 points in 43 games, and if he can put those skills together this season, could be a massive boost to Fitchburg State’s scoring ability. The final addition that I’m intrigued by is New Jersey 87’s defender Isaiah McKinney. At 6’4” and 216lbs, McKinney is a force of nature in the corners and in front of the net who will only help the Falcons in their quest of keeping pucks out of their own net.

              Overall, the Fitchburg State Falcons had a very good season in 2022-23, and as far as I am concerned, there’s no reason that they won’t have a very good, or better season in 2023-24. Of course, Plymouth State seems to be an insurmountable foe for the entire conference due to their ability to build teams that can hang in with powerhouses like Hobart and Adrian, but the Falcons have the talent to have at least a sliver of a chance of unseating the reigning champs. At the end of the day, coach Fuller’s work with the incoming Freshman class will be the deciding factor in determining this team’s ceiling this year.