The 2023-24 season marked the return of hockey in North Adams, Massachusetts at MCLA. At the onset of the season, there was tremendous optimism for a group of mostly Freshmen players cultivated across much of the North American Tier 3 junior hockey landscape who were to be coached by former Johnson & Wales star forward and UMass Dartmouth assistant coach Jeremiah Ketts. The team finished their year at 7-17-1 (5-15-1 in MASCAC play) while allowing 91 goals and only scoring 51. Normally, I would say that this season was a disappointment; however, the optimism that we (BSH) felt for this group was justified as they went on to win 4 of their final 6 games to end the season, only suffering a home loss to Plymouth State, who finished among the elite eight in the national tournament, and Worcester State on the last day of the season in a win-or-die game for the Lancers. With all these things in mind, let’s look at some of the stars and key role players returning to the Trailblazers, as well as their new additions.

               In terms of star power, according to our production model, the Trailblazers only rostered one star scorer relative to the rest of the NCAA in Cade Herrera. Posting 15 goals and 18 points in 24 games for MCLA, Herrera was the primary play finisher in the attacking zone for the Trailblazers, and this group will look for him to take another step forward as he has had a full season to adjust to NCAA defensive size, skills, and tendencies. Beyond Herrera, the Trailblazers boasted 5 players whose outputs were above the league average, and with more chemistry and experience could take the jump to star and super star production levels in the offensive zone this season. Atop the list are forwards Sean Schifferl and Easton Moore. Both players recorded 16 points in 24 games as Freshmen, with Moore’s 12 assists leading the team and Schifferl’s 7 goals being second only to Herrera. With more time and experience together, it would not be out of the question for all three of these players to join the ranks of PPG+ players in the NCAA this season. In the next wrung of fringe star caliber scorers are Luke Rhoss, Addam Brunner, and Shane Green. Rhoss is a player who showcased tremendous finishing ability in close last season, and if this team can generate more shots on goal this season, he has a Zach Hyman-type profile of someone who can clean up a large volume of goals from in tight on rebounds. Brunner, who was a surprise to us last season when he finished 5^th on the team in points, is a creative transition player, who with more experience in Ketts’ system, appears to have another level to his offensive game. Finally, in this group is Green, who is a heavy defenseman who recorded 9 points in 25 games last season, and with his shot and instincts is primed to take a big step in the 2024-25 campaign.

               Looking down the rest of the roster, returning members of last season’s leadership group, Connor Nagy and Charlie Addesa, will continue to add their offense in flashes (6 and 7 points respectively) while being at the forefront of the team’s defensive game, including their often-deployed penalty kill unit. Additionally, Quinn Murphy and Sean Neu will serve this team well in their incredibly disciplined (6 and 4 PIMs last year) and tenacious defensive games for another season, with potentially more offensive upside as well. Christopher Gallagher, Cody White, and Gavin Glaubitz will be tasked with being secondary finishers again this season, and if they can all clear the 5 goals mark this season, this team will be very competitive in the MASCAC. Rounding out the forward group are Walter Brown and Jack Bortle. Brown got into 15 games last season where he did not register any points but was able to add some spark with his skating at times. Bortle, despite only registering 1-point last season, gained a lot of experience living in the dirty areas last season, and could be a bigger source of scoring in his sophomore campaign. On the backend, Nathan Walerowicz has departed as an MCLA graduate, and his minutes will need to be replaced. In those minutes, Alex Ferris, Colin Ogborn, and Spencer Craig will be called upon to not only continue shutting down the opposition from creating scoring chances but also by creating breakouts and scoring chances of their own. MCLA defenders only scored 3 goals last season (evenly divided between Nagy, Green, and Ferris) and only two (Green and Nagy) had more than 3 points. All three of the defenders will be called upon to be steady again, but if any of them can break out as an effective puck mover with zone exits, this team could see exponential improvement. Matthew “Matty Pipes” Castillo returns to keep the net front clean and punish opposing forecheckers along the wall. Finally, among the returning defenders, Joshua Romanowski and Christian Nawrocki were steady enough in their limited deployments last season, but both have enough skill, size, and skating ability to slot in as needed in their second season with the Trailblazers.

               In terms of new skaters, the Trailblazers added only one in Sam Zis. Zis is a left-handed forward who played his last two seasons for the Connecticut Chiefs of the EHL. During the 2023-24 campaign, he recorded 29 points in 46 games, making his similarity curve out of juniors most like MCLA’s Quinn Murphy and Luke Rhoss, indicating he has middle-six potential in this group, but there may be a learning curve before he can find his scoring touch like most Freshmen experience after making the jump from EHL to NCAA.  

               Between the pipes, the Trailblazers will run a tandem of Mathew Gover, Landry Laird, Nick Imhof, and newcomer Josh Girard. Last season, Gover finished with a GSAA of 5.27, putting him in the 80^th percentile of all goalies in D3 hockey while also leading the nation in saves with 837. The Trailblazers will once again look to him to be the best version of himself to guide this team to the MASCAC tournament. Laird had a great showing against Western New England last Fall and finished the season with an 89.7% save percentage and a 3.70 GAA in 3 starts. Imhof saw one start last season where he allowed 4 goals on 31 shots but has enough physical tools to be a viable back up this season if needed and available. Josh Girard joins MCLA following two solid seasons with the Walpole Express of the EHL. Last season, he posted a 92.6% save percentage against a 2.38 GAA with 12 wins in 18 starts. As he adjusts to the NCAA game, Girard could be a stellar, new option behind Gover if and when the team needs a reset.

               Overall, I have every reason to believe that the Trailblazers will be a better team this year than they were last season. If all the players mentioned above (the entire roster) can take the steps forward that they need to. Despite their high goals against total during the inaugural season, the inability to score more than 2.04 goals per game is what relegated them to the bottom of the MASCAC, and toward the bottom of the national rankings. If the fringe stars and above average players can create and convert more chances to get this team’s scoring output up by at least 50% (to draw to the national average). This team is as competitive as anyone in their conference. This group played great team defense last season, but due to their offensive inefficiencies, were hemmed down to a point where their bend, but don’t break mentalities weren’t enough to win more than they lost. I’m cautiously optimistic for year two in North Adams, and I’m “bought in” on what Coach Ketts can do with this group.