Atlantic Hockey Preview - Mercyhurst
My tour of the Atlantic Hockey Association finds us in Erie, PA to talk about the Mercyhurst Lakers. They are my pick to finish 7th.
Mercyhurst has traditionally been one of the stronger teams in Atlantic Hockey. They have 2 regular season titles and 3 conference tournament titles. However, last year was a down year for the Lakers as they only managed 9 wins.
The offense for the Lakers was the strong suit last year, and should be pretty solid again this year. They scored 3.5 goals per game, among the best in the conference. The top scorer from last year, Ben Cottreau returns for his senior year. He has scored an impressive 120 points during his carreer. He was a big part of a solid power play unit that scored 19.2% of the time. They also have a couple of double digit scorers that return as well in Matt Pierce and Ryan Toomey. I think this will be a big reason for Mercyhurst wins.
The defense, however, really struggled last year. They gave up a whopping 38.2 shots on goal per game in conference. They brought in some large defensemen as fresman this year to help shore up that department. It was a young defense last year, and with 3 freshman it will get younger. This may help the team down the road and I think they could be better towards the end of the year.
The Lakers have no returning goalies this year. They brought in Matt Lundin as a transfer from Maine and he will likey take the starting job. He posted solid numbers for Maine in his action there. I think he controls the destiny of the Lakers. The backup job will be Ryan Zapolsky.
This team could be a very good team if Lundin is as advertised. I think that they will be dangerous later in the season as the defense gets better. The beginning of their schedule is difficult and that could put them in a small hole. I'll give them a low number and hope they surprise.
Projected record: 12-16
Mercyhurst has traditionally been one of the stronger teams in Atlantic Hockey. They have 2 regular season titles and 3 conference tournament titles. However, last year was a down year for the Lakers as they only managed 9 wins.
The offense for the Lakers was the strong suit last year, and should be pretty solid again this year. They scored 3.5 goals per game, among the best in the conference. The top scorer from last year, Ben Cottreau returns for his senior year. He has scored an impressive 120 points during his carreer. He was a big part of a solid power play unit that scored 19.2% of the time. They also have a couple of double digit scorers that return as well in Matt Pierce and Ryan Toomey. I think this will be a big reason for Mercyhurst wins.
The defense, however, really struggled last year. They gave up a whopping 38.2 shots on goal per game in conference. They brought in some large defensemen as fresman this year to help shore up that department. It was a young defense last year, and with 3 freshman it will get younger. This may help the team down the road and I think they could be better towards the end of the year.
The Lakers have no returning goalies this year. They brought in Matt Lundin as a transfer from Maine and he will likey take the starting job. He posted solid numbers for Maine in his action there. I think he controls the destiny of the Lakers. The backup job will be Ryan Zapolsky.
This team could be a very good team if Lundin is as advertised. I think that they will be dangerous later in the season as the defense gets better. The beginning of their schedule is difficult and that could put them in a small hole. I'll give them a low number and hope they surprise.
Projected record: 12-16
posted by Komey at 4:12 PM
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