The No.15-ranked St. Thomas men’s hockey team began the sixth season of the Jeff Boeser era minus three program staples and a host of other talented players lost to graduation.
Goaltender Drew Fielding, last season’s Division-III Player of the Year, All-American defenseman Michael Krieg and All-American center Alex Altenbernd headline the losses for the Tommies. St. Thomas’ bid for a fifth-straight MIAC title may ultimately lie in its ability to fill the voids left by those key players.
“We’ve changed some things with our new assistant coach, some system changes, so it’s been a little bit of an adjustment,” Boeser said.
Not only did St. Thomas lose significant talent on the ice, it also lost a key figure behind the bench. Former Tommie forward Parker Burgess left to become the coach at Nichols College (Massachusetts) after serving on Boeser’s staff for five years. In his place, St. Thomas hired former Alaska-Anchorage assistant T.J. Jindra.
Despite the changes, the Tommies still remain the team to beat in the MIAC.
Along with the 15th spot in the D3hockey.com poll, St. Thomas is ranked No. 14 in the U.S. College Hockey Online rankings. No other team in the conference is ranked in these national polls.
The Tommies kicked of the year this past weekend at the MIAC Showcase in Blaine. St. Thomas defeated Augsburg 4-2 on Friday and tied St. John’s 4-4 the following day. The games at the showcase don’t count toward the conference standings but do factor into the team’s overall record. St. Thomas will play two more games on the road this weekend against No. 11-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls and Wisconsin-Superior.
“We played two really good periods at the end of Saturday’s game, which is something we’ll have to take with us into this weekend,” Boeser said.
With Fielding’s graduation, a big question mark for the team coming into the season was play between the pipes. Senior Joe Morris, a 2012 graduate of New Prague High School, is set to be a stout goalie replacement for the Tommies.
“He played top teams in the nation last year when Drew was sick – River Falls and Wisconsin-Eau Claire – so Joe is proven in our eyes,” Boeser said. “The league may not know about him since he didn’t play many conference games, but he kept us in the game Friday night for sure.”
Morris currently holds a 4-0 career record with a 1.46 goals-against average in his career and feels confident in his ability to tend the net for the purple and white.
“The two games this weekend, I felt great going into them. No nerves, no butterflies, just down to business viewpoint,” Morris said. “I felt great during the games, gave up a few more than I necessarily wanted, but that’s the first weekend. A lot of things to work on, but a lot of positives to take.”
Senior defenseman and captain John Kirtland also feels confident about the returning skaters on the team, citing speed as a strength for St. Thomas.
“We’re pretty fast up front. (Jordan) Lovick, (Willie) Faust, (Bobby) Murphy are back, and our new guys have stepped in and produced,” Kirtland said. “We maybe didn’t have the result we wanted this weekend, but those younger guys were able to step in.”
The Tommies will have another tough season in the talent-rich MIAC, but Kirtland believes his team is ready to take the challenge.
“It’s been a long summer, especially for the returning guys that haven’t played in a while,” Kirtland said. “Guys are pretty excited. We’ve got a really good group of guys, and I think we’re ready to get things underway.”
After its road swing, St. Thomas will open conference play against Gustavus on Nov. 13.
Jake Remes can be reached at reme7110@stthomas.edu.