STEVENS POINT, Wi(UWSP-WSAU)-After capturing its fifth National Championship in program history, the UW-Stevens Point men’s hockey team looks to continue its success in 2016-17.
Last season, the Pointers defeated in-state rival St. Norbert 5-1 in the National Championship game to earn UW-Stevens Point’s first title since 1993. UWSP finished with a record of 24-5-2. On its way to the title game, UWSP defeated Adrian and SUNY Geneseo in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Commissioners Cup.
Following the departure of nine seniors, including two All-WIAC selections, many players will fill in to new roles this season.
“We had a lot of seniors that played a big part in our success last year, and now our job is to try and fill those holes that were created by their departure and take another step this year,” said head coach Chris Brooks.
The Pointers will look to replace CCM All-Americans Joe Kalisz (Davison, MI/Davison) and Alex Brooks (Grand Rapids, MI), who both earned All-WIAC honors in 2015 and 2016. A season ago, Kalisz was 13th in the country averaging 1.35 points per game, and Brooks led the WIAC in points by a defenseman.
UWSP returns 17 letterwinners from last season, including two of its top-five point producers in All-WIAC selections Kyle Sharkey (Moore, OK/Insight School of Kansas) and Lawrence Cornellier (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem), who will also captain this season’s team. The Pointers also return senior forward Jono Davis (La Verne, CA), who finished last season fifth on the team in points, with 17 goals and 12 assists. Those three are part of an eight-man senior class for the Pointers.
“You look at the key pieces we return, those guys are now seniors and the expectation changes for them,” added Brooks. “It’s pretty neat to see the look in their eye and see that their expectation [for the team] has changed as well as ours.”
The Pointers have also added nine newcomers to the group of returners, two of which come with experience playing at the collegiate level in forwards Willem Nong-Lambert (Des Moines, Iowa ) who played two seasons at Western Michigan, and Omar Mullan (Dearborn, MI), who played at MSOE.
Joining a group of veteran blue-liners are defensemen Drew McLean (Waterford, MI) and Connor Chambers (Pequot Lakes, MN) who come to UWSP after playing multiple seasons in highly competitive junior leagues.
With the mix of veterans and newcomers, Brooks expects to have depth at all positions that will ultimately help with his team’s success.
“The thing that separates us from other programs is our depth, and it’s going to continue to be an area of focus for us,” said Brooks.
This season, the Pointers will face off against a strong non-conference schedule, which includes a rematch of the National Championship game taking on St. Norbert in an early season matchup in De Pere. UWSP will also travel to Michigan, where they will play the United States U-18 National Team, along with Adrian, who made its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season. A strong strength of schedule will help UWSP make a case for a postseason berth without an automatic NCAA Tournament bid for the WIAC.
After another highly successful season, Brooks believes that the expectation has been set for the program, but is still focused on the process on reaching team goals.
“We want to be prepared and detailed, and our expectation is to win every game and to compete in every game. The identity of our team doesn’t change, only the pieces of the puzzle do,” said Brooks.
“We need to be efficient and to be doing the things that other teams aren’t going to do all the time to meet our goals. We have a great balance in our team with guys that can be effective in many different roles.”
UW-Stevens Point opens its season, taking on Aurora on Oct. 28 at K.B. Willett Arena at 7:00 p.m. Prior to puck drop, UWSP will unveil the 2016 NCAA DIII National Championship Banner.
