SEASON PREVIEW
MARIAN HOCKEY
to see some quality minutes early on for the
Sabres. A North Vancouver native, Jamieson
has made an impression on Aitken early on.
“Brodie’s got great speed that he
effectively uses to attack on the rush,” Aitken
said. “With that kind of ability, he can be a
dangerous player on the ice.”
Every team needs a quality faceoff
winner and the Sabres appear to have
found that with freshman Adam Ritchie.
Standing a 6-2, Ritchie has made it known
that he’s here to compete with the best, an
attitude that has caught the attention of the
coaching staff.
“Adam has displayed a knack at the
face-off dot,” Aitken said. “He’s got great
hockey sense on top of that which makes
him a quality addition to our program.”
The NCHA released their coach’s poll
on Monday, with Marian selected to finish
fifth. Newcomers to the NCHA, St. Norbert
received all nine possible first place votes
(coaches could not vote for their own team).
Following them, Adrian, who received one
first place vote, was chosen second with 73
points. A fresh face to the conference, St.
Scholastica was picked third with 62 points.
Harris Cup finalists from a year ago, MSOE
was picked fourth with 62 points.
The Sabres were selected fifth,
earning 44 points. Lake Forest entered
at a close sixth, with 42 points. Lawrence
(34), Concordia (28), Northland (13), and
Finlandia (13) round out the rest of the
preseason selections.
“The competition level in the NCHA is
much higher, but the expectations haven’t
changed,” Aitken said. “Our ultimate goal is
to have home ice advantage for first round
of the Harris Cup Playoffs.”
Marian will return to Fond du Lac for
their home opener on Friday, November
1st as they host St. Norbert at the Blue Line
Center. The Green Knights made a run to
the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament
last year and are winners of three of the
last six National Championships, all of
which came as a part of Aitken’s tenure as
associate head coach.
SabreHockey
Senior forward Tyler Klein
Freshman forward Brodie Jamieson
@MU_Mens_Hockey