Nineteen-straight ACHA tournament bids. Zero scholarships.

Eight Final-Four appearances. Zero dollars funded through the UAor NCAA.

One club team. One goal.

With 17 returning contributors to a team that ranked fifth-overall to close out last season, the UA Icecats and head coach Leo Golembiewski will be looking to hang another banner on the wall of the "mad-house on main street."

The quest begins Oct. 25 with an intrastate matchup at the Tucson Convention Center against Arizona State.

Though the season is still over a month away for the Icecats, the coaching staff and players are already preparing to meet their goal of winning the ACHA National Championship.

"Our theme for this season is ĪLeaving it on the Ice,' because that's what the team did last year," Golembiewski said. "Knowing that the guys gave their best and put it all out there gave us the idea to make that an important part of our team's character this year."

Icecat alum Brian Meehan is back on the bench for his fifth season as associate coach, along with first-year graduate assistants Kevin Meehan and Kyle Neary. Meehan has been a leader both on and off the ice for the team, while Neary was the leading scorer a year ago with 41 goals and 25 assists.

Returning up front will be senior Dave Loftus, whose 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) tops all returning players. Sophomore Mickey Meehan and junior Andrew Fredericks are also expected to make large contributions to the Icecats' depth at forward.

Also returning will be senior blueliner Bill Pardue, who, along with sophomore goaltender Bryan Aronchick, will head the defensive front for the Icecats. Aronchick appeared in 29 of the team's 30 games last season as a freshman, posting a 2.49 goals against average and .908 save percentage.

"Bryan is possibly the best goalie we've ever had in our program," Golembiewski said. "Based on how well he did last season for us, we think Aronchick is the best goalie in the entire ACHA."

While the core of the team seems to be in tact through its returning players, tryouts are being held this week to solidify the remaining roster spots. Golembiewski normally would hold 28 skaters and 4 goalies, but might take more if the crop of incoming players brings as much talent to the team as he expects.

Incoming freshman center Cole Dunlop and sophomore center Eric Ormson are ready to step up to the level of hockey that the Icecats are used to playing. Dunlop has plenty of ties to this competitive brand, as his brother currently plays at the University of Notre Dame and his father spent the better part of 11 seasons in the National Hockey League.

"We're young, but we're talented," Golembiewski said. "We have just a few returning seniors this season, which will greatly help our success next year as well."

Golembiewski said that while lacking NCAA recognition, the Icecats still have one of the largest fanbases of any UA sport, club or sanctioned.

Golembiewski is entering his 24th season with the Icecats, the team he founded back in 1979.

While a 20th-consecutive tournament bid might be expected, the Icecats and all their fans would love nothing more then to celebrate their 25th anniversary of competition in 2003 as the ACHA Defending Champions.