Icecats appear ready to come out firing

Brian Foster Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore co-captain left wing Paul Dorn (10), right, accelerates past sophomore center Marc Harris (18) during practice yesterday at the Tucson Convention Center. The Icecats have their season opener against North Dakota's Minot State Friday night at the TCC.

The Arizona Icecats begin their 20th season with games Friday and Saturday night against ninth-ranked Minot State at the Tucson Convention Center. Game time for both nights is 7:30 p.m.

"This 20th anniversary season is a big transition for us," Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski said. "But, this transition is positive and we worked real hard this summer to make significant changes to improve this club.

"These are important games early in the season. We've got to get out of the chute strong."

The Icecats are coming off last season's 16-12-1 finish and their 16th straight national tournament berth with renewed optimism.

"We're looking really good," sophomore defenseman Tyler Brush said. "The thing that I see this year that I didn't really see last year is a new found intensity."

Golembiewski agreed with Brush's assessment.

"We are very proud of what we have accomplished. We have 15 new skaters this year, combined with 13 returning players, so we are young, but exciting," Golembiewski said.

With so many new players the responsibility and experience falls to the returning veterans, especially the co-captains, sophomore forward Paul Dorn, Brush and senior defenseman Bob Majka.

"Yeah, there's a lot of responsibility, but this team looks a lot stronger this year," Dorn said. "We have a good mix of players and everyone seems to be fitting in well."

The team looks different, with a number of new, bigger players on defense.

"We recruited one of the very best goalies from Ontario," Golembiewski said, referring to junior transfer Mark Meister from Villanova.

"Meister was brought in to be the number one goalie," Golembiewski said. "We're not going to play rotating goalies."

The defense is led by returning players Majka, Brush, juniors Tom Thompson, Joe McCaffrey and Kevin Baskel and bruising sophomores Rodney Glassman and Max Wilke.

The offense looks stacked again this year with last year's leading scorer, sophomore Marc Harris, back centering a line with left wing Dorn and sophomore right wing Mike Graves - and the Icecats are looking to put up some points.

Sophomore Ed Carfora returns to the lineup, looking to put up a productive season. Junior transfer Eugene Mesh, also out of Villanova, is being looked upon to put up some solid numbers and provide much needed experience this year. Senior Brian Meehan brings consistency and leadership to the table, as he is one of only three seniors on the team.

"We had some guys, like Neary, who have played some junior hockey," Golembiewski said. "We're looking forward to good things from them."

With young talent along with experienced veterans, the Icecats said they are expecting nothing but the best this year.

"We hope to finish better than last year," Dorn said. "We're gunning for the national title."

Mike Jenkins can be reached via e-mail at Mike.Jenkins@wildcat.arizona.edu.