To paraphrase a famous movie line, the 2008-09 Oswego State Lakers will not be ignored.

The Laker hockey team last season posted an 18-6-2 overall record, including 13-2-1 in the competitive SUNY Athletic Conference. But a 4-3 loss to Plattsburgh in the conference championship game meant that the Lakers needed an at-large bid to make the NCAA Division III playoffs.

The bid never came, and the season ended in disappointment.

This year, with 13 seniors, other strong returning players, and a crop of talented newcomers, the Lakers are determined to do all they can so they won’t need to enter the NCAAs through the side door.

“Hopefully, we won’t need a bid,” senior forward Ryan Ellis said. “We’ll go in the front door by winning the SUNYACs. That’s our main goal.”

Ellis knows something about goals. He tallied 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points last season, leading Oswego State in all three categories.

Also back for their senior seasons are captain Peter Magagna and assistant captains Kyle McCutcheon and Brendan McLaughlin. Magagna was second on the team in scoring last year (12 goals, 20 assists).

Head Coach Ed Gosek said the 28-man roster has a mix of proven veterans and talented newcomers. But all the talent in the world doesn’t necessarily lead to victories.

“There’s a lot of experience and a lot of leadership there, but to get those players all on the same page as early as possible is the key to getting off to a good start,” Gosek said.

The Lakers will open with an exhibition game at home Oct. 17 against the U.S. National Under-18 Developmental Team. The next night, the Lakers will play a tough non-conference game at Elmira.

Here’s a look at the 2008-09 Lakers.

Goaltenders

Senior returnee Chris Hyk will battle freshman Paul Beckwith for the starting spot, Gosek said.

Hyk played in just four games last year, as Ryan Scott concluded his outstanding Laker career. Hyk went 3-0-1 with a 2.53 goals-against average.

“At times he played well, and at times he struggled,” Gosek said.

Beckwith earned Goalie of the Year honors while playing for Pembroke in the CJHL last year. He had a goals-against average around 2.00 with a save percentage over 92 percent.

“We’re hoping Beckwith can play as well as he did in his junior program,” Gosek said. “We’re confident he’ll have a bright future here.”

Gosek said the starting spot is still up for grabs. “It’s up in the air right now until we see the rest of the preseason,” Gosek said.

Defensemen

Seniors Francois Gagnon, Rich Zalewski, McCutcheon, Tyler Laws, Mike Novak, and Mark Lozzi are among the returnees.

“Gagnon’s been very consistent over the past three seasons. He makes a good first pass, and also quarterbacked our power play,” Gosek said.

McCutcheon is coming off a shoulder injury last season. “He’s a very mobile defenseman, He also makes a good first pass, and does a nice job in our own end,” Gosek said.

Novak won the “Defensive Defenseman” award in the conference last year. “He’s a big, strong, stay-at-home defenseman. He’s a steady force back on the blue line,” Gosek said.

Zalewski is the top returning scorer among the defensemen with four goals and 13 assists last year. “He’s a good two-way defenseman who had some time on the power play last year,” Gosek said.

Laws, Lozzi, and sophomore Steven Mallaro will be battling for ice time with the other defensemen in the Lakers’ deep blue-line corps.

Junior Tyler Lyon returns and is another player Gosek counts on for reliable defensive play. But he can also add a spark on offense. “He steps up and joins the rush and shoots the puck well,” Gosek said.

The newcomers at defense are freshmen Hank Van Boxmeer and Jared Anderson. Van Boxmeer is 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, and is more of an offensive defensemen. Anderson is a tough, hard-nosed, defender who was a league all-star last season with the Wellington Dukes. Gosek expects both freshmen to push the veterans for ice time.

Forwards

The senior trio of Ellis, McLaughlin, and Magagna will begin the year as the Lakers’ top line.
Ellis is a returning All-American, and McLaughlin was an All-American the year before. Gosek said Magagna is “the blood and guts of the line that makes things happen. He doesn’t always get the credit the other two do.”

Injuries and other issues last year sometimes kept these three from being on the same line.
Gosek said he’s set to put them out there together and expect production.

“We’d be pretty foolish not to have them together at the start of the year and see what happens,” he said. “They’re a pretty productive group. They are seniors, and they’d like to go out in style.”

Seniors Matt Whitehead and Garren Reisweber may also be linemates, Gosek said. Both are good defensive players, he added.

Junior Neil Musselwhite may be the fastest skater on the team. He could be matched with junior Brad Dormiedy, sophomore Chris Laganiere, or sophomore Joe Hall, Gosek said.

Gosek said his “energy line” is likely to include senior Derrell Levy along with sophomore Josh Chamberlain, and perhaps newcomers Owen Kelly or Cory Callen.

Kelly is a sophomore transfer from the Air Force Academy. He’s a shifty forward with good speed. Callen, a former Oswego Admiral, is a freshman who comes to the Lakers from the New Jersey Hitmen.

Other newcomers at forward are Erek Selleck, Andrew Mather, and Jordan Krusch. Selleck is a big power forward with good hands who goes hard to the net, Gosek said. Mather is a solid two-way player who is very smart with the puck, the coach said. Krusch is more of a pure scorer, Gosek noted.

Schedule

In a word, it’s tough.

Plattsburgh is the defending SUNYAC champion, and national runner-up. Oswego State lost all three meetings with the Cardinals last year, accounting for half of the Lakers’ defeats. “We know they’re going to be very good,” Gosek said.

Fredonia is always a top team, and Potsdam had a very good recruiting class, Gosek said.

The other SUNYAC teams are all capable of winning on any given night. “We’ve got a great league. There are no nights off,” Gosek said.

The non-conference slate is a monster, starting with the regular-season opener Oct. 18 at Elmira, an NCAA Final Four team.

The Lakers will host Augsburg College, Babson, and Skidmore in the Pathfinder Bank Oswego Classic.

Over Thanksgiving Weekend, the Lakers will travel to a tournament in Wisconsin hosted by defending national champion St. Norbert. The Lakers will face the host team on the first night, then will meet St. Scholastica the following afternoon. “That will be a great opportunity to gauge where we’re at,” Gosek said.

Summary

Considering the high number of productive veterans, the Lakers would appear ready for the challenge the schedule is sure to provide.

Gosek said he’s striving for the team to improve in two key areas — goals against, and power-play percentage.

Oswego State will be hard pressed to improve defensively. Last year, Scott turned in great numbers (2.04 GAA, .921 save percentage), and the Lakers’ killed an astounding 133 of 152 of opponents’ power plays (87.5 percent).

“We’d like to cut our goals against down to 2.0 per game,” Gosek said. “With the quality of the teams that we play, that’s a tall order, but we think it’s attainable.”

Improvement in the power play would appear to be easier to achieve. Oswego State scored 30 power-play goals in 168 chances (17.9 percent) last year.

“Our penalty kill was as good or better than we’ve ever had, but our power play, we need to get that up to a minimum of 25 percent,” Gosek said. “Last year, we struggled to score goals. With the seniors that we have, we should do better on the power play.”

The players and staff know the task in front of them is to win the conference playoffs to get the automatic bid to the NCAAs.

“If you don’t win your playoffs, you’re at the discretion of the selection committee,” Gosek said. “We judge our success here on winning the league and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Anything other than that is a bit of a disappointment.”