October
1, 2004
Duke set to start the 2004-05 season
DURHAM, NC -- After one of the best seasons in the team’s
history, the Duke Hockey team looks to have a repeat year. However,
the team has a different look from the one a year ago. Duke
graduated eight seniors and has four juniors abroad, all of
whom played important roles on last year’s team. The senior
class was the backbone of the team, and they helped bring the
program to the level it is currently at. Among those abroad
are assistant captain, Drew Evans, and leading scorer and first
team all-ACCHL player, Steve Lake. With most of the veterans
gone, Duke looks to fill some of these voids with a large freshman
class that is poised to step up to the challenge.
Once again, the team will be led by ACCHL Coach of the Year,
Brent Selman, who enters his fourth season as the head coach
of the team. The team this year consists of graduate students,
Wilson Korol, Jeff Harmon, and Clayton Jernigan. Jernigan,
second team all-ACCHL goalie, was only one of the three on
the team last year. The rest of the team is very young, with
only one senior, Joe Crotty, and three returning juniors:
Marc Roitman, Justin Bieber, and Dom Totino.
However, do not let the youth be deceptive, as Duke returns
nine sophomores, who got more than their fair share of experience
last year. Those sophomores are Peter Elkins-Williams, Jeremiah
Liao, Bert Maidment, Issey Kato, Andrew Barbour, Alex Putterman,
Ben Tyson, and all-ACCHL Freshman Defenseman and assistant
captain, Ryan Eick. All of the returning players played an
integral role in the championship run last year and have high
expectations for the upcoming season as well.
The Blue Devils open up the season against Wake Forest on
October 1st. They will also be playing all of the ACCHL teams,
with road trips to Virginia Tech, George Mason, and Georgetown.
Additionally, the squad will be participating in the annual
Canes Cup hosted by NC State at the Re Zone, January 14 to
the 16th. The team will play non-conference opponents in a
trip to Georgia to play Georgia and Georgia Tech, at home
against Kentucky, and Pennsylvania and St. Joseph’s
during a road trip to Philadelphia.
The Blue Devils will host the ACCHL Tournament this year
during the last weekend in February as they look to make it
back-to-back league championships. They know that the journey
will be long and hard, but the team is up to the challenge. |
