Another season of Buckeye hockey is in the books. 2015-16 was Ohio State’s third Big Ten campaign and its third under the management of head coach Steve Rohlik. It seems like a good time to kind of take the pulse of the program. Read ahead for ruminations on the past season and the current State of the Puck.
I feel like this is the year in which we finally saw a total shift to Steve Rohlik hockey. The high tempo transition game is more akin to what you see from top teams like Michigan and Minnesota than the slow grind we commonly saw in the CCHA.
The potential rewards with this style of play are great. It’s tailor made for exploiting weakness in an opponent’s defense and running up huge scores. Unfortunately it’s a two way street that also exposes shortcomings within one’s own team, which were evident throughout the first half of the season.
It’s a style that offers defensemen the opportunity to drive the offense. While the defense certainly had its share of miscues this season, it rose to the occasion offensively. OSU blue liners ranked No. 15 in the NCAA in scoring with a collective 81 points. The total was the highest recorded by a Buckeye D corps since that of the 2008-09 NCAA tournament team.
The learning curve can be ugly, but when everything clicks this type of hockey equips Ohio State to compete with its more traditionally successful B1G brethren. It pays off against elite non-conference opponents as well.
That was apparent from the midpoint of the season on. Ohio State was a dangerous team to face whether you were ranked No. 4 or No. 44. The Buckeyes posted 128 total goals this season (again, the most scored by a Buckeye squad since 2008-09) and a whopping 90 of those goals were scored after the holiday break.
The Bucks' 8-8-4-1 record in Big Ten play was its best conference result in three seasons. The team did struggle with consistency but that’s not terribly unusual for such a young squad. It’s hard not to think about what could’ve been if OSU had managed to win a few of their eight one-goal losses. But it’s also difficult to be disappointed with the results of the season when it’s pretty much the outcome we expected.
…truthfully the upper limit for this team is probably fourth place in the conference and a Big Ten tourney finals appearance.
Overall the Buckeyes made enormous strides from the beginning of the season to the end. Several freshmen became key contributors. Mason Jobst (30 pts) posted an outstanding rookie season. John Wiitala (18 pts) and Dakota Joshua (17 pts) also turned in notable numbers. Defenseman Tommy Parran chipped in 10 points over the Bucks’ final 12 games. Overall OSU’s newbies tied for sixth in the NCAA for most points by a freshman class.
Veterans Dave Gust (36 pts) and Nick Schilkey (41 pts) posted breakout seasons, crushing their previous season bests. Ohio State had four players named to All-Big Ten teams this season, twice as many as last year and equal to the program's top mark. These accomplishments all add a bit more street cred to the coaching staff’s ability to develop players.
The team looks to be well situated for next season with all but four players returning. Ohio State will also add some exciting incoming freshmen. The Bucks have three rookies-to-be signed to NLIs for 2016-17.
Tanner Laczynski is currently the third leading scorer in the USHL and is ranked No. 101 among North American skaters by Central Scouting going into this year’s NHL Draft which is the highest ranking for a future Buckeye I can recall in some time. Sam McCormick - yes, he is Max’s brother - isn’t far behind Laczynski, coming in ninth among USHL scorers. Ronnie Hein sits just outside the top 20.
Looking a little further into the future, Rohlik and company have acquired verbal commitments from several promising prospects. Vincent De Mey is ranked No. 200 in North American skaters for this year’s NHL Draft. Sean Dhooghe skated with Team USA’s Under-17 program this season. Another verbal commit, Brock Caufield, was invited to the U-17 camp but just missed the cut. (You can see OSU's full list of verbals at College Hockey Inc.)
The commitments of McCormick and Caufield, along with his brother Cole Caufield, seem to indicate the Buckeye staff is gaining a recruiting foothold in Wisconsin. (A foothold which could strengthen amid the Badgers’ coaching change.) It's making in-roads into the hockey hotbed of Minnesota as well, recently nabbing players like Miguel Fidler and Tyler Nanne from Edina and Drew Brevig and John Wiitala from Lakeville.
This is all positive news and I think Ohio State fans have good reason to feel optimistic about the future of the program. But I also think folks are starting to get antsy. Rohlik is going to need to come up with some significant achievement within the next two seasons, whether that’s contending for the regular season conference title, a presence in the national polls, making the NCAA tournament, or landing a top shelf recruit. The patience of Buckeye nation is not infinite.
