This will be Kevin Czepiel's third season as Berkshire's head coach. The Bears have improved in both previous seasons.
They went from 11 to 20 wins in Czepiel's first season, upsetting Nobles in the first round of the Small School tournament. They were even better last season, going 25-7-1 and making it all the way to the Small School tournament title game, where they fell to Kimball Union.
"I was expecting it to be a little bit more of a three-year process," Czepiel said. "It happened faster than I was expecting."
Now comes that big third year. Three straight years of being in and around the Elite 8 race and being a tough out in the Small School tournament would go a long way to establishing consistency.
"We want to be a school that, year in, year out, is going to push for 20 wins and see where the chips fall," Czepiel said.
The Elite 8 is the goal. Can Berkshire do it?
Scoring
Duncan Thompson, a Sacred Heart commit, led Berkshire in scoring last season with 51 points. Evan Regan (Acton, Mass.) wasn't far behind with 41. Both graduated.
Fortunately for the Bears, they retained most of the rest of their production from last season. That starts with senior Matt Lacombe (Marlboro, Mass.), who had 20 goals and 42 points as a junior last season, and James McMurray, who notched 32 points as a junior.
"Those two guys have been proven point-getters," Czepiel said. "We're excited for them."
One of the standouts from the Small School title game last season was Jonah Rainisch, an '07, who found the back of the net twice. Now a junior, he scored 15 goals and posted 32 points in 32 games last season.
Thompson and Regan held important spots on the top line. With them gone, there are spots to be had in the top six.
Three prime candidates to step into higher roles will be seniors Carter Johnson, Dylan Chernoff and Erion Milla. Chernoff had 20 points last season, while Milla had 19 and Johnson notched 15.
"I'm excited to see them take on a bigger role," Czepiel said.
Those are mostly older players. Some younger guys who should carve out roles are '08 Dylan Pagliuca, '09 Matthew Chernoff and '08 Preston Kelly-Paquet, who is a newcomer from Kelowna, British Columbia.
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In back
Josh Williams is the only defenseman to have graduated last season, meaning the Bears brought back six defensemen.
"We'll take that," Czepiel said. "We'll take that for sure."
The returning core starts with seniors Dominic Somma, Gus Chong and Harrison McLean. Somma led the defensemen in points last season with 16, while Chong and McLean were in stout, shutdown roles.
Czepiel is also fortunate to boast a good group of '08s in James Reilly, Lucas Smith and Zennon Turnovitski.
"They were just on the younger side last year," Czepiel said. "Now having a year under their belt, I think we have a really mature group back there."
Berkshire ranked 11th in prep last season when it came to goals against. Much of that had to do with the defensemen, most of whom are back this season. But a lot of that was also thanks to Kyle Bolduc (Bolton, Conn.), who dazzled last season with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
Bolduc graduated. His replacement was supposed to be Parker Stockseth (Blandford, Mass.). The '08 has long been a top goalie in the region and committed to UMass this summer. Stockseth was at Berkshire but left in the fall. He joined the NAHL's Danbury Junior Hat Tricks recently. He has a 2.52 GAA and a .918 save percentage in two games.
So, who will take on the majority of the time in net? That would be Alex Kim.
"He's gonna be the guy that we're definitely leaning on," Czepiel said.
An '08 from Leonia, N.J., Kim played well for the Connecticut Junior Rangers 16U team last winter, posting a 2.35 GAA and a .905 save percentage. Kim stands at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds. He's likely their X-factor.
Impact of the CHL ruling
Czepiel anticipated that a player or two would leave for junior hockey late in the summer or at some point during the fall. So, he opted to carry two extra players this season than he normally does.
No skater left, but better to be safe than sorry.
"Whether it was the CHL with some of our Canadians or with that ruling, more opportunities are opening up at lower levels for kids, I was anticipating it," Czepiel said.
It's only been one year since the CHL ruling, which allowed players to suit up in the QMJHL, OHL and WHL and still be eligible to play NCAA Division 1 hockey.
"It'd be foolish to think that it wouldn't affect us one way or another," Czepiel said.
Berkshire heavily recruits from Canada. Canadian families have often picked the prep route to ensure their kids get USHL looks and, hopefully, attention from Division 1 college programs. Now, they could stay and be in the CHL and still play college hockey.
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That hasn't hit Berkshire yet.
"The inquiries even from Canada were still really high," Czepiel said. "I thought that was something that would change a little bit, but we still saw an influx of inquiries from Canada."
