Team hopes 2001 was only a bump on the ice
Jason Turner
While it wasn’t exactly a banner season for the USU men’s hockey team, assistant captain Deryk Anderson said the 2000-2001 campaign provided many good learning experiences and extremely tough competition he said he feels can only lead to one thing – a return to USU hockey glory.
The Aggies finished the 2000-2001 season with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the University of New Mexico to finish their season 11-15-4. Although this season marked the hockey club’s first finish with a losing record, the future looks bright. The Aggies will lose just three players from this year’s squad and have some talented recruits joining the mix.
“We have some great recruits coming in; we’re keeping most of our talent and we’re going to have a great team next year,” said assistant coach Nate Anderson. “I think we will win the RMCHA (Rocky Mountain Collegiate Hockey Association) championship and be a national contender next year.”
USU has been working hard at tracking down prospective recruits, Deryk Anderson said. He said the Aggies will be sending representatives to the “Chicago Showcase” in April. The “Chicago Showcase” is a national tournament that features the top high school players in the country, he said.
“It’s a national tournament where states send their elite teams, sort of like an all-star team,” he said.
More than 40 teams will participate in this tournament, including a team with players from Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, he said.
To be a contender next season, the Aggies will have to get off to a better start, Deryk Anderson said. USU finished the first half of the season with a 6-10-4 record. Early season losses to San Jose State University and the University of Southern California set the tone for the rest of the season, he said.
“Those early losses just put us on the wrong foot, making it hard to recover from,” he said.
Another reason for the Aggies’ struggles, Deryk Anderson said, was the tough schedule they played – a schedule Anderson called the most challenging ever.
On the season, the Aggies played Arizona State University – a Division I club team in the American Collegiate Hockey Association – three times, including twice on the road. In addition to playing RMCHA powers Weber State University five times and the University of Utah four times, the Aggies also faced off against regional-power Colorado State University four times, with two of the games in Fort Collins.
However, there were many positive moments for the Aggies this season as well. A few of those included:
• Hat tricks by both Tony Haughey and Anderson in the same game in a 9-5 victory over the Provo Ice Cats (Brigham Young University).
• Forward Aaron Burrell’s hat trick in the first period in a 9-5 victory over New Mexico.
• Shutouts of both the Lobos and San Diego State University.
• A come-from-behind victory over Robert Morris University after trailing for the majority of the game.
• An 8-2 drubbing of Utah when the Utes were the top-ranked team in the RMCHA.
“Like anything in life, you’ve got to take the good with the bad,” said senior defenseman Danny Wilson. “For everything that didn’t work out exactly the way we may have wanted, the good times, without a doubt, always outweighed the bad.”
When the Aggies played together as a team and stuck with their game plan, they were a force to be reckoned with, Deryk Anderson said.
“Our overriding theme this season has been when we’ve come to a game prepared, we’ve either won or been right there,” he said.
One constant for the Aggies this season, Wilson said, was the fan support. Despite the trying season, the fans were still very supportive, he said, which the team appreciated.
“A lot of people don’t realize the hockey team wouldn’t be here were it not for their passion and dedication,” Wilson said.