Ohio State Men's Hockey opens season tonight in Dayton

Ohiostatebuckeyes.com has a great write up regarding Ohio State Men's Hockey's season opening up tonight in Dayton, OH at the Lefty McFadden Tournament.

This tournament is a two day affair with teams from Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Mercyhurst also participating.

The schedule breaks down as follows:

Friday, Oct. 12
Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin - 5:05 p.m.
Ohio State vs. Mercyhurst - 8:05 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 13
Consolation Game - 4:35 p.m.
Championship Game - 7:35 p.m.

E.J. Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio

Here are some key nuggets regarding Ohio State and the participating teams:

IN THE RANKINGS
Ohio State is ranked 19th in the Oct. 1 USCHO.com/CSTV poll and in the Inside College Hockey preseason power rankings. The squad is in the “receiving votes” category in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. Notre Dame is ranked eighth by USCHO, seventh by USA Hockey and sixth by INCH. Wisconsin is 15th in the USCHO and INCH polls and 14th in the USA Hockey rankings.

THE YEAR THAT WAS
Ohio State was 15-17-5 last year and finished seventh in the CCHA with a 12-12-4 mark. The squad returns 12 letterwinners. Senior Tommy Goebel is the leading returning scorer, posting 26 points last year and ranking second on the squad with 12 goals. Senior defenseman Jason DeSantis was second among blueliners last season with a career-best 25 points, including a team-high 20 assists.

BUCKEYES AND BADGERS
Ohio State could face Wisconsin on the second day of the Lefty. Ohio State is 0-10 all-time vs. the Badgers, with just two meetings since 1969. The teams last met in the Frozen Tundra College Hockey Classic outdoors at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., Feb. 11, 2006, a 4-2 UW victory. The Buckeyes lost to the Badgers in overtime in the first round of the 2004 NCAA tournament in Albany, N.Y. Buckeye senior Tom Fritsche had an assist in the game at Lambeau, the only current Buckeye with a point vs. the Badgers.

As I've said in this space before NCAA hockey is super entertaining and very inexpensive for the quality of hockey you get.

There are also lots of NHL draft picks sprinkeld through the rosters including 2007 3rd overall pick Kyle Turris, Blake Geoffrion and Ryan McDonagh (who the Jackets were going to take in the first round of the draft if Voracek was off the board) for Wisconsin, Ian Cole of Notre Dame and John Albert, Joseph Palmer and Tom Fritsche of Ohio State.

You can follow the the Buckeyes game tonight here.

-LTL