By Ryan Stieg
Four years ago, the St. Thomas men’s hockey program embarked on a difficult journey by making the huge leap from Division III to Division I. The Tommies started slowly in their first year, finishing last in the CCHA, but last year, they showed just how far they’ve come since Fall 2021.
UST finished second in the league and if the roster hadn’t been plagued by injuries in the final weeks in the regular season, they could’ve easily ended up hoisting the MacNaughton Cup as conference champions.
Looking back at the progress that his team made last year, Tommies head coach Rico Blasi said last season’s success has carried over to the mindset of this year’s team.
“I think obviously we took a step in our development,” he said a few days ago. “To be able to play meaningful games down the stretch, to go through another different type of adversity, one that our program hadn’t been through yet and we’ve been through a lot since we’re only three years old. I think all of those experiences helped our guys in the spring, and how they prepared their bodies, and how they thought about the workouts through the summer, and then coming into the new school year knowing exactly what we need to do on and off the ice to give ourselves the best chance to be successful every night.”
While most people probably weren’t expecting much from UST during its first DI season, the expectations are high in Year 4 with the Tommies now at full scholarship level. They were picked to win in the conference in the CCHA Coaches Poll and were tied for first in the CCHA Media Poll with last year’s champion, Bemidji State. UST captain Lucas Wahlin was also picked as the Preseason CCHA Player of the Year by the media, so there’s a lot of hype surrounding the Tommies.
Blasi said that it was nice to be recognized by the polls, but that it doesn’t change his team’s approach to the upcoming season.
“It’s out there,” he said. “Everybody knows it. We’re very appreciative that we’ve gotten that kind of respect. At the same time, for us, nothing changes. We’ve got to do what we need to do to get ready. We know it’s going to be a grind every single weekend. The most important thing is for us to play to our identity and do the things that we need to do. And then we’ll kind of navigate through the season just like anybody else. Preseason polls are nice for about a day or two when everybody’s talking about it, but you’ve still got to play the games and we know what a tough league we have. The conference the last two years came down to the wire and my guess is it’ll be a six or seven-team dogfight again this year.”
It will indeed be a hard-fought season, but Blasi acknowledged that the preseason hype and awards shows how far his team has come during its short time in Division I.
“I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say it shows we’re doing what we set out to do a few years ago,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go still. We haven’t done anything. We’re making really good progress in terms of how we’re building our culture and our identity, and there’s things that are coming into place now that we haven’t had the last few years, which is nice. We’re starting to get to the point where we’re at even par with every other program in terms of financial aid and things like that. We’re on a good track and we’ve got to make sure we stay grounded and make sure that we’re still grateful for every opportunity that we have. To make sure that we’re taking care of each other as a family on and off the ice. That we’re living to our standard and that we’re appreciative of this opportunity that we get to play college athletics.
“And I think in the world that we live in today, it’s very bothersome to look around and see how many people don’t focus on the now, and being with each other, and trying to be the best they can be. They’re always looking for something that’s bigger and better. Whatever that may be, I don’t know, but here at St. Thomas, we have an identity of one of faith and taking care of each other as a family, and I think we need to stay grounded in that.”
The Tommies lost some key players to graduation, but they’ve also reloaded with some good recruits as well as nabbing former Colorado College players Chase Foley and Ray Christy, and Lindenwood’s Caige Sterzer from the transfer portal.
“We lost some upperclassmen with some experience, but I think we replaced them with three really good, experienced transfers,” Blasi said. “Guys that have played a lot of minutes in college hockey, and guys that have played in key situations in college hockey, and two of them were in a pretty darn good league. So, I think we feel really good about the type of experience that we have on our team and obviously, freshmen and first-year guys are exactly that. They’ve got to kind of find their way through everything and learn from the older guys and learn from the experienced guys and continue to get better every day. I think from the early viewing that I’ve had and the limited viewing that I’ve had, I feel like our experienced guys are helping those guys along.”
Last year, Blasi rotated goalies Aaron Trotter and Jake Sibell the entire season with each playing one game each weekend before picking Trotter to start the first round of the playoffs. When asked if that was the plan going into this season, Blasi said it remains to be seen.
“I think anything is up right now for us,” he said. “Obviously, we’re in Week 2 of limited practice time, so we haven’t really gotten our feet wet really at this point. I think everything is on the table. Every player on our team has an opportunity to win a spot and we’ll continue to evaluate based on what they do daily. When the decision has to be made here in a few weeks, then we’ll make that decision, but at this point, everybody is on the same level. Let’s be ready as much as we can and let’s make coach make a tough decision when the time comes.”
With Year 4 in what Blasi dubbed “The Process” starting less than three weeks from now, Blasi said he’s looking forward to what the season will hold. However, he wasn’t sure if this was where he expected the Tommies to be at this point when they started the process in 2021.
“I don’t know that I really can answer that,” he said. I think where we are is where we are is where we are. We’ve kind of landed to this spot. We’ve got really good student athletes that believe in what we’re doing and a great staff that believes in what we’re doing. We just go to work every day and try to be better. Here we are in the start of Year 4, and really, the start of Year 3 if you want to dissect it, but we feel like we’re on a really good track.
“That’s probably the most honest answer I can give. I don’t know that I thought where we’d be after Year 4 and I don’t think anybody knew where we’d be after Year 4, or Year 3. I’m sure there were people that thought St. Thomas wouldn’t last three years at the Division I level. I’m sure there were people that thought maybe they will get to where they are right now. I’m sure there’s everything in between. That’s not how our staff thought about things. I think we went out to recruit to our identity, and we went out play to our identity, and we went out and tried to continue to build our culture.
“So here we are. Whether that’s where I wanted to be or not has really no factor to it to be honest. Today is September 13, and we’ve got what we have, and we’re pretty excited about it, and we’re happy with it. I love our guys and it feels good to be in the locker room with them.”