New York, NY -- After placing fifth in the American Collegiate Hockey Association and first in the Super East Collegiate Hockey LEague last year, the NYU Ice hockey team comes into the 2002-03 season aiming for a national championship. However, the team must adapt to a new coach and a new style of play in the coming season.
The 2001-2002 season was one of the best for both the team and individual players. Many of the club's players won honors, including senior Co-Captain Ryan Hughes. Hughes took home four ACHA honors: Second Team All-American, Northeast Player of the Year, First Team All-Northeast, and ALl-Tournament Honorable Mention.
After Coach Steve Hetherman left NYU at the end of last year, the search for a replacement led to delays in the start of the pre-season for the club. Nearly all the parts of the team's preseason, including try-outs, training and team development, were in some way delayed.
NYU finally found its man in Lloyd Polanish, who runs hockey training clinics at Chelsea Piers. Polanish understood the challenges facing an ice-hockey team starting training late.
"Hockey is a type of sport where no matter how you prepare off the ice, the only way to actually train right is to train with the team," Polanish said. "They're a good core of guys, but because of the late start to training, they're still getting their skating legs. We're about a week behind what we should be because of the delay."
Because of his background as a self-described "team type coach", Polanish planst o lead the NYU men's ice hockey team using a team-based strategy. Although there are some star players at NYU, the main strategy will be to sharpen the entire team's abilities in order to boost confidence and skill.
"I know of great players on the team, but in my mind it's about the whole team, and I respect the guys who go out there and give it their all as much as those with natural talent," Polanish said. "I may beworried about all the players as a whole, but I believe we're in a good position."
Although confident about the team's abilities and performance this season, he does worry about support from the NYU community.
"[Fan support] helps morale and the players' attitudes when they know that there are people actually there pulling for them," Polanish said. "Anyway, unlike other sports, hcokey is a sport that needs to be watched live. People see the game on television and don't realize the difference between being there and seeing it broadcast."
The NYU hockey team plays at the Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers. Their next home game is October 19 against the State University of New York - Albany.