59 Teams in 59 Days Ohio State

The 59 Teams in 59 Days continues with a trip to the capital city of Ohio, Columbus. Today the Ohio State Buckeyes will be featured.

After high expectations last year, Ohio State ended up in a dissapointment finishing 15-19-5. The defense was pretty good, but the Buckeyes could not put the puck in the net last year. Only two players had 10 or more goals last year, and goaltender Dave Caruso carried the team last year. Don't worry Buckeye fans this year will be different.

The Buckeyes only lose four seniors on a team that was highly defensive last year. This year people have to step up such as Junior Tom Fritsche, and Senior Andrew Schembri, the two leading scorers on the team last year. This year they will only improve their play, as long as they get others to help out. Expect a breakout year for Junior Domenic Maiani, who only played in 26 games last year due to injury.

Defensively the Buckeyes will be fine, the question is who will be the one to replace Dave Caruso? Freshman Joe Palmer was one of the top recruits in the country. Expect him to make a big impact his rookie year. Although Palmer might not start right away, he should get better whether he's the number two goaltender behind Ian Keserich where he can learn, or if he indeed gets the number one position in net. Either way Palmer is the future of the Buckeyes, the question is, is the future now?

Overall expect head coach John Markell and the Buckeyes to bounce back from an off year. This team is talented enough to get to the NCAA's. Expect them to make news come March.

The predicted ceiling for Ohio State if fourth in the CCHA, while their gutter is seventh.

Tommorrow we will take a trip to Hobey Baker Rink home of the Princeton Tigers as we hit day number 45 on the 59 Teams in 59 Days tour.