By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — If Will Calverley has his way, last season won’t be completely forgotten.
For all the starts and restarts, changes, adjustments and head-scratching that the 2020-21 season presented, Calverley came away with a clearer perspective.
“I enjoyed the game more last year because I never knew when I was going to play,” the RIT senior forward said during the Tigers recent media day. “I had more fun. I was just looser when it came to the concept of playing hockey. I think that’s something I can take into this year even though we have the full schedule and we know what our games are going to look like.”
RIT opened 20-21 on November 27th and finished the campaign on March 13th. In between, the Tigers played a total of 20 games against seven different opponents. By comparison, Calverley and his teammates have 32 games on this year’s slate (not counting post-season) and will face 14 different opponents.
“Last year, we never knew when we were going to play or what practices were going to look like,” the Scarborough, Ontario native said. “There would be times when we would be scheduled to play on a Tuesday and you’d do your little Monday skate which is 25-30 minute skate. Then games get cancelled. Next thing you know you’re practicing on Tuesday, a full practice. You’re out there for an hour and 20, hour-15. You’re planning for something and it never happened last year, realistically.”
Through all that, though, Calverley succeeded. He led Atlantic Hockey and was fourth in the nation with 1.39 points per game. He finished tied for the league lead with 25 points and second with 12 goals to earn Atlantic Hockey-West Co-Player of the Year along with Best Defensive Forward and All-American honors.
“I made the best of a bad situation, but I also think I can take a lot from that. Now, we’re going to be in the routine, and routines can get stale. Routines can cause you to grip the stick a little tighter. If you have one bad practice, you might get a little upset. Where last year it was just another day you were happy to be skating. I just need to come back with that attitude and continue to work hard.”
Their current routine has been in place since August 23rd when the Tigers started practicing. All that changes this weekend when RIT hosts a 7:05 p.m. puck drop with Colgate for the season opener.
“It’s good to be kinda get back to normal, get everything going a little bit.”
Saturday’s opener is the first of eight games in the month of October. The Tigers will travel to West Point for a league matchup with Army the following weekend before returning home on October 16th to host St. Lawrence for the Brick City Weekend. The Tigers host Mercyhurst in an Atlantic Hockey showdown on October 29th and 30th.
RIT will also travel to South Bend on October 21 and 22nd to face the University of Notre Dame.
“When you think college hockey, they’re one of the main teams that come to mind,” Calverley said of the Fightin’ Irish who fell in the 2018 National Championship game. “It’s going to be a fun road trip for sure.”
The trek to Indiana is part of a series between the two schools. Notre Dame was originally scheduled for the 2020 Brick City Weekend before precautions surrounding Covid-19 cancelled the event.
Head coach Wayne Wilson noted that the Irish will be scheduled for a future Brick City meeting.
“They’ll be returning,” he said. “We just have to look a little further down the road.”
Right now the focus is on Saturday and the Raiders.
RIT will need to improve on defense for this year’s squad to reach its potential. Scoring goals wasn’t the problem for RIT in ’20-’21. Keeping opponents from lighting the lamp? That was a challenge. The Tigers (7-5-1) allowed more goals 70 (nearly 5.5 per outing) than scored (68).
Wilson looks at last year as an opportunity for growth in his young blueline. That and the transfer of JoJo Cassaro (UMass) should show itself this year.
“We have a way more mature backline,” he said. “We’ll see a big difference with that. I feel really good about our team. This is as good a team as we have had in a little bit.”
Senior defenseman Dan Willett joined Calverley on the Pre-season All-Atlantic Hockey Team. Those senior co-captains are joined by the fellow returners Elijah Gonsalves (9 goals/13 assists), Jake Hamacher (7 goals/14 assists), Nick Bruce (4/12), Kobe Walker (6/8) Caleb Moretz (6/4) and Jake Joffe (5/4).
Gonsalves scored twice while Joffe and Moretz added a marker apiece when RIT played to a draw with Colgate last December in Hamilton, N.Y.
“It’s not going to be the cleanest game, but both ourselves and Colgate are ready to play,” Wilson said. “We may not be as sharp as we want to be, but conditioning and all that we’re good to go. Systems and that will be way closer than in the past.”
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