IU hockey opens season this weekend vs. Dayton

Despite a 15-9-4 record last season, the IU ice hockey team failed to qualify for the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II national tournament, ending a streak of 12 straight appearances in that tournament.\nFor senior team captain and returning scoring leader Dan Karlander, all that means is the team has more to prove this season. His goal isn’t just to return to nationals, but to win it.\n“Our goal every year is to get to the national championship and win it,” he said. “Last year was the first year in awhile we fell short in getting to nationals, but we have high hopes this year of doing well at nationals.”\nThe team begins its quest for postseason aspirations at 3 p.m. Saturday against the University of Dayton at the Hamilton Center Ice Arena in Columbus, Ind. \nThe game, played at the neutral site, is used to support the area youth hockey leagues. \nFor IU, the game serves as a warm-up to next weekend’s home-and-home series against rival Kentucky. \nThe team will play Kentucky at midnight on Friday in Lexington, Ky., and then travel back to Bloomington for their home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Frank Southern Ice Arena at Bloomington South High School. \nLast season, IU tied Kentucky in both games of a season-opening home-and-home series. Players felt if they had a few games under their belt, they could have won both times. Even just one game may help.\n“Last year we played Kentucky after a handful of practices,” Karlander said. \nThat’s why the team purposefully scheduled the game against Dayton this year, he said. \nThe team hopes the extra preparation will help them against Kentucky. \n“Kentucky is always one of our biggest games, biggest rivals. We’re just an hour or so away, so we’re pretty excited for it,” sophomore forward Adam Logue said. \nKarlander said the team is focusing hard on its first few games. \n“We need to make sure we’re ready,” he said. “We can’t overlook either of these teams. They are both in our region. Beating these teams is big, and not just for our record, because when it comes to the end of the season and (the ACHA) is looking back, making rankings they can say, ‘Who did you beat in your region and why should you be ranked ahead of certain teams?’”\nThe veteran IU club, coached by Karlander’s father, former NHL player Al Karlander, is loaded on offense as it returns its top two scoring lines for this season. The six forwards notched over half the team’s points last season. \nThe first line features sophomores Logue and Chris Bartholomew and junior Daniel Keeney. The next line is comprised of the top two scorers from last season, Karlander and junior Joe Fornari, as well as sophomore Mike Vaughn . \nSenior defenseman Brad Kirchner said the team is ready to play. \n “I’m pretty excited about our team,” he said. “We’re hard-nosed, tough team, and exciting to watch.”