Colby posts 2013-14 roster

2013-14 Colby co-captain Ben Chwick
(courtesy Colby SID)

Williams was first back in October, now Colby has posted their official 2013-14 men's hockey roster. We already knew the 13 incoming recruits, as Colby released those names back at the beginning of the school year. Joining the 13 newbies will be 15 returning players for a decent sized roster of 28.

The four veterans that did not come back to the Mules are Mike Debello (F, '16), Evan O'Brien (D,'16), Nils Martin (F, '15) and Tommy Kader (D, '14). The two members of the class of '16, Debello and O'Brien, played only 16 games combined and provided one point to the 2012-13 cause; neither is enrolled at Colby this year. Martin provided 9 points (5-4-9) in 25 games in two seasons as a Mule. He also shares a birthday with Michael Jordan, so there's that.  After a solid freshman season that saw him net seven points in 21 games, Kader was only able to lace up for 27 games combined in his sophomore and junior seasons.

Up front, Colby's top two scorers return in seniors Nick Lanza  (F, '15) and Ben Chwick (F, '15). Lanza led the team with 27 points (12-15) en route to a second team All-NESCAC selection and a Joe Concannon Award semifinalist nomination. Lanza had almost twice as many goals as the Mules next two leading goal scorers, who each had seven.

The Mules -who finished seventh in the conference in scoring at 2.61 goals per game in conference contests - did not lose much of their scoring power from last year. Besides third leading scorer Cory McGrath (7-15-22), the only other senior to crack double digit points was defenseman Scott Harff (2-8-10). Harff now plays professional hockey with the Huntsville Havoc of the Southern Professional Hockey League. Through four games, he has one point (0-1-1) and the second best +/- on the team at +5.

Chwick, one of the two players with seven goals last year, will co-captain the team with senior defenseman Brendan Cosgrove. Chwick represented the United States this past summer at the Maccabiah Games. Billy Jaffe, NHL Network analyst and coach of Team USA, said Chwick is a good north/south player that is "consistent" and brings a "physical presence." As for Cosgrove, he may be co-captaining the team with Chwick, but apparently he is already handcuffed to Lanza. If the Mules moniker gets old, perhaps Cosgrove's "bosses on ice" description for Colby hockey will catch on.

The junior goalie platoon of Jordan Nathan and Sam Parker returns to the ice for Colby. Last year, Nathan spent 628 minutes between the pipes while Parker spent 654 minutes minding the net, with Parker becoming the clear front runner for the starting position late in the season. In the final four games of the season, including a tough 2-1 loss to Williams in the opening round of the NESCAC playoffs, the ginger haired goaltender gave up only 7 goals on 107 shots (.934 save %).

If you are interested in getting to know the players a bit more, Colby Hockey's Facebook page has player bios and pictures up on their page.