A few interesting DU statistical observations and implications.....DU was a competent (but not spectacular) offensive team last year at 3.3 GPG. This year, a lot of offense has left the team, with Ruegsegger, Rakhshani, Colborne and Wiercioch all off to the pros.
So where are the goals going to come from?
Anthony Maiani is DU's leading returning scorer this year and had 34 points last year, good for fourth on the team (behind the R&R boys and Big Joe). The amazing thing about Anthony is that as talented as is, he only shot 8% of his attempts into the net. Rock and Ruegs were 14-15% shooters and Colborne was 18%. Maiani can be a 40-45 point guy with all the PP time he's going to see, but finishing his chances is critical, and needs to double his accuracy this year.
Kyle Ostrow is a guy that DU also needs to be big gun this year. He had a respectable 26 points last year and he also needs to be a 35-40 point guy to lead the way for what will likely be an offensively challenged team this year. Kyle shot 14% last year which is very proficent for a WCHA forward. He's going to get more chances this year, so I see him stepping up a bit.
Jesse Martin was a highly accurate 24% shooter and 22 point man with all his injuries last year. It would be great to see him play healthy and crack the 30 point mark this year. If he shoots a little more often, he could be a more effective goal producer for the Pioneers, but he must stay healthy...
The KEY forward for DU next year is Drew Shore. Drew has a lot to prove this year, and needs to rebound defensively from a poor -7 he put up last year. Offensively, he took 95 shots but only put 5 in the net, for a very poor .053 shooting percentage. He has to learn to finish his chances at this level and pick up his play at both ends or it will be a rough year for him and for DU. Historically, players make the big developmental leap between freshman and sophomore years, and DU is hoping Drew can make the big jump.
Even if all four guys mentioned above get 10 more points this year than last year, that still only replaces the offense of one of the R and R boys. Then you have the other DU players- Donovan should be a 25-30 point man next year to replace Wiercioch, but you still need everyone else to step up to replace guys. Bennet and Zucker need to be 25 point men right off the bat, which is a lot of ask of first year players.
For DU to be have 3.3 goal offense this year with the schedule they play would be shocking. I think they'll probably be down around 2.8 - 3.0 GPG this year, which means the defense and goaltending is going to need to be great to compete at a high level. If it isn't, we Pio fans could be in for a very tough year.
