Ohio State defenseman Scott Titus is gearing up to put away his driver in favor of a hockey stick.
Titus was focused on saving par on the golf course yesterday morning, but that was just a precursor to the focus on the ice for the upcoming men’s hockey season.
The senior from East Grand Rapids, Mich., was named the team’s captain a few weeks ago.
“It’s a great feeling to be selected by your teammates and that they have faith in you to be a leader on this team,” Titus said.
Titus has all the accolades a leader needs. He is a four-time OSU scholar athlete, a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Board, and a reader to children at elementary schools to help teach them the benefits of staying in school.
If that is not enough, he graduated with a degree in biology and is attending graduate school, pursuing a career in education. He received the Terry Flanagan Memorial Award at last season’s CCHA awards banquet after he overcame arm surgery and a season of sitting out to return to the ice.
“Scott is just the type of guy we need to look to on this team,” said senior defenseman Eric Skaug. “He really has all the qualities that you want in a captain.”
Titus and Skaug return to lead a squad that finished 20-16-4 overall and 12-12-4 in the CCHA. OSU finished the regular season on what looked to be a sour note after losing three of four games to lose home-ice advantage for the first round of the CCHA playoffs and ended with a seventh place regular season finish.
OSU overcame that, swept their first-round series at Western Michigan and went to Detroit for the CCHA Super 6. They lost a heartbreaker in the semifinals to eventual conference champion Michigan.
“I thought in the playoffs we developed a maturing process within our team, and it carried itself over into our summer and spring workouts,” said John Markell, OSU men’s hockey coach.
Skaug, an alternate captain along with R.J. Umberger, knows experience will be the difference-maker as the season progresses.
“Everyone on this team is on the same page,” Skaug said. “All these guys have worked hard during the off-season, and with the number of juniors and seniors we have, our experience gives us a very deep team.”
Seniors Titus and Skaug lead a defense that returns senior Pete Broccoli and juniors Doug Andress and Reed Whiting.
Junior Mike Betz is also coming off another good season in the net after a solid 2.60 goals against average last year and should be one of the top goaltenders in the CCHA. Sophomores Thomas Welsh and Lee Spector and freshman Nate Guenin will also look to step up on the blue line.
The offense should be one of the most stellar in the conference as well. The outstanding junior class of R.J. Umberger, Dave Steckel, Scott May, Paul Caponigri, Chris Olsgard and Daymen Bencharski all return. Five of the six were in the top six in team scoring from a season ago.
Umberger led the Buckeyes in points, and Bencharski had a breakout season. May was drafted in the seventh round of the NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Seniors Miguel Lafleche, Luke Pavlas, Ryan Smith and T.J. Latorre add the leadership roles necessary on the offensive side of the ice.
“Potentially, we’re looking to add quite a few more goals. We’re looking to R.J. Umberger, Scott May, Paul Caponigri, Dave Steckel and Daymen Bencharski to lead us in that department. I think all of them are looking to improve on their numbers.” Markell said.
Sophomores J.B. Bittner and John Toffey, a ninth-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning, have valuable experience and makes the roster of forwards look even more impressive. Freshman Ryan Kesler played for the USA development team and may make a name for himself early in the season.
The roster is stacked, but there is still convincing to do among the rest of the conference. The Buckeyes were picked to finish fourth in last week’s CCHA preseason rankings.
“We were surprised with the rankings,” Titus said. “But we have to ignore them because we know the talent that we posses and have to come out with that attitude every time we take the ice.”
The attitude will have to stay in compliance early and often, because the OSU schedule is a test of this teams maturity. After an exhibition with Waterloo at the CoreComm Ice Haus Oct. 5, defending national champion Minnesota opens the Ohio State season Oct. 12 in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
“That’s got us fired up since the schedule came out,” Skaug said. “It’s been on our minds for a while.”
Clarkson opens the home schedule the final weekend of October, and Colgate and Cornell will add to the difficulty in November.
The Everblades Holiday Classic in Florida and the conference schedule do not spell relief. Traditional powers Michigan and Michigan State are back and trips to Fairbanks, Ala., Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Marquette, Mich. and Omaha, Neb. would make a nomad jealous.
The Buckeyes know they have to take it one game at a time.
“The focus right now is on improving ourselves within the CCHA and playing in the upper echelon,” Markell said. “I think the kids are very, very hungry to prove that.”
Whatever the challenge, Titus is sure the team will be ready for it.
“After last year, we know we have the experience to make a run at things. We’ve been mediocre the last two seasons but now we have a tremendous amount of experience to rely on,” he said. “My job is to help make sure the guys on this team aren’t taken for granted. We know what we have to do and it’s time to start proving it.”
