Upbeat is the best word to describe the Icecats’ attitude right now.

Wednesday at the Tucson Convention Center, coach Leo Golembiewski cheerfully teased sophomore co-captain Brian Slugocki about his shooting. Slugocki just laughed.

He then joked with Blake Richards and Mike Babyak about their playing. After that, he briefly roasted himself as a coach and grinned.

But in the end, all of that came in good humor and it showed how tight-knit the Icecats really are.

“”It’s a lot more positive and everyone is excited to get going especially at home,”” Slugocki said. “”Everyone is really pumped up for the season now that we’re officially starting at home.””

Golembiewski stayed lighthearted and showed excitement talking about the team. He said there are players from 14 different states and added that the team had a “”good mix”” and, whether it on the ice or on the bus, the Icecats get along well.

“”It’s going to be a fun team to watch,”” Golembiewski said with a smile.

Richards, a junior forward, said that the chemistry is good but there is another thing about the team too.

“”It’s probably the best it’s been in the past years,”” he said. “”I think this year we’re getting not so much chemistry, but more effort from guys. They come in wanting to do well.””

He said that freshman forward Andrew Murmes has “”shot off and wants to do really well,”” the evidence in his  six goals and eight assists to total 14 points.

Senior co-captain forward Jordan Schupan leads the team with 16 points.

The Icecats will be able to put away their suitcases until the end of January because they open a 14-game stretch at home starting Friday night. This comes after the team started the season with seven straight road games.

Although the Icecats are 3-4, they are ranked 23rd in Division I of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. They have scored 33 goals so far, compared to 26 last year after seven games. Additionally, they’ve only given up 31 goals compared to 40 last year at this point.

Slugocki feels the team could still be undefeated, especially seeing that three of the team’s losses have been by one goal.

“”We’re looking good, but we should be 7-0 right now,”” he said. “”We’ve played pretty well but obviously we’re 3-4 right now and I don’t feel like that doesn’t fully say how we’ve been playing. For the rest of the season I don’t see us losing too many more games.””

Mike Babyak, a sophomore forward, is looking forward to having a home crowd.

“”It’s going to help us out tremendously,”” he said about playing at home. “”We didn’t have anything playing on the road in these small arenas.””