The Arizona club hockey team is set prepare for the 2008-09 season after it concluded a four-day tryout Monday night. The coaching staff was thrilled at the number of players who showed interest.

Icecats’ head coach Leo Golembiewski said 70 players showed up to the initial team meeting and roughly 50 players came to tryouts at the Tucson Convention Center. In the end, 28 players impressed the coaching staff and were selected for the team.

“”The talent pool this year was greater than it has been the last five or six years,”” Golembiewski said.

The Icecats began the first week of practice last night with an emphasis on conditioning to get the players in shape for the season. In fact, the players are not even expected to touch a puck until the second week of practice, Golembiewski said.

The Icecats will be a young team led by a few experienced players, including forwards Robbie Nowinski and Matt Conover and goalie Nick Boddy.

“”We have quite a few freshmen as well as some seniors who led the scoring punch last year,”” said assistant coach Dave Dougall.

Nowinski led the team in scoring last year with 61 points, 40 goals and 21 assists, and is expected to improve upon the breakout season he had last year.

Conover was second on the team in scoring with 54 points, 38 goals and 16 assists.

Nowinski and Conover finished 13th and 22nd, respectively, in total points scored in the Division I bracket of the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

“”Our goal this year is to build on our 20-8-1 record from last year,”” Golembiewski said. “”I certainly feel the mix of players from last year and new players this year will help us put together a pretty good hockey team.””