A week of tryouts and 30 filled roster spots later, Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski has decided who will sport the red, white and blue for the Icecats this season. Golembiewski chose 17 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goalies.

“”I thought it was a great tryout,”” Golembiewski said. “”We’ve added some significant firepower to our team.””

The Icecats have added a host of new players.  In fact, the 2009-2010 Icecats will feature only 10 returning players: Jordan Schupan, Geordy Weed, Nick Taylor, Nick Bach, Austin Capobianco, Zach Cherney, Brady Lefferts, Alex Dunning, Micah Kneeshaw and Blake Richards.

Last year’s captains Nick Boddy, Matt Conover, Robbie Nowinski and Zach Stommen have all departed, with the biggest loss being goaltender Boddy. Golembiewski isn’t dwelling on the past but rather looking toward the future.

“”We’ve lost goalies before,”” Golembiewski said. “”It’s a big loss and it’s our biggest question mark but we have added some significant players offensively and defensively.””

Junior forward Schupan is well aware of the absence of some key players, but he too is optimistic about the new talent.

“”We definitely lost some key guys, some guys that you’re not going to be able to replace,”” Schupan said. “”But we do have a lot of new guys coming in that look like they are going to contribute right away.””

While the Icecats have a wide array of new players, they did retain three of the top four point scorers from last season: Schupan, Capobianco and Lefferts. With their leadership, the Icecats hope for big things.

“”Me and a couple of guys have to step up this year and take on that leadership role and point this team in the right direction,”” Schupan said.

The Icecats are skating confidently into the 2009 season.

“”Our number one goal is to make it to nationals,”” Schupan said. “”That’s just going to take everyone on the team to get together to reach that common goal.””