Palsgrove’s Points: Men’s D1 Hockey

The Liberty University Men’s D1 team is coming off a 1-1 series split against the Maryville Saints, and I think we’ve finally seen enough. Not of the team as a whole, but we’ve seen enough ice time against genuine opponents to draw some conclusions about the Flames’ outlook for the rest of the season and their honest chances in the ACHA postseason. 

Mac Ratzlaff has one of the most critical roles on the team, but that might not be a good thing.

Every team needs a “that guy.” The guy who makes fans roll their eyes when he gets called for a cross-check and slides into the sin bin. The guy who can score during those plays where no one knows where the puck is and the netminder is left befuddled. The guy who checks another guy a little too hard in practice to get the energy up. That guy used to be forward Nate Albers. With Albers watching the games from the stands, his role has been filled by freshman forward Mac Ratzlaff. 

Ratzlaff currently leads the Flames in penalty minutes (33) while also being fourth on the team in points (nine) and third in goals (five). That means, with 10 games behind him, Ratzlaff is averaging 1 point and 3.3 penalty minutes per game. 

Like I said, every team needs a guy like Ratzlaff who increases the physicality and pushes his team to be better and tougher. Still, there have been multiple times over the last few series when Ratzlaff’s physicality has gone too far and hurt his team. His penalty minutes are the best gauge of that; 33 is a lot over 10 games, even for the kind of player he is. 

I’ve said that the freshman class dictates this team’s performance and the level they play at; the same could be said for Ratzlaff and the Flames’ physicality. He sets the tone, which could either bring them wins or send them home packing. The Flames just need to figure out when and where to point their angry pit bull on ice skates to avoid sending him into the box. 

The offense looks very different, but it won’t be the offense that holds the team back. 

The Flames have lost so many defensive players in the past few seasons due to the nature of college sports, but that isn’t a valid excuse for this team’s abominable performance in its own zone. 

This isn’t going to be a long point showered with stats and well-crafted takes. The crux of the matter is simple: Liberty needs to play better defense if it wants to claim the mantle of contender. Good defense spawns good offense, and the Flames need to make that one of their top priorities going forward, especially if their power-play unit continues to flounder. 

This team lives and dies based on the game’s momentum, and you can’t do that.

One moment in the Flames’ most recent game (a 3-2 loss to Maryville) stuck out to me. Down 3-0 entering the second intermission, freshman forward Kal Essenmacher was interviewed on his team’s bench, and he said something that rings a little too true for his squad. 

“We’re a momentum team,” Essenmacher said. “And we haven’t really had momentum this whole game.”

The Flames didn’t have momentum, and they were losing because of it. They ended up finding some of that power, but it was too little too late, and the Saints took game two of the weekend series. Momentum is sort of a buzzword in sports, but its impact on the Flames’ wins and losses seems to be especially apparent after their most recent win and their 1-1 split with Adrian. 

Good teams win games even with the momentum, crowd and officiating going against them, and right now, the Flames can’t do that. Talent and players don’t matter if you can’t get wins.

Things are always subject to change (especially in college sports), but now that we’ve gotten into what has happened, here are a few rapid-fire situations that I wouldn’t be surprised to see in the coming months. 

Senior forward Jacob Kalandyk returns to his Super Saiyan form and makes his time on the ice the bane of defensemen everywhere.

Sophomore Nick Pomerleau cements himself as the best defenseman on the Flames’ lineup. He has yet to score a goal this season and, despite that, is tied for first on the team in total points with 11, each coming from his team-leading 11 assists.   

Sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch dramatically takes pole position in the ongoing goalie competition with junior Nick Bernstein.

I’m not predicting that any of these will happen, but if Aaron from the future walked into the room back in March and told me that every one of these scenarios would come true, I wouldn’t be surprised. I mean, I would be surprised to see my future self, but not to hear any of those hockey predictions.

Palsgrove is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X

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