Army hockey - Black Knights counting on better, consistent play

The rebuild of the Army hockey team is well on its way.

"We really like the group that we have,'' second-year head coach and alum Zach McKelvie said. "We feel like we're a deeper team. We've got a lot of good talent up front, and obviously a good goalie coming back, so we're optimistic, but we are a little bit green because we have 12 new freshmen this year.''

The Black Knights (last season 12-17-6 overall; ninth place out of 10 in Atlantic Hockey America) figure to provide more scoring from four lines, roll out more experienced special teams and feature junior goaltender J.J. Cataldo, considered one of the best players in the league. Also, junior Jack Ivey was named to the preseason all-conference team.

Army was picked to finish seventh (of nine) in the preseason coaches' poll, and McKelvie expects the entire circuit to be closer than ever.

"Last summer ... we created a three- or four-year plan, and we knew it's going to take time,'' McKelvie said, citing Army's inability to tap into the NCAA transfer portal like other schools. "We knew we were going to have to build it from the ground up — the traditional way — and we like that because it helps our culture.

"We're excited about this year and the coming years. We feel like we can make a noticeable jump this year because of the group we have, and we got to learn from some of the things that we did last year, and largely that was an inconsistency thing ... it wasn't a talent thing, and now we have more talent.''

Year two of the McKelvie era begins this weekend against a pair of ECAC members: RPI visits Friday for an exhibition, and Union visits Saturday for the regular-season opener.

Cataldo started 32 games last season, playing all but three contests. He posted a .921 save percentage and 2.48 goals against average. McKelvie likes backups Jacob Biron and Gus Holt but plans to ride Cataldo as long as he holds up. Count on Biron, Holt and freshman Owen Crudale to see time in three October exhibitions with RPI, Canada's Royal Military College and the U.S. National Development Under-18 team.

Army's top line features playmaker Nils Forselius and creative twins Jack Ivey and Ben Ivey, three different types of players who complement one another. McKelvie said Jack Ivey plays with a "ton of confidence" and is asserting himself more as a leader.

Freshman Rhys Wallin joins center Barron Woodring and Brent Keefer on the second unit — the latter duo play on the power play and penalty kill. Woodring plays physically, is good defensively and has a good goal-scoring touch. The speedy Keefer has a solid outside shot. A long and lanky Wallin has speed and plays similarly to his linemates.

The versatile Nik Hong — a captain with Woodring and Easton Zueger — has good net presence and centers a third unit that has shown the most consistency during preseason. Creative left winger Billy Batten has made the biggest jump since last season. A tenacious worker, freshman Sean Gibbons played his way into a right winger job.

Freshman Thomas Quast has been very consistent on the top defensive pairing with Lukas McCloskey, a duo expected to play 20-22 minutes per game in every situation, McKelvie said. Liam Chapman steadily increased his minutes last season with his ability to "lean on" skaters, and offensive-minded Pierce Patterson has the best one-timer shot on the blue line. Seniors Jon Bell and Easton Zueger provide an experienced pairing that will do "whatever that is asked of them,'' McKelvie said. Noah Mertz is a freshman who will find time because of his ability to run the power play.

"We want to be a team that can play fast, so that means our (defense) has to get back on pucks quick and get it up to the forwards as fast as possible,'' McKelvie said, hoping to pick up the transition from last year's group.

Army is coming off a truncated preseason camp, altered due to ice cooling system renovations at Tate Rink — not only did the Black Knights lose valuable individual practice time for the first three weeks of the academic calendar, but the team had to utilize ice time in Newburgh and Monsey to get in work before Tate was ready.

Forwards — LW Nils Forselius (9), C Ben Ivey (4), RW Jack Ivey (5); LW Rhys Wallin (12), C Barry Woodring (25), RW Brent Keefer (28); LW Billy Batten (24) C Nik Hong (19), RW Sean Gibbons (15); LW Vincent Salice (8), C Thomas Neu (14), RW Adam Marshall (29); LW Connor Jalbert (26), C Jacob Ligi (13), RW Dylan Wegner (10)

Defense — LD Thomas Quast (17), RD Lukas McCloskey (2); LD Liam Chapman (7), RD Pierce Patterson (6); LD Jon Bell (18), LW Easton Zueger (3); LD Cam Charron (16), RD Noah Mertz (34); RD Alex Bosland (23)

Goalie — J.J. Cataldo (30); Jacob Biron (1); Gus Holt (33); Owen Crudale (31)

Injured — Kellen Murphy (22); Cade De St. Hubert (27); Max Holland (20); Brock Jones (11)

Fri. 2 - vs. RPI, 6 p.m. (exhibition); Sat. 3 - vs. Union, 4 p.m.; Sun. 11 - vs. Royal Military College (exhibition), 2 p.m.; Sat. 17 - at Holy Cross*, 7 p.m.; Sun. 18 - at Holy Cross*, 4 p.m.; Fri. 23 - at Quinnipiac, 7 p.m.; Sat. 24 - vs. U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team (exhibition), 7 p.m.; Fri. 30 - vs. RIT*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 31 - vs. RIT*, 4 p.m.

Fri. 6 - at Air Force*, 9 p.m. ET; Sat. 7 - at Air Force*, 7 p.m. ET; Fri. 13 - vs. Sacred Heart*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 14 - vs. Sacred Heart*, 7 p.m.; Fri. 27 - at RPI, 7 p.m.; Sat. 28 - vs. RPI, 7 p.m.

Fri. 4 - vs. Bentley*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 5 - vs. Bentley*, 4 p.m.; Thur. 10 - vs. Penn State (at Newark, N.J.), 7 p.m.; Sat 12 - at Penn State, 7 p.m.; Mon. 28-Tues. 29 - Empire State Holiday Invitational (at UBS Arena); Mon. 28 - vs. Long Island, 7 p.m.; Tues. 29 - vs. Ferris State or Saint Lawrence

Tues. 5 - at Brown, 7 p.m.; Fri. 15 - at Robert Morris*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 16 - at Robert Morris*, 7 p.m.; Fi. 22 - vs. Canisius*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 23 - vs. Canisius*, 7 p.m.; Fri. 29 - at RIT*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 30 - at RIT*, 5 p.m.

Fri. 5 - vs. Niagara*, 7 pm.; Sat. 6 - vs. Niagara*, 4 p.m.; Fri. 12 - at Sacred Heart*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 13 - at Sacred Heart*, 5 p.m.; Fri. 19 - vs. Air Force*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 20 - vs. Air Force*, 4 p.m.; Fri. 26 - at Bentley*, 7 p.m.; Sat. 27 - at Bentley*, 6 p.m.

Tues. 2 - Atlantic Hockey tournament first round; Fri. 5-Sat. 6-Sun. 7 - Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals (best of 3), at higher seed; Fri. 12 - Atlantic Hockey semifinal; Sat. 13 - Atlantic Hockey final

Home games at West Point's Tate Rink; Atlantic Hockey games marked by an asterisk; home and league games streamed by FloHockey.com (subscription) , many games airing on WBNR (1260-AM, 96.5-FM), WLNA (1420-AM, 94.3-FM) and WGHQ (920-AM, 92.5-FM) and The Varsity App