The Purdue Northwest Men’s Division One hockey team had a memorable inaugural campaign in 2022-23, but those previous accomplishments may fall short of what they are doing now.
Last season was successful for the Pride, highlighted by a national ranking, a 21-7-1 record and growth in hockey at Purdue Northwest. Although the team was eliminated from the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL) playoffs in the second game by national powerhouse, Adrian, expectations were high for this season.
After a rough start, the team has gotten on track.
The Pride currently has a program-best 25-6-0 record, a four-game improvement from a season ago. The team continues to get national attention and is ranked 11.
“We were struggling in the first month of the season,” said second-year Head Coach Carl Trosien. “We as a coaching staff hit the reset button. I think we had a different mindset going into this year and then about late October early November, we had to re-evaluate.”
A sudden change was not just in the coaches’ best interests, but in the players’ as well.
“The boys came in with their list of goals,” Trosien said. “It was a lofty set of goals, but we wanted to coach these guys to the goals they put forth. We were pressing on them a little bit.”
The result is that the team has found ways to win the close games, especially against top teams.
“It’s the games that we were in in year one that we didn’t find a way to win,” he said. “We are winning those games against top-25 opponents at a pretty good clip. That is why we are where we are. In year one we were competitive in those games. Year two, we’re above .500.”
The team recently played and celebrated their Senior Night games on Feb. 6 with a 6-2 win over Concordia University, but there was one issue.
Although called a “Senior Night”, the team has no seniors on its roster.
“The guys that were here last year know what to expect now,” Trosien said. “They are leading. All of my captains are sophomores. We invested pretty heavily in that group of kids. They all share the same goals, and they are bought in.”
As a result of their solid season record, clinching second place in the GLCHL, Price will host two playoff games at the team’s home ice at the Kube in Hammond.
In previous years, playoff games were held at neutral sites, but now, teams can host the first two games of the playoffs if they are one of the top two seeds in the conference.
Trosien said he would not want to start playoff competition anywhere else.
“I think playing in a rink that is not home to either team loses some of the environment of college hockey,” he said. “I know there’s some travel and logistics that make it difficult, but I absolutely love it. [Now] we need to remember who we are and how we have to play. I think we figured out what our idea is, we just have to stay true to that.”
