Cyclone Hockey finished last season with a record setting 36-9-2 campaign, a season most teams would be more then satisfied with. The season however, ended on a sour note with a loss to long-time rival Illinois at Nationals. The goal this year is simple – win a national championship.

“We definitely want to win the national championship this year,” said junior co-captain Jayson Peterson. “We have no other objective in sight. That’s definitely what we’re here to do.”

The Cyclones certainly have the pieces in place to make a run at the national championship and will depend on their offense to lead them to their goal.

“I think offense is going to be the name of the game this year,” said coach Alan Murdoch. “This Cyclone team is going to be lightning fast and is going to be pounding the opponents’ net all the time.”

Jason Brown, co-captain Allen Raushel and Mike Murtaugh return to the offense, are three of the Cyclones point leaders from last season.

Another strength is going to be the infusion of new young talent.

“The guys that we brought in are all top-notch players from the goaltenders all the way up to the forwards,” Peterson said. “We definitely have really good depth this year. That’s going to take us a lot farther then it did last year.”

Despite all the positives heading into the season, the Cyclones do have a potential weakness that actually stems from having increased depth.

“Sometimes your strength can be your weakness if you don’t utilize it and it could be youth,” Murdoch said. “There’s a big learning curve on making the adjustment from where they played before.”

Along with the individual players having to make the adjustment to college hockey, the team will have to adjust to all the new faces and gel as a team.

Last year’s captain, David Moline, helped the team come together in the past, but his graduation last spring has left behind a hole in the defense and a leadership role that could be hard to fill.

“I don’t think we could ever really fill [Moline’s] role,” Peterson said. “I think the three to four new defensive guys on our roster will definitely do a good job of filling his gap – it’s a big gap to fill.”

One of the players the Cyclones will look for to fill the void on defense is this year’s co-captain Matt McLin.

“My biggest goal is to just go and lead by example,” McLin said. “If a player sees me getting in the corner and getting physical it kind of energizes the team.”

The defense won’t be solely in the hands of how McLin plays. The Cyclones will be able to play with confidence knowing they have veteran senior Trent Baker in the net.

The Cyclones will begin their quest for a national championship against Big 12 opponent Missouri this weekend. Missouri is currently an ACHA Division II team but is up for consideration to be moved up to Division I.

The Cyclones are going to try to get everyone on the ice to get some game experience, but it is by no means overlooking the Missouri team.

“It’s right into the fire right away – no easy exhibition game to start the season,” Murdoch said. “It’s going to be an exciting season and this weekend will open it up really well.”

The Cyclones play at 7 p.m Friday and Saturday at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.