The Iowa State hockey team takes the ice tonight after posting one of the most successful seasons in their exciting history.

The 1997 Cyclones were not able to realize their goal of an ACHA championship, but they did win a record 34 games and continued to delight fans week-in and week-out.

Head Coach Al Murdoch returns for his 30th season at the helm as one of the most successful college hockey coaches in the nation.

Despite seeing 30 unique and largely successful teams in his tenure at ISU, Murdoch is not convinced that any were better than this year’s group.

“We could be one of the most talented teams I’ve ever coached at Iowa State,” Murdoch said. “It’s a team that may take awhile to get everything going, but I have no doubt they’ll get it going.”

Murdoch’s admission that the team may not be playing at 100 percent for a few games is simply a result of the influx of so many young players.

Of the 26 skaters on the Cyclone roster, 14 are freshmen. In fact, only six of the Cyclones are juniors or seniors.

“We’re awfully young and we’ll have to be patient in the early going,” Murdoch said, “but I think we’re very talented.”

Senior Darren Anderson, the Cyclones’ most prolific goal-scorer of ’98, is excited about his as-yet-unproven supporting cast.

“We picked up a lot of talented players from the Junior A leagues,” Darren said. “Most of them have the ability to step in right away and perform like veterans.”

Darren and brother Darcy Anderson will again lead the Iowa State offense, an offense which routinely posted scores higher than the football team last year.

“The Andersons came from some of the finest programs in Canada,” Murdoch said. “They’re looking to have an exceptional year, and both will play professionally after they graduate.”

Like Darren, Darcy is also excited by the new talent Coach Murdoch has brought to Ames.

“We definitely have people who can contribute right away,” Darcy said. “We recruited to fill the voids. We went after the best players we could possibly bring here, and we got them.”

Rejoining Darren and Darcy in the offensive category is yet another Anderson, junior Mike.

Unrelated to the other Andersons, Mike has posted similar numbers in recent years. He and Brian Paolello should combine with Darren and Darcy to maintain the high level of scoring Cyclone fans have grown accustomed to.

“The talent and chemistry are both great this year,” Mike said. “Iowa State hockey has always had a team that’s got some quickness and likes to play the body, and that’s how it will continue. We’ve got big guys this year, but we’ve also got guys who have great speed.”

Paolello isn’t expecting as many lopsided scores as he and his teammates put up last year, but he stresses that the team is talented enough to compete against the tougher schedule they face.

“This team has a lot of ability,” Brian said. “We still have the potential to put up 10 goals a game.”

Among the talented freshmen vying for time on offense are Glenn Detulleo out of Ontario, Canada and Joe Fiebiger out of St. Paul, Minn.

Darren Anderson couldn’t be happier with his teammates.

“This is the most talent we’ve had at the beginning of a season in my four years here.”

The defense, on the other hand, doesn’t have nearly as many returning starters.

With the loss of a number of talented skaters like Rusty Crawford, the Cyclone defense needed to bring in some productive players — and the feeling is that they’ve succeeded.

Veteran Greg Jones will lead the “D” and says fans should be ready for more physical play than in years past.

“Lots of speed, lots of hitting, lots of action,” Jones said. “That’s what you’ll see this year.”

Rob Rose and Marc Sarazin are a couple of the names fans should commit to memory. Both freshmen out of Canada, they are two of five underclassmen who will be starting for the Cyclones at defensive positions.

Another big name is Tory Larson, a freshman defender from the west coast. Larson stands 6-foot-5, weighs 230 pounds and should fit right into Coach Murdoch’s more aggressive style of defense.

“We’re going to put a lot more stress on hitting this year,” Jones said.

Darcy couldn’t help but agree.

“We have a really tough team,” he pointed out. “You’ll see a lot of physical play — a lot of hard hitting.”

“Coach Murdoch has emphasized that we should pound the other teams,” Rose added. “That’s the way he played and the way he wants us to play.”

Tending goal for the Cyclones in ’98 will be a trio of youngsters. With the loss of national MVP Rob Howitt, freshman Dan LaVoie and sophomores Nick Makris and Marc Vargas will have their work cut out for them.

“No question about it, Rob was outstanding,” Murdoch said. “Those are big shoes to fill, but we have some big guys ready to fill them.”

Makris is aiming at maintaining the 89 percent save percentage and 2.3 goals against average he put together last season, but he admits that it will be hard to replace Howitt.

“I can’t even begin to fill those shoes,” Makris said. “I’ll play my best, though, and I should have a good year.”

LaVoie, a freshman out of Ontario, Canada, has already exhibited the toughness that Murdoch likes to see from his players.

During practice on Monday, LaVoie skated off the ice and disappeared for a few minutes, only to return a little later with an apology and an explanation.

“He tells me, ‘Sorry Coach, I dislocated my shoulder,'” Murdoch said. “Apparently, he just took off for a minute to pop it back in place.”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” LaVoie said.

LaVoie was also quick to point out that he’s not above joining a scrum if his teammates need him.

From top to bottom, ISU hockey appears every bit as good as the record-setting team of 1997. They’ll have to be if they hope to compete against a tough slate of opponents.

“I don’t think that in all the years I’ve been here our schedule has been any tougher,” Murdoch said.

The talented competition begins in their first contest tonight. Life College enters the game as the two-time defending Division II national champion.

Playing at home gives Murdoch increased confidence, though.

“Our games are events,” Murdoch said. “You can almost feel the electricity in the air. There’s a lot of noise and a lot of excitement, and I’d say our fans give us a one to two goal advantage for every home game.

“The crowd here is like no other,” added Jones.

Even the freshmen have heard the legends of the rowdy Cyclone faithful.

“We’re pretty excited to see the rink full,” Detulleo said. “We’ve heard some great stories.”

“We’ve picked up a reputation around the country of having an exceptional following,” Murdoch said.

That following should be in place tonight at 7:30 when the Cyclones butt heads with the Skating Eagles of Life College.