Losing players due to graduation is a given in collegiate athletics. It’s something coaches accept and prepare for.

However, Cyclone Hockey lost nearly a third of its players from last season due to graduation.

Nine of its 29 players — gone. 

That’s an obstacle that most teams, in any sport, don’t have to deal with. But it’s an obstacle Cyclone Hockey coach Jason Fairman is attempting to overcome with youth.

“Those seniors were good players for us,” Fairman said. “A lot of them were similar players. We were having to look at different elements for this recruiting class that might bring a different skill set to the team this year.”

Last season, the Cyclones set two team records. They allowed 80 goals and registered 431 penalty minutes, both the fewest in team history.

Some people might expect the loss of seniors to create a drop-off of the discipline and attention to detail the Cyclones displayed a season ago. Not Fairman, though. He expects both of those aspects of the game to remain strong. 

“We are pretty disciplined,” said Fairman. “I’m very proud of that — that we aren’t taking a lot of penalties and we have attention to detail. I expect that to continue because we had a good recruiting class defensively, and we also have some very good defensemen returning.

“My expectations are that we are going to be as good as we were last year or hopefully even better.”

One of those experienced defensemen is senior captain Cory Sellers. He feels the same way as Fairman about the freshmen.

“It’s going to be tough [to replace the nine seniors],” Sellers said. “They were all great guys, great players too. Big shoes to fill. But I think with the young group that’s coming in, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

The Cyclones opened up the season with a double-header against the Huntsville Havoc this past weekend, and the new youth showed up in a big way.

Six different freshmen found the back of the net for the Cyclones during the two games.

“We hope that [the freshmen] will have immediate impact because they have to fill roles of the guys who graduated,” Fairman said. “Some of these freshmen are going to have prominent roles on the team very early on.

“I think there’s a good chance they could have an early impact. I’m encouraged by that — to see some of the younger guys score — because we did lack scoring punch last year.”

The Cyclones scored 16 goals and allowed five in the two games against Huntsville. 

Even with the strong showing from the freshmen in the exhibition games, the young players may still have a bit of adjusting to do before the peak of the season. 

“The young guys might struggle early, as talented as they might be from a recruiting standpoint,” Fairman said. “Making a jump to a new level, there’s always an adjustment period. There is gonna be some growing pains associated with that.”

But following the growing pains, the new players can jump into roles, and more experienced players can step up to keep the team competitive throughout the season. 

“I think we may have some growing pains right away, but I think everyone else is going to fill in just fine,” Sellers said. “From kids who’ve been here, from sophomores to juniors, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

The Cyclones have made a habit of making the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament in recent years, making it to the quarterfinals last season.

They expect nothing short of that once again, even with the growing pains.

“I think we’d certainly be able to [make the national tournament] again,” Fairman said.