11. Ferris State University

Ferris State University

Key Losses: Derek Nesbitt, F; Jeff Legue, F; Mike Brown, G; Matt York, D
Key Returnees: Mark Bomersback, F; Greg Rallo, F; Matt Stefanishion, F
Key Newcomers: Chris Zarb, D; Dan Reidel, F, Mitch O'Keefe, G
Projected Leading Scorer: Mark Bomersback

Grades:
Offense: D
Defense: C-
Goalie: C
Coaching: C

Analysis:

Two terrible seasons removed from their 31 win season, Ferris State is ready to start over and and rebuild their team. With Nesbitt, Legue, York, and Brown all gone, Greg Rallo is the only contributor left over from that team. The next generation of Bulldogs, which was supposed to have been led by Mark Bomersback and Matt Rutkowski, has fallen short of expectations, and Ferris has fallen back on hard times.

Despite this, the future looks surprisingly bright for Ferris State. Derek MacIntyre, a highly regarded prospect a year ago, will take over for Mike Brown in goal. Brown was a talented goalie, but his play stagnated and dropped off quite in his last year when his team started to struggle. MacIntyre looked average for most of the year, aside from an OT win in Columbus, but has the opportunity to do well when he gets to start every night. Ferris will need him to hold them in a lot of games this season if they want to do well. If not, freshmen Mitch O'Keefe could steal some playing time away from MacIntyre.

The best news for Ferris State is that they may have picked up two of the bigger steals in recruiting this season. Both forward Dan Reidel and defenseman Chris Zarb would probably be going to one of the big name schools if they had not committed to Ferris so early.

Reidel played in the NAHL before heading to the USHL. He averaged about a point per game last year before exploding in his final season of junior hockey with a USHL-leading 81 points. Granted, Reidel is an older player, so his potential may be questioned a little bit, but anytime a school like Ferris State can end up with the leading scorer out of the best junior league, it's a huge steal.

When Chris Zarb signed with Ferris State, head coach Bob Daniels called him the best recruit to ever sign with Ferris State. Zarb is big at 6'4" but still a very good skater. He was one of 14 defenseman that USA hockey invited to their World Junior Camp. The only other players invited that weren't playing college or major junior hockey was Michigan recruit Jack Johnson and Minnesota recruit Blake Wheeler. That's pretty impressive company to be keeping.

The question is, how much can these high-profile recruits help this struggling team. Unfortunately, the answer is probably not that much in the immediate future. One or two players can only take you so far. Ferris has developed a nice core of talented players, however, and they could be looking to make a move up the standings in the next couple of years, similar to the way Omaha has rebuilt their team and risen to the top of the league.