The 2008-09 edition of the Southern New Hampshire University hockey team was a young one, featuring just one senior, All-Conference defenseman Dave Carroll.  Despite the squad's youth, the Penmen finished second in the Northeast-10 Conference and advanced to the NE-10 semifinals for the sixth-straight season.

SNHU comes back for the 2009-10 season with perhaps one of its most experienced teams ever.  The Penmen return 21 players, including their top four scorers and 11 of their top 13 scorers from last year.  Third-year head coach Ken Hutchins also brought in nine newcomers, including a promising six-member freshman class.

Senior John Frey (Westminster, Colo.) will serve as team captain for the second straight year, while senior Kent Honeyman (Marietta, Ga.) and junior Neil Adams (Gardner, Mass.) will act as assistant captains.

Frey was one of three players to play in all 24 games last season and he ranked fourth on the team in scoring with nine goals and 12 assists.  Over his first three seasons he has totaled 61 career points in 73 games.  Honeyman, a defenseman, played in 20 games last season and finished with a goal and five assists, while Adams, another defenseman, skated in all 24 games on the blue line last year and had three assists.

Headlining the returnees is junior Troy Maybury (South Portland, Maine), who earned Northeast-10 Player of the Year honors as a sophomore in 2008-09.  Maybury caught fire the second half of last season, totaling 11 goals and nine assists over the final 11 games, with seven multi-point games over that span.  For the season, he registered 19 goals and 14 assists to lead the NE-10 in scoring.

The Penmen have plenty of experience returning up front, as the roster features a total of 12 upperclassman forwards.  In addition to Frey, SNHU returns senior forwards Ryan DiBartolomeo (Leominster, Mass.), Thomas Ohlson (York, Maine), Jake Berube (Spotsylvania, Va.) and Matt Farley (Halifax, Mass.).

DiBartolomeo played in 21 games last season and finished third on the Penmen in point production with eight goals and 16 assists.  Over his first three seasons he has totaled 21 goals and 35 assists for 56 points in 64 games.  Ohlson skated in 23 games and finished with four goals and six assists, including goals in wins over Assumption and Stonehill.  Berube, in his first season at Southern New Hampshire after spending two seasons at the University of Southern Maine, totaled five goals and four assists in 21 games.  He had two goals in a win at Framingham State.  Farley appeared in four contests last season, but totaled 18 points over his first two seasons.

Besides Maybury, the Penmen bring back six junior forwards.  Bobby Bryant (Nashua, N.H.) led the Penmen in assists last season, dishing out 20 helpers, while his 29 points were second only behind Maybury.  Andrew Hildreth (Leominster, Mass.) skated in 19 contests and finished with seven goals and 10 assists, while Brandon Sheehan (Bedford, Mass.) had four goals and a pair of assists, including two goals against Framingham State.

Kevin Danie (Feeding Hills, Mass.) had two assists against Becker and also scored a goal in a win over Assumption last season.  William Toomey (Reading, Mass.) appeared in all but one game and had two goals and three assists, finishing with a goal and an assist in games against Assumption.  Adam Ziegler (Medford, Mass.), a transfer from Saint Anselm, skated 12 times and had a goal at Nichols and an assist in a win over Fitchburg State.

A pair of sophomores, Doug Boulanger (Beauport, Quebec) and Michael Slattery (Duxbury, Mass.) round out the forward returners.  Boulanger skated in 22 games and notched five goals and three assists, including a goal in the NE-10 Tournament against Saint Michael's.  Slattery joined the team midway through last season and played in six games, registering an assist in that same NE-10 tourney contest.

SNHU adds three forwards in junior Chris Clancy (Newington, Conn.), sophomore Brandon Bradley (Wichita, Kansas) and freshman Charles Wisniewski (Strongsville, Ohio).  Clancy last skated for Xavier High School in 2007, where he had 34 career goals.  Bradley practiced with the squad last season but did not see any game action.  He last skated for the New England Huskies.  Wisniewski comes to SNHU from the Cleveland Lumberjacks , totaling 30 goals and 31 assists in 45 games last season.

Besides Honeyman and Adams, the Penmen return four defensemen, one senior and three sophomores.  Senior Mark Lodge (Alfred, Maine) played in 20 games and finished with four assists, including a pair in a win over Assumption.   Anthony Dercole (Hamden, Conn.) skated in all but one game as a freshman last season and totaled a goal and seven assists.  Frank O'Connor (Arlington, Mass.) appeared in 20 games and totaled two goals and an assist, scoring against Worcester State and Franklin Pierce.  Mac Luciani (Scituate, Mass.) played in five games and totaled a goal and an assist, scoring in a win over Stonehill.

Southern New Hampshire adds three freshman to the defensive corps in Pat Mahoney (Scituate, Mass.), Cameron O'Brien (Spofford, N.H.) and Jay Paradis (Salem, N.H.).  Mahoney  prepped last season at Bridgton Academy and was a three-time league All-Star at Scituate HS.  O'Brien comes to SNHU from Winchendon Academy, while Paradis has patrolled the blue line for the Portland Junior Pirates the last two seasons.

Between the pipes, senior Shane Brooks (Kennebunk, Maine) is the lone returning goalie.  Brooks, who earned NE-10 Goaltender of the Week twice last season and has won the award five times in his career, posted a 4-4-1 record, 3.70 goals against average and .869 save percentage in 2008-09. 

The Penmen have three newcomers on the roster who could relieve Brooks.  Freshman John Carbonneau (Medford, Mass.) posted a 1.16 GAA with six shutouts playing for former Merrimack College coach Chris Serino at Malden Catholic HS last season. Junior Ryan Gleason (Westford, Mass.) returns from a two-year hiatus playing hockey, as he last played for the Valley Junior Warriors in 2006-07. Freshman Mike Mastracci (Pittsburgh, Pa.) played for the Pittsburgh Cougars junior team in 2008-09.

SNHU opens with a busy week, playing four games in the first seven days of the season.   After opening with Johnson and Wales on the road, the Penmen host Western New England for their home opener November 10, followed by home dates with Curry on the 12^th and Framingham State the 14^th.  Southern New Hampshire opens NE-10 play at Franklin Pierce November 17.

On December 5, Southern New Hampshire will play its first-ever hockey game at Manchester's Verizon Wireless Arena, home of the AHL's Manchester Monarchs.  The Penmen will host Stonehill in a 2:00 contest on Saturday, December 5, the first half of a doubleheader with the Monarchs facing the Worcester Sharks at 7:00.

The Penmen will also compete in two in-season tournaments.  SNHU will face Penn State, a powerful club team, in the first round of the annual Manchester PAL/Stovepipe Tournament on November 28, and will battle either Stonehill or UMass Boston the next day.  Southern New Hampshire will also compete in the Codfish Bowl at UMass Boston December 29-30, facing Suffolk on day one and either Johnson and Wales or the host Beacons the following day.