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With four of Hamline’s top five scorers and a strong goaltender returning to the ice, Brown believes the Pipers can compete this season.

“Even with where we are at right now, we shouldn’t settle for anything less than making the conference playoffs this year,” said Brown.

But to accomplish that, the team must have a completely new mindset, compared to the team that finished last year with a overall record of 3-22 and 1-15 in the MIAC.

To do this, Brown said, “I want to change the attitude and culture of the team here. The attitude should be that we can compete and we want to be at the rink. There is a new coach this year, and with that there is new expectations.” “Our expectations are higher this year than they have ever been in the history of this program. We are going to be very ambitious.”

This new attitude and approach will start in the goal, where Hamline returns senior goaltender Johns
Harstad, a tested goalie in the ways and style of MIAC competition. He has started 32 career games across three seasons, including 15 last season, where he was 1-14 with a 4.55 goals against average and posting a 8.55 save percentage.

The Pipers also plan on playing a disciplined yet aggressive style, with 11 returning letter winners and nine new players joining the team this year.

“We have good, experienced upperclassmen. They went through a tough season last year and want to make some positive results this year to erase last season’s memories,” Brown said.

Leading the attack for Hamline will be forwards Ryan Manke, Lubos Taragel, and Steve Malke.

Manke was the second-leading scorer with eight goals and 10 assists last season. Taragel scored seven goals and seven assists, and Malke had four goals and 10 assists.

Junior forwards Griffen Kilby and Mike Forconi also return to the squad.

All five of these players played key roles in Hamline’s run at the conference playoffs two seasons ago.

Hamline also returns two strong players on defense in juniors Shane Wagner and Ben Gustafson.

Wagner was one of the leading scorers among defensemen in the MIAC, with eight goals and five assists, while Gustafson added two goals and five assists as a sophomore.

Brown sees the team’s strengths this year as “team unity” and their “unselfish attitude,” but said, “our weakness will be getting rid of unproductive habits. These include not getting as frustrated as the team has in the past when things haven’t gone their way and reducing the amount of penalty minutes due to this.”

“We have some really talented players and will have two good front lines. We don’t have the numbers other programs will have so we’ll have to play it smart but I hope the challenge will get the team to play to the level they need to.”