Following today’s football press conference with Ryan Day, Chip Kelly and Will Howard, Ohio State women’s hockey coach Nadine Muzerall also took the lectern at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for a preseason press conference ahead of the Buckeyes’ season-opening series against Minnesota Duluth at the OSU Ice Rink this Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).

A few quick notes from Muzerall’s time with the media:

• She believes the Buckeyes have “reloaded” after winning the national championship last season. She says this team’s year isn’t quite as deep as last year’s team, but “the quality is still very good.”
• Coming off a national championship, Muzerall used the analogy is Ohio State like the lead driver in a NASCAR race. “People continue to pursue us and we gotta keep up.”
• She says Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork has told her that a new ice rink for the program will still be built but that he doesn’t know when it will happen yet. She says the Buckeyes want and need a new rink but noted “we’ve had a lot of success without one.”
• She believes the Buckeyes’ outdoor game against Wisconsin at Wrigley Field will be a great showcase for the program and thinks the fact that Ohio State was one of only two women’s hockey programs selected to be a part of that event shows how far the program has come since she became the head coach in 2016.