The Ohio State men’s hockey team hits the ice for its first action of the 2017-18 season in less than two weeks. When it does, it will feature two of Big Ten Hockey’s Preseason Players to Watch. Junior forward Mason Jobst and senior forward Matt Weis were recognized as such by the conference today. It isn’t difficult to see why the pair merited selection.
| b1g hockey Players to Watch |
|---|
| Quinn Hughes, D, Michigan |
| Will Lockwood, F, Michigan |
| Josh Norris, F, Michigan |
| Ryan Lindgren, D, Minnesota |
| Casey Mittelstadt, F, Minnesota |
| Rem Pitlick, F, Minnesota |
| Tyler Sheehy, F, Minnesota |
| Jake Evans, F, Notre Dame |
| Jordan Gross, D, Notre Dame |
| Andrew Oglevie, F, Notre Dame |
| Mason Jobst, F, Ohio State |
| Matt Weis, F, Ohio State |
| Peyton Jones, G, Penn State |
| Denis Smirnov, F, Penn State |
| Trent Frederic, F, Wisconsin |
| Kyle Hayton, G, Wisconsin |
| Cameron Hughes, F, Wisconsin |
The Buckeyes’ offense ranked third nationally in 2016-17. Mason Jobst was a major factor in that lofty status. He racked up 19 goals and 36 assists, leading both the team and the Big Ten with 55 total points. Jobst was one of the NCAA’s top 10 scorers, a Second Team All-American, and a First Team All-Big Ten selection.
Jobst also led the Bucks in power play points (9-21--30), shorthanded shots (13), shorthanded points (2-1--3), and shot blocks by a forward (31). He was second among OSU’s regular faceoff men with a winning percentage of .549. Jobst’s breakout year garnered attention from several NHL teams and the undrafted free agent was invited to multiple big league rookie camps this summer.
Matt Weis was the Buckeyes’ leading faceoff man in 2016-17 with 202 wins on 364 draws (.555). Despite being hampered by injury during the season he still managed to post 31 points in 32 games. With 20 of those points coming 5-on-5, he was as productive at even strength as any other Buckeye save Jobst and Tanner Laczynski (22 points each).
Big Ten Hockey also revealed its preseason poll today. Ohio State landed in fifth spot. The poll mostly just mirrors the results of 2016-17. OSU and Penn State’s positions are switched and newcomer Notre Dame is slotted in second. Otherwise, the teams are listed as they finished last season.
| B1G Preseason Poll |
|---|
| No. 1 Minnesota |
| No. 2 Notre Dame |
| No. 3 Wisconsin |
| No. 4 Penn State |
| No. 5 Ohio State |
| No. 6 Michigan |
| No. 7 Michigan State |
The coaches’ low level of confidence in the 2017-18 Buckeyes is most likely due to the team graduating one-third of its goal scoring. That, or the fact that, save for Maine transfer Sean Romeo (23 games), OSU’s goaltending corps has exactly zero career collegiate appearances to date. These are key issues the team will need to address and ones we will look at in greater depth later, but I would not be surprised to see the Buckeyes sitting just a little higher than fifth by the end of the season.
Ohio State plays an exhibition game against Ryerson on Saturday, Sept. 30 (time still TBA). Then the Bucks hit the road and dive right into conference play. Their season opener at Wisconsin is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 6 (time also TBA).
