Sept. 30, 2002

Wayne State Selected First
in CHA Preseason Coaches Poll

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Wayne State University men’s hockey team earned all five possible first-place votes in the 2002-03 College Hockey America preseason coaches poll released today. WSU won the 2001-02 CHA regular-season title, plus the 2002 CHA tournament crown.

The Warriors finished with 25 points in the balloting, while Alabama-Huntsville received the other first-place vote and finished with 20 points. Following the Chargers were Bemidji State (18 points), Niagara (13 points), Air Force (7 points) and Findlay (7 points).

Teams earned five points for first place, four for second place, and so on down to one point for fifth place; coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. The CHA Tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Senior forward Jason Durbin (Trenton, Mich./Danville Wings), senior blueliner Tyler Kindle (Portage, Mich./Bozeman Icedogs) and senior goaltender David Guerrera (St. Leonard, Que./Estevan Bruins) were selected to the 2002-03 Preseason All-CHA team. Guerrera was also tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year. He could become just the third goaltender in NCAA Division I hockey history to repeat as conference player of the year.

“We are returning basically everyone, and that is a good thing from our standpoint,” said WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson. “We have a solid, solid schedule. We play some outstanding teams. We open with my alma mater, St. Lawrence, and then travel to Vermont and Dartmouth. We have two games at the home of the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings (Joe Louis Arena).

“We’re excited to bring our game to the people in the metro area and it toughens up our team as well. Our strength is going to be in our balance, starting in goal with David Guerrera. Two freshmen, Greg Poupard and Steve Kovalchik, are both local kids from the Detroit area who we think will help.

“Balance is going to be a key…it’s going to be a real battle from start to finish. Everyone is capable of getting a hot goaltender, a hot scorer.

“It’s great to be No. 1, but with that comes the pressure.”

On Marc Carlson’s return: “Marc is a strong, emotional type of kid, all of our guys respect Marc. His coming back means something special to our kids and coaching staff. He puts things in perspective,” added Wilkinson.

The Warriors take the ice for the annual intersquad game on Friday, Oct. 11 at Great Lakes Sports City in Fraser. The following evening WSU skates against Wilfrid Laurier in an exhibition contest. Wayne State faces the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor on Oct. 22. The home opener with the banner raising is slated for Oct. 25 against St. Lawrence.