FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Marian University men's hockey is set to celebrate 20 years of Sabre hockey with the 20th Alumni Reunion when MU hosts MSOE Friday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. from Blue Line.
The Marian University men's hockey program played their inaugural season in 1995-96, under head coach Rich Blakey, finishing that first season with a 14-9-2 record. The Sabre hockey program has served as a model of a successful program ever since.
In the first 20 years of existence, Marian men's hockey recorded a 288-218-28 (.566) record with a winning percentage in 16 of those 20 years, with the 2015-16 Sabres already clinching the 17th winning record in program history this season. Out of all the winning seasons, the 2009-10 squad holds the best single season record at 20-7-0 (.741) in what is also the only season in program history where the Sabres have hit the 20-win plateau.
That same 2009-10 squad consisted of three of the top 10 scorers in Marian history in Dakota Dubetz ('09-'13) (130, fourth), Brendan Hull ('07-'11) (111, seventh), and Nick Cinquergrani ('06-'10) (92, 10th). Jason Wise was the head coach of that historic team and also has the distinction of being the program's winningest coach with a 119-88-14 record in his eight years at the helm of Marian hockey.
"My time at Marian was filled with many great moments," commented coach Wise who currently is the head coach at Concordia Wisconsin. "We built the locker room, had a 20-win season, cracked the top 15 in national rankings, and had the schools first All-American in Dakota Dubetz. However, the best part of the journey was without a doubt the players. We always had high character players who gave Marian everything they had. They left it all on the ice. I'm proud of what we accomplished and it's great to see Marian continue the winning tradition."
The Sabres joined the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association (MCHA) prior to the 1998-99 season and produced a winning record in 14 of the 15 seasons they were affiliated with the MCHA. It was only until the 2013-14 season that the MCHA dissolved to make room for the currently affiliated Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA). In all 17 seasons that Marian has been affiliated with a conference, the Sabres have clinched a berth in the conference tournament with the current Marian team a magic number of one point away from making it 18 consecutive playoff berths.
MU has won a pair of MCHA Conference Championships with the first coming in the 2001-02 season (16-0-0) and the second during the 2003-04 season (14-2-0). The Sabres also have a pair of MCHA Tournament Championships going back-to-back in 2000-01 and 2001-02.
It was during this extremely successful 2000-2004 time period where Marian featured arguably the best goaltender in program history in Terry Dunbar ('00-'04). Dunbar sits atop the career records in games (91), minutes (5298:53), and wins (49), while also ranking second in saves (2,156) and shutouts (6), and ranking sixth with a 2.79 goals-against average. The Sabre netminder also holds the top three spots in single season wins with 16 in 2003-04, 15 in 2000-01, and 12 in 2001-02, along with ranking second with 671 saves in his 2000-01 season.
With all the success of the program through the years, individual accolades have also followed. The Sabres have had 40 players named first team all-conference, but more importantly, 137 student-athletes named to the MCHA/NCHA All-Academic team. The Sabres have also had four student-athletes earn the MCHA Player of the Year award; Dave Chipman (1999-2000), Dan Odegard (2002-03), Dunbar (2003-04), Jon Daigle (2004-05), and five Coach of the Year awards in Paul Caufield (1998-99), Chris Brown (2001-2002, 2003-2004), and Wise (2007-08, 2009-10).
Chipman's 1999-00 MCHA Player of the Year campaign was especially significant as he set Marian single season records for points (56), goals (33), hat tricks (5), and power play goals (12).
A.J. Aitken coached at Marian from 2012-15 and played a significant role in the recent success of Sabre hockey. Aitken had this to say about his time at Marian, "I am very grateful for the opportunity I had as head coach at Marian. I'm very proud of the accomplishments and growth the team had in my three seasons. I'm also very happy to see the current success of the team under the leadership of coach Largen. Marian will always hold a special place in my heart."
As previously mentioned, the current 2015-16 Sabre hockey squad has only been adding to the success of the program entering this weekend with an 11-5-3 overall record, 9-4-1 mark in NCHA play, and ranked 13th by the D3Hockey.com national poll. With all the success of the program, it's hard to imagine there are a lot of opportunities to do anything for the first time in program history, but Marian did just that earlier this season when they defeated perennial power house St. Norbert College for the first time in program history 4-2 back on October 31st, 2015.
"The men's ice hockey program here at Marian was built from the ground up with the hard work and dedication from the former student-athletes, administration, and of course the coaches," commented current head coach Erik Largen. "Each former coach has left his mark on this program and the student-athletes involved for the better. As a coaching staff we hope we are able to do the same now and in the future to keep this great tradition going. I am very humbled and honored to be part of such a great tradition."
Marian University athletics is thankful for all those who have supported Marian hockey in these past 20 successful seasons, and hope for your continued support of the program in the years to come. The Sabres enter the weekend with 299 wins in program history and will look for win number 300 along with a berth in the NCHA Tournament during their weekend home-and-home series against MSOE.
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