FREDONIA, N.Y. -- An epic infusion of newcomers guided by a veteran leadership group has the Fredonia State men's hockey team confident as it heads into the 2024-25 season, which opens Saturday afternoon with an exhibition game at Chatham University.

For a team coming off a 6-18-1 finish last season, the mix of old and new has the Blue Devils' veteran coach refreshed and ready to turn the page on a new season.

"It's exciting for us," said Head Coach Jeff Meredith, who's entering his 37^th season behind the bench. "We're excited first for our 11 returners, who've shown tremendous leadership. There are incredibly hard workers in that group. It's a group that has a lot to prove."

Junior forward Ethan Pitzman is this year's Blue Devil captain. Assistant captains are senior forward Ryan Bailey and graduate student and fellow forward David Sudbrink.

Meredith is pleased with how the trio and their fellow veterans have approached their roles as leaders.

"It's been exciting," he said, "to see them kind of really take the reins of leadership and I think where we're at right now today is a big part of their effective leadership. We've kind of flipped our roster from last year to this year."

The 28-player roster is dominated by 17 freshmen, some of whom who've already established themselves as starters during pre-season drills. One of them, Riley See, a native of Sherwood Park, Alberta, has emerged as a front-line winger alongside Bailey and sophomore Antoine St. Onge.

Meredith plans to send out a second forward line comprised entirely of freshmen – Samuel Chrenka, Nolan Ring, and Gavin Bloder – and a third line centered by a local player, freshman Luke Morris of Fredonia, alongside Sudbrink and Pitzman. Other freshmen forwards who've impressed in drills have been Dawson Doner and Luca Maiuri.

Defensively, junior Garrison Gagnon and sophomore Xavier Fortin are the lone returners. They will be joined by seven freshmen along the blue line.

Meanwhile, junior goaltender Charles-Anthony Barbeau (3.40 goals against average, two shutouts in 2023-24) is back, joined by a pair of newcomers -- Jake Williams and Jameson Kaine -- who will vie for minutes between the pipes.

"We've been recruiting out of different (junior hockey) leagues," Meredith said. "We're excited about the new guys we have, where they have come from, and how they've been brought in by the returning guys, shown the culture, shown the values of the program, and now are getting up to speed and ready to play college hockey."

The infusion of new talent has resulted in a greater emphasis of doing the small things well and doing them with energy, pre-season points of emphasis for Meredith and Assistant Coach Conor Foley.

"I think we have to play the right way," Meredith said. "We have to be the aggressor, we have to take time and space away from people, and just be a hard team to play against."

The Blue Devils make their first Steele Hall appearance on Oct. 26 in an exhibition game vs. Buffalo State, then officially kick off the regular season Nov. 1 vs. Trine, also at Steele Hall.

Other notable dates are Alumni Weekend Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 featuring a 30-year commemoration of the 1994-95 team which won the SUNYAC championship and finished second in the nation; an international exhibition game Jan. 24 vs. The Chinese National Team in Fort Erie, Ont.; and the 16^th annual iteration of Pink The RInk on Feb. 7.