Saint Louis University Billikens Hockey

Division II Players

Saint Louis University Men's Ice Hockey is pleased to have Mike McLaughlin return as the Head Coach for the Men's D2 team. Coach McLaughlin began last season as the Assistant Coach on the D2 team and now this season he will step up the Head spot leading a re-energized Division 2 roster. "With the recruiting that has been done in the off-season, the Division 2 team will be as much a recipient of talented players as our Division 1 team" said Coach McLaughlin at the recent "Rookie Camp". "We had a tough season last year but I have seen the players that are returning and I understand the heart of the players that are returning and this will be a very exciting season".

Joining Coach McLaughlin behind the bench, will be newly appointed Assistant Coach and St. Louis native, Nathan Ryckman. Nathan once made application and intended on playing for SLU when he did an "About Face", literally, and decided to serve in the United States Army. He has now relocated back to St. Louis and serves in the Army Reserve and is looking forward to helping his one-time coach from Hazelwood West HS, Mike McLaughlin. "Nathan was a very talented player and is a very responsible and confident leader now after going into the military" said Saint Louis University Men's Head Coach, John Bosch. "It's a shame that we never were able to have Nathan in a SLU uniform but sometimes what goes around comes around and I think having Nathan on our coaching staff is testament to our tradition of influencing players over the years with regard to our programs overall goals, he's a great addition for our D2 players".

The D2 team's schedule is set and it includes Jesuit university rival, Marquette University, local Universities University of Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University) and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. This season, the independent schedule gave the team a chance to "mix it up" and the following new universities that SLU has never played have been added to the schedule; Southern Indiana University, Oklahoma State University, Middle Tennessee State, Vanderbilt University, Duke University, University of Tennessee and St. Olaf College. The 2005-2006 schedule will be "officially" available on the SLU Hockey website in the near future.