The senior class for the Colby men's hockey team recorded 62 wins over four seasons, including a 15-8-2 record this past season.

The Mules steamrolled to a 7-0 victory over Williams College in the New England Small College Athletic Conference playoffs before falling to eventual champion Middlebury in a semifinal game.

Senior defensemen Patrick Walsh earned first-team All-America honors and made the NESCAC first team for the second straight season. He also made the USCHO.com Men's Division III All-USCHO second team on defense and was one of four defensemen on the New England Hockey Writers ECAC East/NESCAC All-Star Team. Walsh had a league-best nine power play goals and finished the season with 11 goals and 14 assists. Walsh had 33 goals and 55 assists for 88 career points.

Senior forward Nick Bayley earned second-team conference honors after leading the Mules in scoring with 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points. Bayley, a two-time National Academic All-American, finished third all-time in career scoring at Colby with 61 goals and 87 assists for 188 points. Ron Ryan '62 (245 points) and Dan Lavergne '97 (179) are the only Colby players with more points.

Senior forward Cory Ernst just missed making the Colby Century Club (100 points) with 43 goals and 54 assists for 97 career points. He was second in scoring this season with 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points.

The Mules had many first-year players make an immediate impact on the team. Defensemen Arthur Fritch (4 goals, team-best 22 assists) made the USCHO.com Men's Division III East All-Rookie Team. Josh Reber, a forward, was tied for third on the team in scoring with nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points and Joe Rothwell (5 goals, 18 assists) also had a big first season.

Colby head coach Jim Tortorella earned his 150th career win during the regular season and has a 157-76-20 record in 10 years with the Mules.

Bayley, Ernst, Joel Morash, Ryan O'Flanagan, Ken Pitter, Chris Ries and Patrick Slipp eaned NESCAC Winter All-Academic honors.

With a senior class that has a 47-20-8 record the past three years, the Colby men's hockey team will once again be strong in the 2004-05 season.

Colby and head coach Jim Tortorella play the first seven regular season games on the road before finally having a home game January 4 against Curry. The Mules do host an exhibition game with the U.S. Under-18 National Team at 5:30 p.m. on November 28.

The Mules will have experience and some solid newcomers that could help Colby challenge for a NESCAC title. Tortorella, back for his 10th season, and Colby went 14-7-4 a year ago.

Senior forward Nick Bayley (Cambridge, Ontario), a NESCAC all-conference selection and a two-time National Academic All-American, led Colby in scoring last year with 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points. Bayley has 45 goals and 68 assists for 113 career points in 74 games at Colby.

The Mules have plenty of offensive firepower with the return of senior forward Cory Ernst (Bridgewater, Nova Scotia --- 8 goals, 17 assists), junior Kevin Lyons (Canton, Mass. --- 11 goals, 12 assists), senior captain Patrick Walsh (Easton, Conn. --- 8 goals, 14 assists), sophomore Patrick Rutherford (Truro, Nova Scotia --- 9 goals, 12 assists), and junior Todd O'Hara (Minneapolis, Minn. --- 5 goals, 7 assists).

Walsh switched from forward to a defenseman position when the Mules had injury problems on defense early last year. Walsh went on to earn NESCAC all-conference honors and was named to the 2004 New England Hockey Writers All-Star team.

Colby's defense will be led by senior Eric Molander (Yarmouth, Maine) and junior Jake Bayley (Cambridge, Ontario). Ryan O'Flanagan (Toronto, Ontario) and Patrick Slipp (Woodstock, New Brunswick) also saw time defensively last year.

Senior goalie Chris Ries (Pittsburgh, Pa.) went 11-6-3 last year in 20 games while posting a .905 save percentage and a 2.33 goals against average. Sophomore Ben Grandjean (Waterford, Conn.) showed potential in six games with a 3-1-1 record and a .915 save percentage.

The Mules lose six seniors from last year's squad.

Men's ice hockey has been a tradition at Colby since 1922. The program excelled during the 1955-56 season under head coach Jack Kelley, former president of the Pittsburgh Penguins. That same season the team moved into its current home of Alfond Arena, which was made possible by a generous gift from Harold Alfond. The Mules compiled a 92-46-5 cumulative record over the next seven years, capping the era with a fourth-place finish in the ECAC Division I Tournament. Ten years later, with the creation of an ECAC Division II league, the Mules earned their first championship title by defeating Merrimack College 5-0 in the finals. That team was coached by the legendary Charlie Holt.

In the past 10 years the Mules have ushered in a new era of success. Colby has had 10 consecutive winning seasons, compiling an overall record of 156-79-18 and earning six ECAC berths, four NESCAC berths, an NCAA berth, and a 1997 ECAC Championship.

Colby coach Jim Tortorella says, "The foundation of Colby's success has been our ability to attract student athletes with the attributes of courage, heart, attitude, mental toughness, pride, and a willingness to sacrifice. Over the past ten years these types of players have enabled the program to sustain the momentum needed to compete at the national level. I cannot say enough about the players' unwavering dedication to make Colby's hockey program one of the finest programs in the country."

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