After finishing above .500 last year for just the second time in 22 years, the Wesleyan men’s hockey team looks to build upon that recent success and use veteran leadership to propel the team into the postseason.

Wesleyan finished sixth in the NESCAC last year, and the season ended in a bitter one-goal loss to third-seeded Middlebury last February. However, the team has lost just two graduating seniors since that game, and expectations are high for this team, which includes 23 former letter-winners and 12 seniors.

Among the returning players are goalies Glenn Stowell ’13 and Matt Hadge ’13, who had save percentages last year of .917 and .893 respectively. Stowell played in 18 games last year, with a record of 9-6-2, good for fifth in the league.

Expectations are high for junior co-captain Keith Buehler, who was second on the team in points last year with 15 goals and 12 assists. Buehler has the chance to step into the spotlight in the absence of forward Nik Tasiopoulas, who transferred to Babson College.  Tasiopoulas scored 19 goals and 15 assists in his 2011-12 campaign, and his 34 points were the best in the NESCAC.

Wesleyan looks to maintain its advantage over NESCAC opponents in special teams play, in which they converted almost 21 percent of their power plays, good for third in the league. They were also fourth in the conference when playing down a man, killing 86 percent of their penalties throughout the year.

Perhaps the area that the Cardinals must improve the most in is discipline. If Wesleyan looks to maintain any level of success this season, then they must learn to stay on the referees’ good side. The Cardinals finished first in the league in penalty minutes last season with 394, sacrificing almost 16 minutes per game to the penalty box. As a point of comparison, defending champion Amherst averaged just 10 penalty minutes per game.

Also in need of improvement for this Cardinals team is late-game execution. While their plus/minus in the first two periods was plus-eight, they were dead even in the third period, allowing 23 goals while scoring the same number. The importance of maintaining focus and stamina throughout all three periods must not be lost on this veteran squad.

Coach Chris Potter is back for his ninth year with the team and has brought on six new  members this year, each of whom will compete for highly coveted ice time on an experienced club.

Among the most highly anticipated games this season are Jan. 4 and Feb. 1 matchups with Middlebury, which beat Wesleyan in the first round of the NESCAC tournament after splitting a pair of one-goal games in the regular season.

Reigning Little Three champion Amherst comes to the Spurrier-Snyder Rink to take on the Cardinals on Nov. 30, and Wesleyan players seek redemption after being outscored 9-2 in their two matchups in 2011-12. Wesleyan’s first home game is a Nov. 20 matchup against UMass Dartmouth, which Wesleyan handily defeated 5-2 last season.