WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley hockey team took to the ice for their first official practice last week with an eye on their season opening game on October 7, at home against Boston University.

New head coach Andy Jones has a 30-man roster that features 12 newcomers. Of those 12, four are transfers and eight come from junior hockey.

Graduate student forward Jonathan Bendorf joined the team from Atlantic Hockey rival Mercyhurst. He's played in 115 games and was a second team All-Conference choice in 2021. Forwards Nik Armstrong-Kingkade and A.J. Hodges transferred in from UMass-Lowell and Michigan State, respectively, and defenseman Sam Duerr joined from Maine.

Of the eight freshmen, seven were either captain or assistant captain of their junior team last season. Six are forwards and two are defensemen.

Looking at the forwards, Peter Kramer, from Bridgewater, Mass., is the only newcomer from Massachusetts. Kramer played with Green Bay in the USHL last season. Chase Davis is a 6-4, 210 pound forward from Alpharetta, Georgia, who played with Amarillo in the NAHL.

Jimmy Doyle, a forward from Plainfield, Illinois, was captain of Janesville in the NAHL last season. Kellan Hjartarson is a forward from Calgary, Alberta who played with Cranbrook in the BCHL for two seasons and averaged nearly one point per game in his junior career.

Kolby Amici is an Orchard Park, New York native who suited up for Minot and El Paso in the NAHL last season and was named to the Top Prospects Tournament. Ryan Mansfield played for Odessa in the NAHL last season and led the team in both points (55) and assists (34). He's from Burlington, Ontario.

Colton Cameron and Garrett Horsager are the two defensemen. Cameron is an experienced defenseman who played in 164 games for Prince George in the BCHL. He's from Cloverdale, B.C. Horsager helped the Oklahoma Warriors win the Robertson Cup as NAHL champions last season, and he scored the winning goal in the finals with under four minutes remaining.

Among the 18 returning players, senior defenseman Nick Bochen is the leading returning scorer with 20 points. Fifth-year forward Josh Latta was a consistent top-six forward in 2022-23 and will look to build upon his strong first season at Bentley. Sophomore Stephen Castagna earned a significant amount of ice-time as a freshman in 33 games and notched seven goals and eight assists.

Joining Bochen on the blue line are juniors Tucker Hodgson and Tanner Main. Since coming in together as freshmen they've been regular top-four defensemen. Hodgson has played in 69 games and Main 54 games.

In goal senior Nicholas Grabko and sophomore Connor Hasley split time. Hasley started 18 games and earned two Atlantic Hockey weekly awards. Grabko started 16 games in 2022-23, has started 41 times in his career and has earned three AHA weekly awards since his freshman year.