Faryna, Leahy Named Captains
 
Last weekend, UW-Superior students went through graduation ceremonies, and the university said goodbye to four Yellowjacket hockey players, nearly three months after the 2010-11 season came to an end.  And with that, the sights can officially be pointed to the 2011-12 season, and one of the first orders of business is to determine the captains of next year's squad, one that will have a young, albeit experienced roster.  Picked to lead the team and wear the "C's" will be a pair of juniors, Justin Faryna (Calgary, Alberta) and Kyle Leahy (Fort St. John, British Columbia).

The two will lead a team that is heavily laden with juniors and sophomores, with only one senior on the roster.  It is the smallest senior class since 1997-98, a team that also sported just one senior.

"These two guys represent everything that we want in captains for this team," head coach Dan Stauber said.  "They work hard on and off the ice, they're accountable and they make the rest of the team accountable.  They're vocal.  They lead by example.  You can't ask for much more."

Faryna is the top returning scorer for the Yellowjackets.  He followed up a 15-point freshman season with a 23-point sophomore campaign, one that saw him be one of just two players to hit double digits in goals, scoring a team-leading 13.  He also led the team in power play goals (5) and game winning goals (4).  Highlights from his second season include a seven-point weekend against UW-Stout on January 14-15, a weekend that garnered him Player of the Week honors in the NCHA and WIAC.  The next game, he scored a pair of goals in a 3-0 shutout of eventual national champion St. Norbert.

"Justin took the next step last season.  He's beginning to realize how good he can be and how complete of a player that he can be," Stauber said.  "He's got good size, he's skilled and he skates well.  But he also plays with a bit of an edge.  That intensity can get him in trouble sometimes and he takes some penalties, but that's part of his game.  You want him to control it but you don't want to change the way he plays.  That would take away from his effectiveness."

Leahy became a two-way force in his second year with the Yellowjackets.  After a one goal, eight point freshman season, he lit the lamp six times and put up 11 points, all the while becoming a top defensive forward for the Yellowjackets.  He was the first one over the boards to kill penalties and was arguably the team's top faceoff man in 2010-11.  A late season injury suffered at St. Norbert in the Peters Cup finals derailed his season, and his absence was evident in the NCAA loss to Hamline.

"Focused.  Intense.  Those words describe Kyle Leahy.  We knew when he came in that he would be one of our hardest workers and that is true.  That hard work enabled him to become more than just a grinder and penalty killer for us.  We really missed him in that playoff game when he was hurt," Stauber said. "The other thing is that he's accountable to himself and he expects the same thing out of his teammates.  If he sees anything less than a complete effort from guys, he'll call them out and usually, they listen."

The Yellowjackets open the season with a weekend series at St. Scholastica on October 28-29.  They will make their home debut on November 4-5.