Veteran sportswriter, member of the WDVE Morning Show and hockey aficionado Mike Prisuta has been covering the Pittsburgh sports scene for over 20 years. He has covered Pittsburgh sports as a reporter for the Beaver County Timesand as a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and has had his pulse on the happenings of each of the professional organizations and college programs in the area. A graduate of Michigan State University, Prisuta got his start in the profession covering the Spartan hockey program and possesses knowledge of the college hockey world unmatched in the region.

Throughout the 2011-12 season, Prisuta will serve up weekly stories surrounding Colonial hockey as well as the latest notes and news around college hockey.

Prisuta on Pucks: Turning the Page to 2012-13

The countdown to next season had commenced even before this season had ended. The line combinations and defensive pairings scribbled onto the dry-erase board in head coach Derek Schooley's office - the numbers of the returnees and the names of the recruits not yet assigned jersey identification aligned as an inevitable starting point - testified as to the constantly changing nature of college hockey.

So the Colonials knew they'd arrive at this juncture eventually.

But that doesn't make the 3-0 and 2-1 losses on March 9-10 at Niagara that brought the 2011-12 campaign to a screeching halt any easier to take.

“We did some good things,” head coach Derek Schooley maintained. “We continued to show we can play at the top level of the Atlantic Hockey Association. We were very competitive with the top teams in the league.

“Obviously, we're very disappointed we couldn't take another step.”

Losing the best-of-three AHA quarterfinal series at Niagara left Robert Morris with a final record of 17-17-5. The 17 wins stand as the second-highest total in RMU's eight-year history of playing at the Division I level, behind only the 18-12-5 record the Colonials crafted in 2010-11. Those 17 victories also vaulted the senior class into the top spot in program history in career victories with 55. The 2010-11 seniors had departed with 53 wins.

Other notable achievements included RMU producing a program-record, eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) and turning in its equipment as the clubhouse leader nationally in penalty killing (143 of 159, 89.9 percent). Although the nation's penalty-killing champion won't be officially crowned until the conclusion of the postseason, no team has finished No. 1 in that department with a figure higher than RMU's 89.9 since Notre Dame posted a 90.4 mark in 2006-07.

Better still, perhaps, is the feeling within the program.

Consider departing senior Nick Chiavetta's perception of how RMU hockey has grown since he first arrived as a freshman.

“Everything's changed,” he said. “We get great support from the university. We have the band here almost every single game. I know this program is up and coming.

“It's going to be great.”

Added fellow senior and Brandon Blandina: “I think people are just starting to recognize us now. We're starting to make a name for ourselves.”

Schooley knows there is more work to be done toward that end.

“We've done some very good things the last couple of years,” he said. “The next step is to get to the NCAA Tournament. We've been close twice (having lost a pair of College Hockey America title games in OT prior to joining the AHA). To get there we have to take that next step.

“You graduate a lot of quality people and good hockey players but you don't want to rebuild, you want to reload. We'll be extremely young next year with 15 freshmen and sophomores. It'll be up to them to set the tone for where the program goes next. Hopefully, they can get us to the next level.”

The program loses 10 seniors but there remains much to build around in their absence.

“We have a lot of very good players returning,” Schooley said. “(Forwards) Adam Brace, Cody Wydo, Cody Cartier, Scott Jacklin, Colin South, Eric Levine in goal, and defensively we'll have six guys back. We really like Tyson Wilson as arguably the best freshman defenseman in league, and we'll have Brendan Jamison, Jimmy Geerin, Tyler Hinds, Evan Renwick; those guys played a lot of minutes. And we'll have Andrew Blazek back after he missed (all but seven games of) the season with a shoulder injury.

“We'll have to find out who leads this hockey team.”

“When you look back this (graduating) class has been very successful and has done a lot for Colonials hockey. Next year will be a different year. Every year is a different year. Hopefully, these guys will carry on what those guys have contributed to the program.”

Blandina expects nothing less.

“We have a great group of younger guys on the team, a bunch of leaders,” he said. “I think this program is going to go a long way.”

How far it's already come was best expressed by Chiavetta.

“When I leave here,” he said, “I'll be proud.”