Depleted hockey team to face Billikens twice

It is dominating at home and on the road, perfect in conference play, and has a stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking in the country.

What could be going wrong for the Illinois hockey club?

Despite their early-season success and 11-0-0 record, six straight weeks of play have taken a heavy physical toll on the Fighting Illini. With the roster depleted by injuries, head coach Chad Cassel will need to use all of Illinois' depth against St. Louis University this weekend, the final series before fall break.

"This week we're going to have every available player basically in the lineup," Cassel said. "It's an unusual situation because of all the injuries, and we've got some guys out sick."

Notable players out for the two-game series include senior forwards Joey Resch and Kevin Wicklin, who suffered an injury during last week's sweep of Eastern Michigan. Defenseman Pat Mannina is also likely out with an illness.

Cassel said the Illini were "very fortunate" to have enough depth at forward to cope with the short roster, and said the team has been playing solidly on the defensive side of the ice.

"Our goaltending's been strong for us, so that's helped us out when we needed it," Cassel said.

After opening with a grueling schedule, the Billikens are the first team Illinois has played that is not ranked in the ACHA top-25 poll since opening the season against Division II Michigan State. In their last meeting in 2006, the Illini swept St. Louis on the road with two dominating games that included a 16-0 victory in the series finale.

Despite a history of dominating the Billikens, Cassel said the Illini will not be caught looking ahead to the much needed two-week breather following the series. St. Louis, after opening the season 2-6-2, broke a six-game winless streak with a victory against No. 22 Robert Morris and swept No. 24 Arizona last weekend.

"Everyone's excited to play you when you're the No. 1 team in the country," Cassel said. "We're going to have our work cut out for us."

The Illini will likely be back at full strength after the upcoming break. Cassel said he hoped his team would be "as close to 100 percent as we've been all year" when it takes on Western Michigan on Nov. 30.

But Illinois must first focus on improving its undefeated record at the Ice Arena this weekend. Both games will start at 7 p.m.

"We just want to keep this thing rolling," Cassel said.