With all of the pleasant surprises in East Lansing, Omaha and Fairbanks and the perennially strong play in Oxford, South Bend and Ann Arbor, this year’s CCHA title race has the makings of a season to remember. For all the positive karma, however, it’s tough not to notice Columbus, Ohio’s absence from that earlier list.

Eight games into the regular season, Ohio State has yet to find its groove, starting the season at 2-5-1 and sitting near the bottom of almost every statistical category in the conference. While the Buckeyes have looked promising at times, beating Denver at home and stealing a shootout victory at Notre Dame, coach John Markell knows that his team needs to establish some consistency to contend for their second consecutive NCAA tournament bid.

“We’re a team that has to have 20 guys going,” Markell said. “And that’s from the specialty units that are doing a lot better than they have and they’re executing better, to young kids who have to learn how to be consistent at this level, and the emotion that that takes.”

The Buckeyes were a remarkably young squad last year, and even with an additional season of experience under everyone’s belt, Mathieu Picard is the team’s only senior.

While it has to be frustrating for Markell, the veteran head coach who has helped Ohio State rebound from three consecutive disappointing seasons after a second place in 2004-05 with a near miss of a first-round bye last year, Markell is optimistic that his team can turn it around. With a few key cogs playing their second consecutive series, Markell is hoping some of the load will be taken off the shoulders of younger players who may be squeezing their sticks.

“We’re continuing to learn, we’re evolving,” Markell said. “I certainly like the team that I had on the road the last two weeks, it’s just certain guys need to be more consistent. We’re plugging some holes with Hunter Bishop coming back, and we’ve got Ian Boots back in the lineup, and there are some guys who can add some offense to us, and it should pay its dividends while the other guys who might be struggling with their game or their consistencies continue to grow and understand their role on our hockey club.”