Anyone seeing the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies hockey club for the first time this season might be confused. This  Oakland team shows little resemblance to the club that took the ice the previous two seasons.

In the 2008-2009 season, Oakland dressed upwards of 13 underclassmen per game. It showed in the results, as Oakland missed the ACHA national tournament — a complete collapse for what at one point was a championship program.

The past three seasons have seen a coaching change and the graduation of the entire roster from the last championship team in 2007.

Throughout this period, excuses have not been made. Work has been done.

The Grizzlies started this new campaign quickly, sweeping the University of Michigan-Dearborn Wolves in their opening series last weekend.

Oakland is continuing the progress it made last season, when it nearly doubled its win total and established two new scoring threats in Adam Novack and Jordan MacDonald. Novack impressed in his freshmen year with 36 points in 37 games. MacDonald showed vast improvement during his sophomore season, jumping from 16 to 42 points.

Both played on a line together, centered by leading-scorer senior Kevin Kranker. This line accounted for the top-three returning scorers on the roster, but don’t expect to continue seeing them play together this season.

“Our game is similar. We are both finesse guys, goal scorers, so we’re looking to break that up to spread out the scoring,” MacDonald said.

Head coach Jeremy Bachusz felt splitting up their top line is a compliment to the added depth of the Grizzlies, saying, “We actually added some really good new players who can play strong down low. It’s better to have four good lines than one good line.”

Kranker will remain on a line with Novack, but sophomore Jon Connors has been inserted as the “power forward” of the line.

“The three of us have a good sense of the game and will be a good line going forward, offensively and defensively,” Kranker said.

The Grizzlies defense returns virtually their entire squad from last season. They also have welcomed new additions Steve Vandenberghe  and Brett Hagen, from their rival Davenport Panthers.

“They’re chirping him all the time in practice,” said Bachusz on Hagen’s arrival from Oakland’s west-side rival. “We’re having a lot of fun with it.”

Senior defensemen Dennis Capa is excited about adding Hagen to the unit, Davenport ties or not.

“Hagen brings knowledge and experience which is a plus,” Capa said. “He knows what it takes to be a success in this league. I think he is going to surprise a lot of us this year. He has good decision making, is pretty mobile, as well as a left-handed shot, which will balance the back end more.”

Oakland returns a strong defensive core and adds a young group consisting of six new forwards looking to make an immediate impact.

A graduate from Oakland’s Division III program, Alexander Hoffman, made an immediate impact scoring in the opener against University of Michigan-Dearborn Friday night. Art Dore, a transfer from Becker College, saw time playing with MacDonald in the opening game. Coach Bachusz was also quick to identify Kurtis Anton as a freshman who would stand out this season as well.

Stakes will be raised for OU with the inception of the new Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League.

This newly formed conference has taken the previously non-conference affiliated Grizzlies, along with rivals Davenport, Michigan-Dearborn, Eastern Michigan, Adrian College and Western Michigan. More importantly, for these programs, it assures automatic bids and seeding into the national tournament.

Oakland hopes this season will be the culmination of the lone rebuilding year the proud program went through in 2008.

Goaltender Alex Pikunas, Kranker, Capa, MacDonald, Jesse Worrell, Jacob DeSano, Collin Ronayne and many more are looking to bring the Grizzlies back to the forefront of the club hockey scene.