MANKATO — By Shane Frederick

sfrederick@mankatofreepress.com

MANKATO — There haven’t been many 100-point defensemen in the Big Nine Conference in recent years.

Albert Lea’s Adam Royce, a 2008 graduate, finished his high school hockey career with 122 points. Two years earlier, Rochester Mayo’s Nick Canzanello, who is now a collegiate player at Minnesota State University, compiled 132 goals and assists.

This season, Mankato West senior Matt Campbell expects to hit triple figures, as he needs just 16 points to crack the century mark.

“For the most part, I look to be a defensive defenseman first,” said Campbell, who is beginning his fourth season with the Scarlets’ varsity squad. “But I can get involved in the offense, not so much by scoring goals, but my strong suit is passing. I think I can help us there.”

Campbell’s being a little modest. He’s been on the power play since his freshman season, when he had 21 points, including 16 assists. A year later, when the Scarlets went to the state tournament, he had 26 points, including 19 assists.

“All I had to do was get the puck to Ricky (Litchfield) and he’d get it to Corey (Leivermann,” Campbell said. “It was easy. I made a living getting second assists. All I had to do was make the first pass and let them go to work.”

Again with the humility.

Last season, after the departure of Litchfield and Leivermann — two of the state’s top five scorers in 2007-08 — Campbell had career highs in assists (32) and points (37).

For his career, Campbell has 17 goals and 67 assists for 84 points.

“Obviously, he’s one of our top players,” said Curtis Doell, a longtime West assistant who is beginning his first season as head coach. “We need him to be one of our big seniors and come in with some points. We’re counting on him to be a little more pro-active and joining the rush and get into the play and take control of the power play. ...

“When Matt’s on his game, he can control the entire game. We have to make sure Matt’s on his game for 24 games.”

Campbell played in the Minnesota’s Elite II fall hockey league along with teammate and fellow defenseman, sophomore Josh Christensen, before the prep season began.

West is also counting on returning forwards Jace Leiferman (18 goals, 30 points last season), a senior, and Drew Weber (7 goals, 28 points), a junior to score. Juniors Nate Olsen and Andrew Frentz also hit double figures in points. However, the Scarlets graduated four players with 20 points or more, including leading scorer Andrew Bruggeman, who led the Big Nine with 62 points.

“We’ve got some depth,” said Doell, a former University of Minnesota Duluth defenseman who is taking over for Ken Essay. “We’ll be a hard-working team with good team speed. And the Big Nine and the section are pretty wide open.”

West also returns senior defenseman Nate Jose and junior goaltender Jake Kaufman (2.99 goals-against average in seven games last season).

“We’re just going to try and build on last year,” said Campbell, who helped West to 14-8-3 record. “We’ve had good, successful seasons since I’ve been here. I think we can keep that going.”

The Scarlets will open the season at 2 p.m. Friday when they host Portage Collegiate Institute at All Seasons Arena.