Last winter marked the first postseason in three years that went on without Cushing.
The Penguins, who are only three seasons removed from a Small School title, went 2-6-1 before January. Valerie Bono-Bunker's team improved after the holidays, going 12-8-0 the rest of the way, but barely missed out on the tournament by one spot.
Rivers' 0.5276 RPI rating put them in as the No. 6 seed ahead of Cushing's 0.5268. Bono-Bunker believes that missed opportunity will fuel Cushing this season.
"None of us were happy, missing the tournament by .008, right?" Bono-Bunker said. "We were probably the best non-tournament team that was sitting there, watching from the outside, and probably had a chance to win because we were playing our best hockey. ... I always say it's not how you start. It's how you finish. We just started a little too late."
The Penguins are set to run it back with nearly the same squad as last season, returning nine of their top 10 leading scorers.
