Ok, posting 1 goal and 3 assists is not exactly "toasting" someone. Mike Powell is no doubt a phenomenal player...and for that reason, both Hopkins and Navy had to try to shut him down. For the most part, they did. Unfortunately that opened things up for the other cannons that Syracuse has.
Anyhow, with regards to Tom Garvey, think about some of your reasoning..."the reason he is effective...is because of the quick slides and help he gets on double teams..." Uhhhh, that's called team defense. And that's what is the issue/question here. The best returning defense is going to be the best TEAM DEFENSE. And the best in the world to teach that is Dave Pietramala. My opinion is that he is one of the main reasons that Hopkins was given the #1 ranking. But then look at last year's statistics. Hopkins held opponents to an average of 7.62 goals/game on the season while posting an average 12.06/game (Syracuse: 10.94 goals against average). That's all defense right there. They also held opponents to 31.9 shots/game while posting 42.1/game (opponents got 39.8 shots/game against Syracuse). Then the fact that they won 56% of the ground balls over the season (Syracuse won 49%)...all of this adds up to a dominant defense last season. Well, now take into consideration that pretty much all of that defense is returning! Statistically speaking (which all of this 'preseason' bunk is based on), Hopkins is the defense to look at.
One thing I'm surprised that isn't mentioned in fram's analysis is returning goalies...aren't they part of the defense? Anyone remember a particular goalie named Matt Russell (i.e. Navy)? My guess is that he'll probably continue his dominance between the pipes.