Once again, a SUNYAC team made it to the Division III national championship weekend. Once again, it was Oswego, but once again, they fell in the semifinal round. The season also saw Geneseo and Buffalo State recover very nicely from NCAA sanctions, Plattsburgh stumble only to come back and win the SUNYAC championship, Fredonia make … Read more
Denver assistant coach Derek Lalonde has been named the new head coach and general manager of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. Lalonde spent the past five seasons at DU and prior to that was an assistant at Ferris State for four years. “I couldn’t be more excited to be coming to the Green Bay Gamblers,” … Read more
Cortland was 5-5 overall when they approached the part of the season wrapped around the holiday break. That part of the season is where their coach, Joe Baldarotta, felt the Red Dragons season went into a tailspin. It wasn’t the fact they lost five in a row, it was the fact they missed opportunities to … Read more
Cammi Granato, three-time ECAC Player of the Year, two-time Olympian and 15-year member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, was today announced as one of the first two female members in the 65-year history of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Granato will be formally inducted into the Hall on Nov. 8 as part of the … Read more
The NCAA men’s and women’s ice hockey rules committee gets this chance only once every two years, so there’s a little more emphasis to get it right. In the next month, leading up to and through the committee’s meeting June 8-11 in Indianapolis, the dialogue about potential rules changes will lead to debate and then … Read more
Joe Baldarotta has been named the men’s ice hockey head coach at SUNY Cortland, according to Cortland director of athletics Joan Sitterly. Baldarotta replaces Tom Cranfield, who stepped down in April after six seasons to become Cortland’s Assistant Director of Athletics (Compliance/Scheduling). BALDAROTTA Baldarotta brings 16 years of collegiate head coaching experience to Cortland, all … Read more
Cortland coach Tom Cranfield has accepted the position of Assistant Director of Athletics (Compliance/Scheduling) at SUNY Cortland. Cranfield was appointed to the position on an interim basis by athletic director Joan Sitterly beginning in July 2006 while also continuing his teaching and coaching duties. To fulfill his new responsibilities on a permanent level, Cranfield is … Read more
Last season was a disappointing one for Cortland. Expecting to make the playoffs, the combination of a resurgent Buffalo State program and poor play in conference games spelled doom for the Red Dragons. “Last year we had 16 new kids on the team,” explained Tom Cranfield. “This year we brought in eight new kids. We’re … Read more
Questions Unanswered A few weeks ago, I filed what I expected to me be my last column for 2005-6. I already said my thank you and farewells. However, two key items have developed since then which I felt was necessary to talk about now instead of waiting six months. Unfortunately, there are two questions that … Read more
All Rookie Team and Defensive Awards For years, the SUNYAC has issued first and second All SUNYAC teams as well as Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year awards. After a suggestion from the coaches, it was felt that there was also a need to name an All Rookie … Read more
The Cat Can’t Catch The Bird The Buffalo State Bengals great turnaround season came to an end as they were not able to keep up with the Plattsburgh Cardinals. The first game was as most expected, a tight, hard fought contest with the teams trading goals all the way till the third period. Ben Kemp … Read more
It’s Decided … For Now One of the wildest seasons in SUNYAC history is finally decided, with some positions coming right down to overtime. When all was said and done, the top four were just like last year with Oswego taking the regular season title followed by Geneseo, Fredonia, and Plattsburgh. The Lakers didn’t make … Read more
A Grand Farewell What better way for Oswego to say goodbye to the Romney Field House than with an emotional roller coaster shootout 7-6 victory over archrival Plattsburgh and then blowing out Potsdam, 9-3, to wrap up the sold out weekend. However, it wasn’t easy. Despite the bravado Oswego coach Ed Gosek put on during … Read more
Crank Up The Stress “For all the coaches, I’m sure it’s stressful,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said. I have always written that I believe the SUNYAC playoff system is the best in all of college hockey because it allows for every team-no matter what position they are in-to fight for a spot in the standings … Read more
Bizarro World Last week I mentioned there was perfect symmetry for the start of the second half of conference play as the travel partners squared off coincidentally giving us the match ups of 1st vs. 8th, 2nd vs. 7th, and so on. With that symmetry, one would have expected some of the outcomes to be … Read more
Strong Performances There were some strong performances by SUNYAC teams in their final week of nonconference play. Topping the list was Oswego’s 4-2 triumph over Division I RIT. Oswego used forechecking, coupled with a strong game in net by Ryan Scott, who made 30 saves to beat their rivals despite being outshot 32-23 in front … Read more
SUNYAC Expansion Plans The SUNYAC hockey league has been set at eight teams since 1993-94 when Buffalo State joined as a provisional member moving up the next year to a full-fledged participant. That number will change in a few years as the SUNYAC as a whole will be welcoming in a new member-Morrisville-who has a … Read more
Midseason Awards Most USCHO writers provide their midseason reports, reviews, and rewards in their last column before the holidays. Me? I’m doing it in my first column back from the holidays. Why? No reason except I sat down in front of the computer realizing I have no idea what I was going to write about. … Read more
Call The Labor Department Someone should file unfair overtime labor practices for the sake of the Potsdam players. The Bears have played five consecutive overtime games, and in their 14 games this year, 50 percent of them have gone to the extra period. Potsdam is 1-2-4 in those seven games. Three of those overtimes came … Read more
Break Up The Bengals! It is extremely difficult for any team–no matter how good they are–to take the trip all the way up to the North Country, walk into always tough Stafford Arena and difficult Maxcy Hall and beat both Plattsburgh and Potsdam in the same weekend, no matter how good or bad those teams’ … Read more