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
NCAA Tournament First Round Preview And then there were seven. Nineteen weeks of hard work and preparation paid off for seven teams this past Monday when they were selected to the 2010 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament. This year we have one new face in the crowd as Trinity makes its first NCAA … Read more
Making Strides The 2009-2010 Division III women’s hockey season is well underway and we have already had a couple of major surprises to start off the season. Adrian, a team picked to make some major noise in their first season as an official member of the NCHA, is off to a 0-4 start; dropping two … Read more
Herb Hammond, whose 20-year collegiate coaching career included stops at Division III Oswego State and Plattsburgh State and Division I Brown, died Wednesday at his home in Fort Gratiot, Mich. Hammond had been battling cancer. He coached Oswego to a 176-122-5 record in 11 seasons from 1969 to 1980, then led Plattsburgh to a 52-17-4 … Read more
Now starts the real work. After losing in the national championship game a year ago, Plattsburgh had one thought on their minds–make it back. They did what they had to do in the regular season towards that goal, and then some. “Going into the SUNYAC playoffs this year was different than going into a typical … Read more
Mercyhurst College has promoted Craig Barnett to be the school’s new athletic director effective August 31. Barnett replaces long-time Athletic Director Pete Russo, who announced his retirement on June 22 and will leave the position on August 31. “We are very pleased that Craig has agreed to lead the athletic department at Mercyhurst,” said Mercyhurst … Read more
It was a weekend for the birds, literally. When four of the top teams from the ECAC West and the NESCAC met in the Cardinal Classic this weekend, the teams residing west of Lake Champlain found themselves playing in the late game on Sunday. In the end, the host team found themselves on top, of … Read more
The formula has been the same the past two years for Plattsburgh in the playoffs. Beat Oswego with Plattsburgh’s “home ice” advantage at the Romney Fieldhouse and then lose to Geneseo in a three-game series. This year, they can’t do that. Oswego has a new arena and the finals will be a one game shot. … 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
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
The Unwanted Shootout Three SUNYAC teams participated in two tournaments over the holidays, and it was Brockport that came away with the best result. Though technically the Golden Eagles “lost” in the PAL Cup championship game in a shootout, their official record shows they didn’t lose a game. “Mixed feelings,” Brockport coach James Eccles said … Read more