I’m going to sound like a broken record when it comes to Potsdam — goaltending. However, let’s look at this in a more holistic viewpoint. Part of Potsdam’s problems last year wasn’t just between the pipes. The Bears’ defense, already short of true blue liners, was hampered by injuries. Potsdam let up a lot of … 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
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
Ryan3 Two games away from the midway point of the season, Oswego is in first place with a perfect 5-0 conference record thanks to the Ryan show-Ryan Ellis, Ryan Woodward, and Ryan Scott. First, Oswego scored a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals in front of a huge crowd at Stafford Arena. Woodward led off the … Read more
Some Answers But More Questions So, after the first full weekend of conference play, some questions were answered. However, as is typical, even more questions got raised. Heading into this past weekend, the questions to answer were when was Oswego going to wake up, how bad of a start would Potsdam get, is Geneseo prepared … Read more
I suppose it’s fitting that the two westernmost teams in the east decided to go further west for a pair of games against two Wisconsin schools. Fredonia and Buffalo State took a long bus trip to St. Norbert and Marian. Each came away with a split, some fond memories and a chance to get to … Read more
Several teams around the ECAC West are flooded with new players this season. As seen in my season preview last week, the coaches are cautiously optimistic about the season but realize that getting the freshmen up to speed may take a while. If the start that Elmira and Utica have gotten off to is any … Read more
You can’t tell the coaches without a scorecard. Three teams sport new men at the helm, and the teams affected range from the champion to the non-playoff entities. After guiding Geneseo to their second SUNYAC title in school history, Brian Hills decided to join his friend, Wayne Wilson, at RIT as an assistant coach helping … Read more
USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program has announced the schedule for its 2005-06 U.S. National Under-17 Team, and it will include two college hockey teams. For the first time in the nine-year history of the NTDP, the U.S. National Under-17 Team will face two NCAA Division III opponents in games at SUNYAC members Plattsburgh on … Read more