Early Indicators? In the past, my preview column was due after the SUNYAC Challenge was played. One would think it would be an advantage to see some of the teams play before making my predictions. However, the results of the SUNYAC Challenge were many times misleading, and relying on those games caused my predictions to … Read more
Stability in the coaching ranks. For the first time in four years, all the coaches return. However, that doesn’t mean there is going to be stability everywhere else. This is college sports, and changes are a matter of course. Players only stay around for four years, at the most, and coaches are constantly looking for … Read more
The NCAA announced Friday the final rosters for the 2008 Frozen Four Skills Challenge, which will be held April 11 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. For the East team, Will Engasser, Yale, Brad Flaishans, New Hampshire and David Leaderer, Massachusetts were all added to the roster. Meanwhile, Eric Ehn, Air Force, Nino Musitelli, Miami … Read more
College sports is so much about fresh faces as athletes cycle through every four years or so. Thus, there isn’t much time to get the most from your players on the team. Therefore, when freshmen make an immediate impact, it’s a bonus. An added impact that can sometimes propel a team deep into the national … Read more
Plattsburgh Cardinals (23-4-0 overall, 14-2-0 in SUNYAC) The most successful SUNY hockey team is back in the NCAA playoffs. The Plattsburgh Cardinals, after winning their 18th SUNYAC championship, return to the national playoffs for the 18th time (making it to the final four nine of those times), and their first since 2004. In that year, … Read more
18 Championships The Plattsburgh State Cardinals won their 18th SUNYAC title with a 4-3 victory over Oswego. Plattsburgh had not won the crown the past three years, tying their longest drought. Interestingly, after breaking that streak last time, they went on to win six straight. Even when they don’t win it, they are always there. … Read more
No Repeat “We’ve been thinking about them since last year at this time,” Oswego’s Brendan McLaughlin said. “We knew exactly what it felt like last year, and we like this feeling a lot more.” McLaughlin was referring to Fredonia’s upset win a year ago in the SUNYAC semifinals in Oswego. The Lakers didn’t want any … Read more
Similar To Last Year Last year for the play-in round, one game was tight, the other not so much. The same scenario occurred again this year. The tight game was once again the Buffalo State-Fredonia match up. This year the teams met on Fredonia’s ice in Steele Hall. “Good hard fought game,” Fredonia coach Jeff … Read more
Streaks If there is one word to describe the 2007-8 SUNYAC hockey season, it would be: streaks. For some, early streaks ensured them a successful season. For others, late streaks turned a season around. For the unfortunate, the inability to get off to any kind of streak doomed them. Let’s start at the top. Plattsburgh … Read more
The Red Dragon Is Breathing Fire If the SUNYAC season were to end now, Cortland would be hosting a playoff game. Not just in the playoffs, but hosting the first round. This from a team that hasn’t had a winning season (which they currently do at 11-9-2) since 2001-2, the same year they last hosted … Read more
Saving A Season Buffalo State entered the weekend of December 7-8 with what appeared to be a lost season. They were 2-8-2 overall with a four game losing streak and winless in seven straight. Worse, they were only 1-4-2 in the SUNYAC just 10 months after hosting their first playoff game in school history. This … Read more
Ending Early Every year, my colleague Chris Lerch has a running count of the teams that complete their season as we wind down to the final game. This count always starts in mid-February as teams begin to be eliminated from their league playoffs. This year, Lerch can begin his count right now. The first team … Read more
Sports’ Lessons Sports is a great way to learn many of life’s lessons. That was evident in Potsdam’s topsy-turvy weekend. Potsdam forward Mitch West played in 18 games in his freshman year. He did not score a single point. Not a goal. Not an assist. In his first 13 games this year, he still had … Read more
Midterms With the second semester of the 2007-08 college hockey season underway, it’s a good time to take a look at the first semester for surprises, disappointments, and meeting expectations. Perhaps the two biggest surprises sit on top of the league. One for good reason, the other due to disappointment. A few weeks back, I … Read more
New Homes In Division III, it is relatively easy for a college athlete to transfer to another school. Whether that’s good or bad is best left for another discussion. For some players, their transfer has worked out for the better for both themselves and their new teams. There are a few players who so far … Read more
Plattsburgh Wins Primelink One of the premier tournaments in college hockey changed a bit this year. This alteration meant that only one SUNYAC team is now involved as Potsdam no longer participates with Plattsburgh, Norwich, and Middlebury. The fourth team is now a different invited guest each year. This season it was St. John’s from … Read more
The Red Bird Is Back Look up. Wa-a-a-a-a-ay up. There you will see the Cardinals high on top the SUNYAC perch. By Plattsburgh’s standards, they have had some off years recently. This season is more like a Plattsburgh year as they have opened the season with seven straight victories, all conference games. Even though they … Read more
Road Warriors There’s no doubt that the most intense rivalry in the SUNYAC is Plattsburgh vs. Oswego. What’s surprising is how much the road team dominates this rivalry. One would think that with a rivalry such as this, where sellout crowds are guaranteed, crowds that need no prodding to be whipped into a frenzy, the … Read more
A Season Nearly Spoiled It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one nut to scatter it all over the highway. That analogy can apply to most anything, including a sports team. It takes so many intricate details and hard work to put a team together, but a few … Read more
Patterns are meant to be broken. For the third year in a row, after years of relative stability, a number of coaching changes occurred in the SUNYAC. In Potsdam, Aaron Saul replaced Glenn Thomaris, who left the school. Earl Utter left Morrisville and took a job coaching the women’s team at Cortland, another SUNYAC school. … Read more