All Rookie Team and Defensive Awards Once again, in order to bring some publicity to players who are not recognized by the traditional end of season awards, the coaches felt there was a need to name an All Rookie team as well as awards for the best Defensive Defenseman and Defensive Forward. All-Rookie Pier-Luc Belanger … Read more
An Instant Classic Send the video to ESPN. Buffalo State coach Nick Carriere provided the understatement of the weekend: “I think people got their money’s worth.” I’ll say. The Fredonia at Buffalo State game was classic playoff hockey. I would have paid NHL prices to watch that game. Fredonia celebrates its overtime victory. (photo by … Read more
Neither Rain, Nor Snow… What’s a little snow amongst Oswego residents? Eighty-five inches in a week? No problem. That’s why God invented snowplows. However, for Lakers’ fans, they probably wish one of their games were canceled. Once again, Oswego displayed a disturbing inability to beat Plattsburgh in their own barn. It doesn’t even matter anymore … Read more
The Oswego Situation Snow began to fall this past Sunday evening, and it has not stopped. As of Noon on Thursday, Oswego had accumulated 71″. And there’s no end in sight. As of the writing of this column, all athletic events in Oswego are still on. They will reevaluate the situation early Friday afternoon. If … Read more
The Perfect Combination Last week in my On The Periphery section, I complained about how the All-Star game is missing a key component of what makes hockey so exciting. This past Saturday, I watched a game that was everything hockey is supposed to be. It was a prime example of speed and force in just … Read more
Rev It Up From here on out, with the exception of this Tuesday’s game, every contest is a conference game. It’s that time of year when the excitement and intensity gets cranked up. And, with the amazingly close cluster in the standings, there is not a game that is not going to make a difference … Read more
Stepping Up Last week, I mentioned some of the new players who were making a mark on this season. This week I am going to mention some of the veterans who stepped up to help replace some key players who left their team after last season. When Fredonia’s Matt Zeman decided not to return for … Read more
Potsdam hockey coach Glenn Thomaris announced today that he will step down as the Bears’ head coach at the close of the current season. Thomaris has coached at Potsdam for the past five seasons following a 14-year stint as head coach of the Elmira Soaring Eagles. “At this time I would like to thank Athletic … Read more
Women’s hockey will return to SUNY Potsdam after a more than 20-year absence. The program will begin in 2007-08 with club status for one year and then change to a Division III varsity team in 2008-09. The decision to add women’s hockey resulted after a two-year study of athletics equity issues and an effort to … Read more
Making Their Mark Every year fans around the league wonder which of the new freshmen are going to make their mark and fulfill the promise that the coaches hoped for when they originally recruited them. With the second semester of hockey well underway, we can take a good luck at which freshmen have indeed made … Read more
The Hockey Humanitarian Foundation named the five finalists for the 2007 Hockey Humanitarian Award. This list of five was narrowed down from a list of 13 nominees that were released earlier in January. The Foundation will look at all of the candidates and then announce the winner of the Award on Friday, April 6, 2007, … Read more
Manhattanville regains sole possession of the top spot in this week’s USCHO.com Division III men’s hockey poll, getting 11 of 15 possible first-place votes. Dropping to No. 2 is Oswego, which was idle on the weekend. The Lakers received two first-place votes. Staying at Nos. 3 and 4 are NCHA rivals St. Norbert, receiving the … Read more
Bearing Gifts Did Santa bring you what you asked for? The SUNYAC teams also had their holiday list (or in some cases, what they did not want), but we won’t know whether Santa actually delivered what was on the list or whether he left a lump of coal in their stocking until the season is … Read more
Manhattanville and Oswego are tied at No. 1 in the first USCHO.com Division III men’s poll of 2007. The Valiants, idle over the break, received eight first-place votes, while Oswego, winner of its first holiday tournament, received the remaining top nods. St. Norbert stands pat in third place, while league rival Wisconsin-River falls is up … Read more
Midseason Report Just like that, the first semester is done. And with that, we can get an early look at how right and wrong the preseason predictions were. Not too much of a surprise at the top of the order where Oswego and Geneseo sit one-two, respectively, though I picked the Ice Knights to finish … Read more
Idle Manhattanville repeats as No. 1 in the Dec. 11 USCHO.com Division III men’s poll, with the Valiants receiving 11 of 15 first-place votes. Staying at No. 2 with three first-place tallies is 11-0-3 Oswego, while again at No. 3 is St. Norbert with one first-place vote. Wisconsin-Superior and Wisconsin-River Falls swap positions for fourth … Read more
Hockey Emotions Hockey is an extremely emotional game. The result of that is sometimes players follow their emotions a bit too far. Lately, it seems goaltenders have been in the spotlight for allowing their emotions to get the best of them. A few weeks ago in the Wentworth at Geneseo game, the Wentworth goalie got … Read more
For the third straight week, there’s a new No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division III men’s poll. But after a weekend of upsets, five different teams received first-place votes. Moving up from third to No. 1 is Manhattanville, still undefeated at 9-0-2 and the recipient of nine first-place nods. Rising three places to No. 2 … Read more
Turkey Tourneys Five SUNYAC teams participated in Thanksgiving weekend tournaments, and though none of them won a championship, three did make it to the finals. The highlight, of course, was the Primelink Tournament, which Potsdam was participating in for the last time. They did not exactly go out in grand style, as they let up … Read more
While Morrisville might be new to the world of Division III hockey, the Mustangs have a rich tradition at the junior college level, winning four national titles. Coach Earl Utter is in his tenth season behind the bench of Central New York school, accumulating a record of 167-47-13 to date. But factors other than hockey … Read more