BROCKPORT FALLS TO #1 PLATTSBURGH, 4-1

From the Brockport Athletic Department...

Senior Jason Gorrie (Etobicoke, ONT) tipped in a shot on a Brockport powerplay that tied the game at 1-1 with five minutes to play in the second period for The College at Brockport Hockey team but SUNY Plattsburgh scored three times in the third period and posted a 4-1 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) victory Saturday night at the Stafford Field House in Plattsburgh.

Brockport (0-2 Overall, 0-2 SUNYAC) lost the shots-on-goal battle 43-19 and senior Todd Sheridan (Edison, NJ) was credited with 39 saves.

Plattsburgh (2-0, 2-0), ranked No. 1 in the latest USCHO.com national poll, took a 1-0 lead early in the second period after the two teams played to a scoreless tie in the first 20 minutes.

Gorrie tied the score later in the second period tipping in a shot from the point on the powerplay. Chris Berardini (Batavia, NY) and Ryan Silveira (Brampton, ONT) assisted on the goal.

In the third period, the Cardinals scored three times with two goals coming in a span of four minutes midway through the period.

POTSDAM'S RECAP OF THE GAME

From the Potsdam Athletic Department....

POTSDAM, NY- The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team scored four unanswered goals spanning the second and third periods as they defeated visiting Brockport 6-3 in the Bears home opener on Friday night.

Following a line change, the Bears struck first in the first period when Fraser Smith (Fonthill, ONT/Oakville Blades) put Potsdam ahead 1-0. The Golden Eagles would answer right back just over a minute later to even the score.

Brockport jumped ahead 2-1 1:03 in the second period. Potsdam tied it up when Todd Hosmer (Scarborough, ONT/Newmarket Hurricanes) found Connor Treacy (Markham, ONT/Markham Waxers) in front of the net for the goal. The Golden Eagles would strike back on the power play to move ahead 3-2. The Bears would capitalize on a 6 on 4 power play when Matt Rymer (Kingston, ONT/Yarmouth Mariners) went top shelf to again even the score. Following a face-off in the Brockport end, Potsdam would go up for good on a Hosmer goal.

The Bears would add two more goals in the third period to put the game away. Zack Juliano (White River Junction, VT/Valley Jr. Warriors) scored his first career goal just 53 seconds into the period and Bryan Black (Oro Station, ONT/Couchiching Tigers) would also score the first of his career seven minutes later.

Sy Nutkevitch (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QUE/Cornwall Colts) had three assists as did Kevin MacLellan (Kensington, PEI/Summerside Capitals). Treacy had two assists to go along with his one goal.

Trevor O'Neill (Keswick, ONT/Stouffville Spirit) had 18 saves in goal for the Bears. Todd Sheridan had 27 saves for the Golden Eagles.

POTSDAM BEATS BROCKPORT 6-3

The Brockport Athletics Department report....

Sophomore James Cody (Schwenksville, PA) scored seven minutes into the second period to give The College at Brockport Hockey team a 3-2 lead but SUNY Potsdam scored twice before the end of the period to regain the lead and added two more goals in the third period to post a 6-3 victory Friday night in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game to open the 2009-10 season for the Golden Eagles.

Brockport (0-1 Overall, 0-1 SUNYAC) fell behind 1-0 midway through the first period but tied the game a minute later on a goal by junior Chris Berardini (Batavia, NY) and the game remained tied for the remainder of the first period.

In the second period, the teams combined for five goals with the Golden Eagles opening the scoring just 1:03 into the stanza as Sean O’Malley (Lakewood, OH) netted the go-ahead goal for Brockport. Potsdam (1-0, 1-0) answered less than 30 seconds later to knot the game at 2-2.

Five minutes later, Cody scored his first of the season to give the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead. Brockport held the lead for nearly five minutes before the Bears took advantage of a 5-on-3 powerplay situation scoring to tie the contest at 3-3. The Bears added another goal later in the period for a 4-3 lead.

In the third period, Potsdam scored a minute into the final period for a 5-3 advantage and scored the final goal of the game with 12 minutes left to play.

The six goals allowed by senior goalie Todd Sheridan (Edison, NJ) was the most in more than a year when Sheridan surrendered seven goals to SUNY Oswego on February 2, 2008 in his sophomore season. Sheridan finished with 30 saves against Potsdam.

THIS WEEKEND: POTSDAM AND PLATTSBURGH

Brockport opens the season this weekend with its annual North Country road trip. There’s no better way to start the season than by facing divisional foes (among them the highly-touted Plattsburgh) and heading to the Adirondacks before the snow flies.

Friday’s game finds the Golden Eagles in Potsdam facing the Bears, who Brockport beat last 3-1 in the playoffs last season. One can expect more of the same this weekend, with a Brockport team highly-motivated by poor poll rankings looking to prove wrong the rest of the league.

Brockport and Potsdam had some interesting match-ups last season, a 2-2 tie in Brockport, a 8-6 goalfest in Potsdam, and the playoff game. Leading the way against the Bears was James Cody who matches-up quite well against their smaller defensemen. James, who physically dominated the Bears, tallied a goal in all three games last year and was clutch in the playoff game, netting two. He has their number and a multi-goal performance is not out of the question.

Potsdam is a solid team offensively and on special teams (especially the power play), and ranked 16th nationally in scoring last year, led by Connor Treacy (20 goals last year) and Fraser Smith (16 goals). Down the stretch (in a SUNYAC-heavy season’s-end schedule) they went 6-4-2, so they do quite well on the ice. To temper this, Todd Sheridan will have to be on his toes. He was stellar against them in ‘08-‘09, stopping 36 shots in the tie and 43 more in the playoff.

Defensively, Potsdam at times can be porous, thinking that they can focus on consistently outscoring their opponents (which is not always the case). This puts all the pressure on Trevor O’Neill, who as a freshman last season went 5-9-2 and sported an .859 saves percentage. This inattention to defense may be a thing of the past with a new style of play being introduced by new head coach Chris Bernard and assistant coach (and Brockport product) Tim Crowley.

Regardless, Brockport should come out on top by a few goals.

That’s not necessarily the case on Saturday when it gets really interesting.

The team travels to perennial powerhouse Plattsburgh, once again picked #1 in all of Division III. The Cardinals, are, well, the Cardinals. Year in, year out, they produce a fine team, one that capitalizes on perfectly-blended size and speed by utilizing by a system that emphasizes “keep away”. This creates high-scoring affairs on their end, and low-scoring output by their foes.

You can count on them being great, but there may be a little shine off their armor this season. Gone is one of my favorite DIII hockey players of recent years, defenseman Nick Rolls. So is leading goal-scorer Joey Wilson.

More importantly, the goaltending situation is a huge question mark after SUNYAC MVP Bryan Hince left the team this spring to pursue the pros (who didn’t want him) in what Cardinals coach Bob Emery said was “…one of the dumbest moves I've ever seen in my 22 years coaching."

With such a loss - one on the ice and in confidence - Plattsburgh will have to alter its game plan which will result in fewer goals scored and a chance for a hungry and physical team like Brockport to achieve an upset.

But, it won’t be easy. They still have three 30-point guys in Dylan Clarke, Phil Farrow, and Eric Satim. They also have Ryan Corry, a 26-point defenseman. This match-up won’t be a drubbing as in the past. It will be a closer game. But, even so, it’s still difficult to envision Plattsburgh losing the contest, especially in that zoo of a home ice. But, as they say, that’s why they play the games.

Both games have 7:00 start times and can be heard on WBSU on air at 89.1 FM and online at http://www.891thepoint.com/. Tune-in at 6:30 to listen to the season preview.

Both can be watched at http://www.fasthockey.com/, Brockport’s first attempt at video coverage.

TRAFFIC TO THIS SITE

A few guys have asked me in the past about how many visitors come to this website. Well, out of season the site sees 45 to 60 visitors a day. As one would expect, from October through March the traffic increases significantly: In-season (and the few weeks before and after) it ranges from 110 to 200 different visitors per day.

USCHO SUNYAC PREVIEW

USCHO's stellar SUNYAC correspondent, Russell Jaslow, released his annual SUNYAC preview today. As always, it's a good read.

Russell addresses the questionable goaltending across the conference, noting that many teams are struggling to fill that important position, something that's not a worry for the Golden Eagles. He declares that Brockport's own Todd Sheridan may be the best in the league.

He then goes out on a limb and defies conventional SUNYAC logic, picking Brockport to finish third. His reasoning:

"Brockport for third place? Why not?"

"This was a team that shocked the league last year when everyone thought they were in a rebuilding year. Instead, they hosted their first ever playoff game and produced the school’s first ever postseason victory. This was due mostly to the outstanding play of goaltender Todd Sheridan — overshadowed in the SUNYAC only by Bryan Hince — and the unselfish play of the team and the camaraderie built up over the season."

You can read his full analysis of the team - and all others in the SUNYAC - here:

http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/id,17358/SUNYACSeasonPreview.html

POTSDAM'S WEEKEND PREVIEW

The Potsdam Athletic Department offers this preview of Friday's game...


POTSDAM, NY- The men’s hockey team drops the puck on the 2009-10 season this weekend as they host two SUNYAC games on Friday and Saturday. The Bears host Brockport on Friday night and Geneseo on Saturday with both games starting at 7 pm.

The Bears finished 9-12-5 last season and 6-6-4 in SUNYAC. Potsdam qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year where they fell to Brockport in the quarterfinals. Chris Bernard takes over as head coach for the departed Aaron Saul.

Brockport finished last season 14-10-3. They lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Plattsburgh.Last season the Bears and Golden Eagles played three times with the teams splitting the first meeting 2-2 in Brockport and Brockport then winning in Potsdam in a wild game 8-6. The Golden Eagles hosted the Bears in the SUNYAC quarterfinals and won 3-1. Current Bears assistant coach Tim Crowley is a 2009 graduate of Brockport and was a four-year player there.

The Bears hockey radio broadcasts will continue this season on WPDM 99 Hits. Chris Spicer takes over as the new play-by-play man and will be joined again by former SUNY Potsdam head coach and Hall of Famer John Horan as the color analyst. Both games this weekend are available over the air on 99.3 FM and will also be broadcast online on the college’s athletic website at www.potsdam.edu/sports under “Bearcast.”

SUNYAC PRESEASON POLL

Today the State University of New York Athletic Conference released its annual preseason poll.

For the second year in a row the Golden Eagles were slighted, picked to be lower than one would expect for a team of such mettle and skill. As a matter of fact, coaches around the division didn't even pick them to make the playoffs.

Here's the press release...


FREDONIA, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh Cardinals, have been ranked first in the State University of New York Athletic Conference’s preseason ice hockey poll. At the vote’s conclusion, Plattsburgh had 71 points, including seven first-place votes.

Plattsburgh was the 2008-09 SUNYAC regular season champion, finishing with a 15-0-1 conference record. They defeated Oswego in the conference finals in a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory. The Cardinals have captured 19 SUNYAC championships and are 2-time NCAA champions.

Oswego is ranked second in the preseason poll with 66 points and two first-place votes. The Lakers finished second in the 2008-09 regular season at 11-4-1. Geneseo, which was third during the regular season in 2008-09 with an 8-7-1 record, finished third in the poll with 56 points.

The conference schedule begins on Oct. 30.

Preseason Standings
1. Plattsburgh 71 (7)
2. Oswego 66 (2)
3. Geneseo 56
4. Potsdam 47
5. Fredonia 45
6. Buffalo State 34
7. Brockport 31
8. Cortland 26
9. Morrisville * 20

* Ineligible for SUNYAC postseason play

PRESEASON RANKINGS

USCHO released their preseason DIII poll this week and conference foe Plattsburgh was picked as #1 in all of Division III.

Brockport didn't make the top 25, but a few Golden Eagles' opponents did:

Plattsburgh #1 (2 games against Brockport)
Hobart #5 (2 games)
Oswego #8 (2 games)
New England, top 25 (1 game)

To see the poll, go here:

http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/id,17350/StandardBearerPlattsburghTopsPreseasonDIIIPoll.html

GAMES WILL BE BROADCAST ON FASTHOCKEY

Last night I received some great news from Mark Digby.

He said fans will be able to watch all Brockport hockey games -- both home and away -- streaming live online at the website www.fasthockey.com

Visit the website to see how it works and to set-up your account.

Mark is working with the WBSU radio broadcasters to figure out if their audio can play along with the video, making for a full-featured broadcast.

This is awesome! It will allow fans to watch the team in action on the road without having to travel to the far reaches of the SUNYAC (like Plattsburgh).

2009-2010 SEASON PREVIEW: GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Last season was one of the greatest in the history of the Brockport ice hockey program. The team went 14-10-3 overall which represented the third most wins in team history, just a little behind the high water mark of 17 set in the 1987-1988 campaign. Over the course of the season the team looked like a force to reckon with, relying on relentless physicality and hustle, captivating goaltending, and some magical teamwork to bring the program its first-ever home playoff game and first-ever playoff victory (a convincing 3-1 win over Potsdam).

For fans who appreciate the finer points of the game and admire players who understand that this is a team sport, the Golden Eagles were a real treat to watch. Fans – both new and old- recognized this and poured into the Tuttle North ice arena en masse. A team that typically drew 400 to 800 fans per game over the past decade was suddenly followed by 1,200 to more than 1,800 fans during every home game, among the best turnouts in Division III.

And, to think, this team that was suddenly so victorious and so beloved wasn’t expected to reach such heights so quickly by most people who follow NCAA hockey. After seeing the team lose 12 players to graduation prior to last season, SUNYAC coaches and analysts predicted the team was going to be a doormat last year. They weren’t because no one took into account the character of the team. Having watched DIII hockey for 16 seasons, last year’s team was one of the hardest-working and most cohesive teams I have ever seen…Brockport or otherwise. The team came to expect victory because everyone looked out for one another and selflessly gave of themselves for the common goal.

This season…expect more of the same.

Despite losing 6 key seniors at the end of last season (including captain Dave McNab and all-SUNYAC defenseman Mike Gershon), the core of the team remains intact and looks to continue that success.

Justin Noble

Captaining the team this year is Justin Noble, one who leads by the ultimate example. Last season he put the fear of God into many an opponent, chasing the puck around the rink and out-muscling and out-working anyone who got in his way. Possessed of almost limitless energy, his style of play is what the team is built on. The younger guys and new additions have fed - and will feed - off of his impressive on-ice work ethic.

When asked for his thoughts on the upcoming season Justin answered:

“As for the upcoming season we must follow what made us successful last year. Coaches have really been stressing that for us to be successful we must out work our opposition each time we get on the ice. We saw what that kind of effort can accomplish and there is no doubt that we can take that to the next level this season. We have a lot of returners this year who know how good winning feels and have learned to hate and not accept losing. Our new players must have that mindset this year for us to be successful. This is going to be a fun season with a lot of promise and can't wait to get it started in Potsdam.”

Ray Tremblay

Anchoring the Number #1 line with Noble and leading scorer James Cody (24 points) will be Ray Tremblay, one of the assistant captains. Ray exudes leadership as well and there is no finer example than his determination to succeed following a debilitating back injury that would have terminated most anyone’s hockey career. He overcame that adversity without missing a beat. Ray is a smart and gifted player destined to have a 30-point season whether this season or next.

When asked about the team’s strengths, he responded with:

“I think our greatest strengths this year will be our work ethic, our speed, especially up front, and our goaltending. I think that for us to be successful we have to be the hardest working team in the SUNYAC, and I believe that we will. We have great speed up front and we will need to utilize that for us to be successful. Our goaltending will again be a strength for us, as we have Todd Sheridan for another season. Oliver Wren will also be a key impact for our success, as he is looking great so far this year.”

Sean O'Malley

The other alternate captain is senior Sean O’Malley, a gamer who has put together a pretty good career at Brockport. A playmaker who led the team with 17 assists last year (a year after a 10-goal season), he has great vision for the game and his awareness gets him into position to make plays whether on the offensive or defensive. I asked Sean how the team would perform in the super-competitive SUNYAC, the toughest division in all of NCAA hockey and one in which he has made his mark the past 3 seasons. He said the following:

“We have a solid team this year, we have a great of group guys who are willing to pay the price. A huge factor this year I believe will be our speed, our forwards are quick especially,on the forecheck and our defenseman are making smart decisions with the puck in the defensive zone. I believe our speed and our ability to score on special teams will make us a great SUNYAC team. Also, our goaltending is a huge factor and we feel very confident in that department.”

Coach Dickinson

This positive outlook for the team that Justin, Ray, and Sean have is shared by their teammates and their coaching staff which is once again led by head coach Brian Dickinson, the winningest coach in Brockport history.

Brian offers this insight into the upcoming season….

“The coaching staff is excited to get started. We're all looking forward to picking up where we left off last season and as we hope to secure a spot in the SUNYAC tournament and hopefully improve on our semi final appearance. We feel we have the players to be able to compete with everyone on our schedule.”

“We certainly feel we have strong goaltending as All Conference selection Todd Sheridan is back for his senior season. Todd has lowered the career goals against average record each of his 3 seasons here and we're looking forward to having him break it again. Each night Todd is in the net, he gives us a chance to win. Oliver Wren and Josh Roarke are capable backups who we have high confidence in when they're called upon.”

“We're excited to see what our forwards will bring to the season. We have our top line back intact. Ray Tremblay will center Justin Noble and James Cody. Cody was our leading scorer and both Justin and Ray have looked good during the preseason and we expect big years from them all offensively. Jason Gorrie will center Sean O'Malley and Tom Galiani and these three have the skills to put up good numbers as well. Defensively we have forwards who understand our philosophy of coming back and helping out with strength in numbers down low and quick transition. Adam Shoff and Ryan Silveira will also be looked upon to create offense. Chris Berardini, Brett Jendra and Ian Finnerty will hopefully evolve into everyday players. Freshmen Dan Galiani, Nick Panepinto and Sean Archer as well as Sophomore Alex Pelligra provide depth and have the skills needed to help out when in the lineup.”

“We lost an All Conference defenseman in Mike Gershon and lost two others to either graduation or transfer. Returners Gregg Amato, Tyler Davis and Alan Liwush all saw significant minutes last year and will be counted on to control the play in our end. Newcomers Mike Hayward and Adam Korol will hopefully provide depth to the defensive corps right away. Junior Nick Sampson and first year guys, Clint Campbell and Colby Spooner will compete for lineup time as well.”

“The SUNYAC will once again be a dogfight with all teams able to win on any given night. We will not be able to rest on our success from last year and be able to be successful. We will need to bring our 'A' game each night and play extremely well defensively as well as have an opportunistic offense if we expect to make the playoffs. Looking past anyone will cost teams points this year.”



Looking at that solid roster that Brian and assistant coach Mark Digby have put together --one of stingy defense, productive offense, wily special teams and the record-setting goaltending -- and the leadership that the captains and other veterans bring to the ice, the locker room, and the class room, the team has every piece of the puzzle it needs to match and exceed last year’s record. As a matter of fact, I’ll predict a 14-10-1 overall regular season record with a 9-7-0 performance in the SUNYAC.

Expectations are high, but that comes with the high-quality product being put on the ice. As a whole, the team expects 100% effort and 100% commitment 100% of the time. With that sort of approach to the game you can expect great things.

2009-2010 ROSTER

The roster for the upcoming season has been made official and can be seen online at:

http://www.brockport.edu/athletics/icehockey/roster.php

WBSU SCHEDULE

The WBSU website now lists the hockey games they'll be covering this season. I have noted those games in the schedule in the left-hand toolbar of this blog.

To catch these games on air tune-in to 89.1 FM or listen online at www.891thepoint.com

HOCKEY VIDEO FOOTAGE NEEDED

Brian Mazurowski, who last year worked with the WBSU hockey broadcast team doing color commentary, needs your help. He's working hard this year to get Brockport hockey on BTV, the campus television station. Most likely this will be a tape delay on BTV on campus and online. He's hoping hoping that you might have video footage from last season that he could use. Brian is basically working from scratch and every little bit helps.

If you do have any footage available (even if it's just a few seconds or minutes of action), please e-mail Brian Mazurowski at bmazu1@brockport.edu

ALUMNUS GALLIVAN SEES CHANGE AT WGRZ

Western New Yorkers are familiar with Pete Gallivan who for 10 years anchored the morning news show "Daybreak" on Buffalo's WGRZ TV 2. Most do not know that he is a 1987 graduate of Brockport who played for the hockey team from 1985 to 1987.

Much to the chargin of many WNYers, the popular Gallivan was recently relieved of his anchoring duties and has been put on the news reporting beat.

Today's Buffalo News looks at that change in his responsibilities and how he has faced them:

http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/825867.html

GERSHON & SCHOTT UPDATE

Mike Gershon and Lucas Schott have made it through training camp in the IHL. Gershon is now a member of the Port Huron Icehawks while Schott is one of the Flint Generals.

The two actually faced each other in an exhibition game on Saturday night which Flint won 6-2. What's pretty neat about that is Mike and Lucas both scored goals in that battle.

The IHL regular season begins this week and you can follow their adventures at http://www.porthuronicehawks.com/ and http://www.flintgenerals.com/

MCNAB UPDATE

It was mentioned here earlier that '09 grad Dave McNab was at training camp with the Port Huron Icehawks this week. According to today's Times Herald Dave was, unfortunately, put on waivers.

More on the team's moves here:

http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20091008/SPORTS/910080320/Defense+among+squad+s+strengths

SCHOTT REPORTS TO GENERALS CAMP

2009 Brockport graduate Lucas Schott, the physical LW who posted 32 points over his career at Brockport, is at training camp this week with the Flint Generals.

The Generals reported the following today....


Flint, MI - The Flint Generals, proud members of the IHL, would like to announce the late additions of 12 players to the Training Camp roster, including 3 players from the team's affiliate, the Madison IceMuskies of the AAHL.

Lucas Schott is an energy rookie forward from Erin, Ontario. From the 2001-02 season through 2004-05, Lucas played in the OPJHL also playing a few games for the Mississauga IceDogs and Barrie Colts of the OHL. Schott played the next four seasons with The College at Brockport Golden Eagles before signing with the Generals for the 2009-10 season.


If you'd like to see the bios of others attending camp (including Brockport foe Bryan Hince who played for Plattsburgh the last two seasons), visit this page:

http://www.intotheboards.net/hockey2/publish/flint/Generals-Add-12-To-Training-Camp.shtml

WBSU'S HOCKEY BROADCASTS

I just received a message from Dale at 89.1 the Point. He said they have figured out their winter broadcast schedule and are awaiting final approval from the athletic department for a few games. But they do know that they're doing 21 of the 25 hockey games (which is awesome!). Playoff broadcasts will be determined when the time comes.

WBSU will start the season with 6 straight games...the North Country trip to Potsdam/Plattsburgh and then the 4 home games against Morrisville, Hobart, Buff State and Fredonia.

Broadcast teams have yet to be determined.

As soon as the broadcast schedule is set I'll be sure to list the games on this site.

THE QUESTION OF THE DAY....

If SUNY raises tuition for out-of-state students, what will that do to the quality of hockey in the SUNYAC?