December 2011

December 2011

Volume 1

Season’s Greetings from All of Us at Hockey New York State!

Issue 3

P.O.Box 354 North Tonawanda, NY 14120 (716) 909-2961 publisher@hockeynys.com wnyhockey@verizon.net Managing Editor Randy Schultz Designer & Photographer Janet Schultz Columnists Warren Kozierski Janet Schultz Randy Schultz Hockey New York State No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopy and facsimile, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Hockey New York State is an equal opportunity employer.

Contents 2011 Hockey New York State All rights reserved Hockey New York State is published monthly at no charge and can be accessed via the publication’s website www.Hockeynys.com

Congratulations to Sirena Fitzery Hamburg Hawks 12U Team

Sirena

won a copy of “The Puck Hog” book autographed by Author Christie Casciano..

Sirena is from the West Section. We also thank her for submitting a photo of herself playing hockey.

We are extending the contest through December for the East, Central and North Sections, since we had no entries.

To enter: email your Name, email address and team name with Section to janetrandy@aol.com and put Puck Hog in the subject box.

Deadline is December 22.

About the Cover: A pond hockey rink in Niagara County with warming house. Photo by Janet Schultz.

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Hockey New York State

his summer I took on the job of Coach-in-Chief for the State of New York. I was ready for a challenge, and that’s exactly what I got.

I have been around hockey all my life and coaching for the past 20 years. I can’t remember a time when so much change occurred in such a short period of time.

We had the removal of checking at the Pee Wee level and the reintroduction of the “tag up” rule for Bantams/Midgets. We changed our clinic presentations, our certification guidelines for coaches, and added the “Age Specific Modules”. If that wasn’t enough, we added a number of clinics specifically designed to help coaches introduce “body contact” at all levels of play.

Needless to say, it has been a very busy fall for all of us in the Coaching Education Program.

Fortunately, I inherited a terrific team. We have a great CEP staff here in New York, led by the Associate CIC’s for each section: Central – Kevin Moore, North – Corey Rosoff, West – Mike Ackerman, and East – Tom Palamara. These guys, along with their instructors, have been planning and running clinics, helping people navigate the brand new “Age Specific Modules”, and answering questions about the new CEP guidelines. They do the “heavy lifting” for the New York Coaching Education Program, and I want to thank each of them for a job well done this season.

As I said, we are in the midst of quite a bit of change, and change is rarely easy. One of the most challenging has been the introduction of new certification guidelines.

The new guidelines caused quite a bit of confusion at first, but the initial shock seems to be wearing off. Don’t get me wrong, I continue to get questions, and plenty of feedback.

In addition to changing the CEP certification guidelines, we also put the clinic presentations through a much needed facelift, and added the “Age Specific Modules”.

These two changes help improve the quality of the learning experience for all coaches. The clinics continue to be a place where learning happens as coaches listen to presenters, take part in on-ice sessions, and share their knowledge and coaching experiences with one another.

The modules are a great addition in that they afford coaches educational opportunities that we can’t offer in the clinic setting. The feedback on the new modules has been overwhelmingly positive, although some changes may be warranted.

December 2011

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The Coaching Program has also been charged with the task of trying to help smooth the transition into our new standard of body contact. This entails working with coaches to begin teaching legal body contact from the earliest ages. To this end, we ran 10 “Body Contact” clinics throughout New York this fall. We are also working on improving relations with our friends in the Officials Program. I have been working with Referee-inChief Mike Shapey to help make this happen. I have attended some of his meetings and clinics, and Mike has been a presenter at many of our CEP clinics. Thanks to Mike for his efforts. I think this has been very productive. Although we still have a ways to go before we can declare success, don’t be surprised to see coaches and referees having a beer together at a local watering hole.

Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to meet many of our coaches here in New York; at Section meetings, at clinics, over phone calls and emails.

I have listened to the feedback, both positive and negative. Opinions vary, but all agree that the main objective for everything we do is to improve the quality of the experience for every child that registers and plays in the USA Hockey system.

We honestly feel that if we improve the quality of coaching the quality of hockey will improve, the retention rate will improve, and the overall experience of the individual players will improve. And that’s a winning formula!u

On The Bench with Chuck Gridley New York District Coach-In-Chief

Do You Have a Question for Chuck? Send it to janetrandy@aol.com and we’ll have him answer it!-

Hockey New York State

December 2011

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Central Section CORTLAND

The Red Dragons had four games in December and were fighting for the final playoff position heading into the break.

Junior Adam Bevilacqua and Joey Christiano (Rochester) stood 1-2 in points with the later netting seven goals in ten games including four on the power play.

Central College Report

By Warren Kozireski COLGATE

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enior and Dallas draft pick Austin Smith is lapping the field with a nation-best 15 goals scored through the first 14 games this season.

Senior goaltender Alex Evin led the country in save percentage at .951 and stood third with a 1.38 goals against average.

CORNELL Big Red freshmen won the ECAC Rookie of the Week award in consecutive weeks with Boston Bruins draft pick Brian Ferlin named one week after Joakim Ryan won the honor.

Ferlin was the first Jacksonville, Florida native to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft in June. He scored his first collegiate goal into an empty net during the weekend.

Sophomore goalie Andy Iles’ (Ithaca) shutout streak reached three games (the first of his collegiate career) on November 22 after a 1-0 victory over visiting Niagara at Lynah Rink.

Iles made 24 saves to push his personal shutout streak to 202 minutes, 28 seconds, which ranks third all-time in program history. Only Ben Scrivens (now with Toronto) has posted longer streaks of 206:44 and 267:11.

Cornell freshman forward Philippe Hudon has left the team and his future is undetermined. Detroit’s fifth round selection has not seen game action this season.

ELMIRA Senior Kevin Willer and Swedish sophomore Jesper Strale were leading the offensive attack for the first place Soaring Eagles who saw their five game winning streak come to an end in the championship of the Primelink Tournament in Middlebury Thanksgiving weekend.

HAMILTON Four home conference games in December will determine the second half goal for the Continentals as they battle Middlebury, Trinity, Wesleyan and Williams.

Sophomore Michael DiMare and senior Anthony Scarpino were both averaging better than one point per game through the early going.

HOBART With just three non-conference games in December, the Statesmen will enter the New Year in last place in the ECAC West.

Freshman defenseman Terrence O’Neill had two goals and five assists through his first eight games to rank first among conference defensemen and first year players.

MORRISVILLE The Mustangs have just one win and one tie in conference games as of the end of November, but they both came against upper echelon teams (Oswego and Potsdam).

Senior Todd Hosmer oddly transferred from Potsdam for his senior campaign and leads the team in scoring while freshman Patrick Stillar has 11 points in his first eight collegiate games—fourth in the nation in points per game.

Hockey New York State OSWEGO The second ranked Lakers were succeeding by spreading the offense through several lines as juniors Paul Rodrigues, Jon Whitelaw, Luke Moodie and senior Ian Boots (Akwesane) were all in double figured as of December 1.

Niagara transfer Andrew Hare has taken hold of the top job in net with a 6-1-1 record and a 1.94 GAA.

December 2011

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UTICA The Pioneers were 6-2 at the end of November, but both losses were to conference opponents.

Senior Tim Coffman (Elverson) and sophomore Trevor Hertz had 12 and 11 points respectively through the first seven games An expected championship game against host Plattsburgh at the Cardinal Classic New Year’s Eve will be a measure of where the second half may lead. u

New York Women Named to Team USA

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hree New York State women’s ice hockey players have been named to the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team.

Making another appearance on the team are Courtney Burke, Albany, and Dana Trivigno, Setauket. Both played on the gold medal-wining 2011 U.S. Women’s National Under 18 Team . This is the second appearance for both Burke and Trivigno.

Debuting will be Forward Miye D’Oench of New York City.

Burke led the Shattuck St. Mary’s team to a 2010 USA Tier 1 16U National Championship. She began playing at age six in the Albany-Troy area on boys teams.

Trivigno attended the USA Development camp three times and played for the Long Island Royals before heading off to Shattuck St. Mary’s. She is the daughter of Bob and Nancy Trivigno and sister to Bobby.

D’Oench is a senior at St. Ann’s school and plays for the New Jersey Rockets 19U Tier I girls team. She is committed to Harvard University for the 2012-13 season. D’Oench has tallied 48 points in 24 games this season.

The Women’s National Championship for the U-18 team will be held in Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic on December 31 through January 7.

Team USA will take on Russia in their opener on Saturday, Dec. 31. They will then face off against Sweden and Czech.

Quarterfinals will take place on January 4; Semi-finals on January 5 with the Championship games on January 7.

This is the fifth IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship which features teams from Canada, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, along with those named above.

Team USA took the gold in each of the first two years of the tournament (2008 and 2009) as well as in 2011.

They took the silver in 2010.

Serving as head coach is Heather Linstad, head women’s ice hockey coach at the University of Connecticut. She will be assisted by Joel Johnson and Hilary Witt.

You can follow the team’s action in Czech by going to www. usahockey2.com/usah_blogs/womens/.u

Hockey New York State

December 2011

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Rochester Amerks Report

by Warren Kozireski Leggio Photos by Micheline Veluvolu

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ome call it the domino effect. One player gets hurt or under performs and it creates an opening for another player to showcase their talent.

Such is the case this season and prior with Williamsville native David Leggio. After splitting netminding duties with Drew MacIntyre through the first dozen games of the season, Ryan Miller gets injured.

Jonas Enroth moves from number two to number one, MacIntyre moves up to become Buffalo’s number two and Leggio is left as the undisputed starter in Rochester through the end of November. But this trip began in the early 2000’s when the 27-year old was playing for St. Joe’s in Buffalo.

“I really grew up at St. Joe’s,’ said Leggio. “When I first got there I wasn’t the best student and I wasn’t super-disciplined, but they instilled a good, hard-working attitude and it was a really important time in my life.”

Next was four years at Clarkson University where he backstopped the Knights to consecutive NCAA postseason appearances.

But he only played in five games as a freshman before splitting time as a sophomore and the domino effect making him the undisputed starter his final two seasons with a combined 46-19-9 record.

Undrafted, Leggio began anew spending most of 2008-09 with Florida in the East Coast League racking up 27 wins and three ties

against just seven losses; and the next

season in Finland with TPS Turku.

Last season he signed with the Buffalo Sabres and expectations were that he would back up top prospect Enroth in Portland, but more dominos.

Enroth gets recalled during the season to the Sabres and sticks so Leggio plays in 36 regular season games—winning 22—plus nine more in the postseason.

This year, the 6’0” 180 lb. has played in 12 games, won seven and was sporting a goals against average south of 3.00 and a save percentage over .900. He had played in every game since the MacIntyre recall through the end of November.

“We rely on our goaltenders a lot and we know we’ve got two good ones back there,” said Rochester head coach Ron Rolston.

“David has been strong in net.”

“Anytime I can play a lot, it helps me get into a groove and the

team is playing well so that always helps,” said Leggio, who had previously played a game at the arena while at Clarkson when Rochester hosted the NCAA Regional playoffs.

As for whether he feels this is his last shot at eventually making the NHL, Leggio deflects a potential decision.

“I just come in and try to earn my ice-time and earn a call-up, try to help this team win a Calder Cup and earn a spot in the NHL just like anybody else who plays for Rochester.”

“Of course it would be a dream come true to play for the team I grew up watching my whole life.”

On more of a personal side, the one advantage this year compared to last is the closer proximity to his Williamsville home with family and childhood friends.

“They come all the time—I haven’t had a game where there hasn’t been four, six, seven people or more. That’s been new for me and it’s been awesome and also great for me to be able to pop over there every now and then.” u

Hockey New York State

December 2011

Rochester News and Notes: * Defenseman Drew Schiestel had just two assists and no goals after 12 games, but was leading the team in ice-time in several games. He was tops with 26:53 against Hamilton on November 26 as one example.

Drew Schiestel (Photo by Janet Schultz)

* Greece, NY native Derek Whitmore registered the first hat trick in his professional career scoring four times to lead Rochester to a 5-3 win over visiting

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Hamilton Saturday night.

“I had quite a bit of family here tonight so it was nice to get my first professional hat trick in front of them,” said Whitmore in the locker room.

“It’s definitely a special moment for myself and to do it for a team I grew up watching and cheering for.”

Whitmore is the first Amerk to score four goals in a game since Jason Pominville did it in October 2005 against Cleveland. u Derek Whitmore (Photo by Janet Schultz)

Pond Hockey Tourney Set for Auburn

By Randy Schultz Photos Provided by Auburn Hockey of 2010 Tournament.

AUBURN - The Auburn Hockey Club will host its Third Annual Pucks on the Pond Hockey Tournament. The outdoor tourney will be held on Saturday, Jan. 28 beginning at 8 a.m. at Hoopes Park.

Auburn Hockey Club secretary, Tracey Walsh, remarked that it should be a tournament filled with fun and excitement for the whole family.

“Last year we had 30 teams participating,” said Walsh. “This year we’re expecting a few more teams to be added.

“Most of the teams are kids teams. Last year we had 10 adult teams. Again, we’re expecting a few more adult teams this year.

“We are adding a Girls/Womens Division this year. We’ve had some interest from them so we decided to add them and see what happens.

“In addition there will be food sold at the event as well as T-shirts. So the whole family can come and have a good time.”

Fee for teams made up of six players will be as follows: Kids: $60, Adults: $90. All teams will be guaranteed three games.

“All proceeds from the Tournament will go to the Auburn Hockey Club,” concluded Walsh.

For further information contact the Auburn Hockey Club.u

Hockey New York State

December 2011

East Section College Report

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East Section

By Warren Kozireski

ARMY

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unior forward Andy Starczewski (Whitesboro, NY) was named Atlantic Hockey’s coplayer of the week through November 6 after scoring his first career hat trick at RIT. Fellow New Yorker Brandon Nunn (Fairport, NY) from Holy Cross shared the honors after his four point weekend.

Freshman goaltender Rob Tadazak made 53 saves in a 1-1 tie with Brown—the first Cadet with 50 or more saves since Jay Clark had 56 in January, 2009.

HUDSON VALLEY CC 2-3-1 through the end of November, the Vikings were led offensively by Storm Knight with eight points in six games. Luis Gallego and Brett Fiorentino (Binghamton) were next with six and five points respectively.

Paul Nicsevic Jr. (Colonie) was seeing the bulk of playing time in net and was sporting a 4.25 GAA.

MANHATTANVILLE The Valiants will play a stretch of nine non-conference games in a row after a tilt with Utica early in the month as they try to turn around their 2-3 start.

Junior Scott Hudson and Brendan Turner were pacing the squad offensively with five points each.

MOHAWK VALLEY CC Through their first two games this season, the Hawks have struggled allowing nine and 19 goals to Broome County and Monroe CC respectively.

They play just one game in December hosting MCC on the 7th.

The Engineers will go almost two full months between home games. They hosted Union on November 15 and do not play at Houston Field House again until January 6 against Dartmouth.

Rensselaer lost eight straight games for the first time since 1990 dating back to a 4-1 win over Minnesota State on October 8. They broke the streak with a 1-0 win over conference for Brown.

Through November, RPI has scored only 11 goals in 12 games— the second fewest in the nation. The team has also been shut-out five times already this season; the school record is six set in 2004-05 and 2008-09.

UNION Senior Kelly Zajac was among the top 20 scorers in the nation as of the end of November and was second in assists per game while sophomore defenseman Mat Bodie was tied for sixth among blueliners at one point per game.

Sophomore goaltender Troy Grosenick was third in the country with a 1.62 GAA and sixth in save percentage.

The Dutchmen were allowing a stingy 1.75 goals per game and were helped by a power play scoring at better than 25%.u

Share your Team’s Success! publisher@ hockeynys.com

Hockey New York State

December 2011

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es Kuntar will tell you that he was destined to be a diens, the 122nd player taken overall, in the 1987 NHL goaltender. From the time he was four years old, he Entry Draft. never played any other position in hockey.

But the straight and narrow path for Kuntar

“My dad had headed to the Northern part season tickets right behind of New York State. the visitors bench at the “I got the call when I Aud,” remembered Kunwas drafted and the Catar, a native of Elma. “Our nadiens sent me a jersey,” seats were right behind commented Kuntar. “They the backup goalie for the basically told me to go to evening.

St. Lawrence, have a great

“Dad always said time and that they would that even with the game see me in about four years.” going on in front of me, he Which is just exactly hapwould catch me starring at pened. the goalie.

“My freshman year

“He knew right we went to the National from that minute on that I Championship game, losing would be a goalie.” in double-overtime to Lake

Although he Superior State,” recalled

by Randy Schultz attended Iroquois High Kuntar. “Two out of my Photos by Janet Schultz School, when he became a four years there we made junior Kuntar transferred to the NCAA tournament.

Nichols school where his game blossomed with an almost

“We also won the ECAC championship twice with unbeatable team.

St. Lawrence. It was a very successful program.”

“Back then that was the path to take if you wanted In addition to team honors, Kuntar experienced to play any type of hockey,” stated Kuntar, who played six personal success. His best year came in 1990-91 when seasons of professional hockey from 1991-1997. “There Kuntar was placed on the ECAC first all-star team after was no doubt that I was headed to play college hockey. leading the conference in wins, shutouts and goals against

“The Windsor Spitfires of the OHL contacted me, average. but my dad said don’t bother talking to them. I was going

Upon graduating from St. Lawrence, Kuntar to be going to college.” turned pro with the Canadiens. Although he spent three

The college turned out to be St. Lawrence Univer- seasons with their American Hockey League team in sity. Kuntar had an outstanding four-year career in Canton, Fredericton, NB, Kuntar saw action with the parent CanaNY. diens for six games, all coming during the 1993-94 NHL

Between graduating from Nichols and attending campaign.

St. Lawrence Kuntar was drafted by the Montreal Cana “I happened to be in Buffalo at the time,” remem-

Legends of New York State Hockey!

Les Kuntar

Hockey New York State bered Kuntar.

“For some reason the AHL gave us four or five days off to come home for Christmas.

“I was staying at my in-laws home and the call came to me to report to the Canadiens, who just happened to be playing the Sabres that night. Patrick Roy was sick.

“So I got in touch with my dad as fast as I could. I packed my bag and was on my way to the Aud.

“I had tickets to go to the game with a friend of mine and was supposed to meet him in the lobby of the Aud. I never showed.

“He goes in and sees me on the ice in a Canadiens uniform. And I actually ended up getting into the game early in the second period of the game because we were losing.

“And I actually got my first NHL start a few days later, on New Years Eve, in Calgary. It was on ‘Hockey Night In Canada. We won 3-2 and I got the puck from the game.

“It was all very neat.

“But my first minutes in the NHL were played in the Aud, which I thought was pretty cool. That’s where I had grown up watching pro hockey.”

Although Kuntar posted respectable numbers that season, finishing 2-2 with a 3.18 GAA , it was not to be for him in the Canadiens system.

Besides Roy, who was headed towards a Hall of Fame career, there was Frederic Chabot and Andre Racicot.

“I had a great, but short, ride with them and it was great,” concluded Kuntar. “But it just wasn’t met to be.”

One of the biggest honors for Kuntar came in 1992 and again in 1994 when he donned the Team USA uniform, playing for the National Team as well as playing in the World Championships.

“It was a dream for me ever since I watched the entire 1980 Winter Olympics when Team USA won the gold medal,” said Kuntar, who played on eight different minor league pro teams during his career. “It was an honor for me.

“It is always an honor to represent your country. It was fantastic.”

Today, at 41 Kuntar owns his own business, “Five

December 2011

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Hole Sports,” selling for the sports licensing division of Adidas and Reebok.

Prior to that he had worked for several years in sales for Reebok Hockey.

“I had gotten injured in my final year of professional hockey playing for Utah of the International Hockey League,” recalled Kuntar, who is married to his wife, Faye and has two children, Trevor and Cameron. “I was going to take a year off and had actually thought about going to law school.

“I began working for CCM and travelling around to the different pro hockey teams. And things have grown from there.

“It’s great being able to work out of my home.

That’s given me other opportunities as well like coaching hockey.

“I’m actually in my fourth year of coaching in the Amherst Hockey Association.My son is on the team and I’m really enjoying it.”

Is coaching something Kuntar would like to do full-time?

“Maybe at the high school level,” answered Kuntar, who resides with his family in Williamsville. “I don’t know about college.

“But we’ll have to see where my hockey path takes me next.” u

Locals To Officiate at 2012 IIHF Worlds Twenty-two Americans will serve as referees or linesmen at the IIHF World Championships in 2012. Among them are three from New York.

Christopher Woodworth, Rochester will serve as a linesman at the World Juniors in Calgary and Edmonton; Dina Allen, linesman, Wheatfield, with the U18 Women’s World’s in the Czech Republic and Fraser McIntryre, linesman, with the U18 Men’s in Slovakia.

Our congratulations to them!

Hockey New York State

North Section

North College Report

By Warren Kozireski

CLARKSON

December 2011

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The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) named Mathieu Cadieux of the Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team the SUNYAC goalie of the week for the week ending Nov. 20.

POTSDAM Sy Nutkevitch, Adam Place and Trevor Cope were all in double figures as the Bears sat fourth in the conference after November at 3-3.

Freshman Dylan Ellis has seen the bulk of playing time in net, but the team was living dangerously allowing seven more goals than they’ve scored in conference tilts.

ST. LAWRENCE

The Knights tore through the Atlantic conference in nonconference action in October, but are only 3-4-1 since the calendar turned to November.

Seniors Louie Oakley and Nick Tremblay were leading the offense while goaltender Paul Karpowich had played every minute in net through November.

They have four key New York State conference games to start December and finish at the Florida College Classic at the end of the month to play Maine and either UMass or Cornell in Estero.

The Saints have rebounded nicely from six consecutive losses to start the season to win five-of-seven heading to December.

Junior Kyle Flanagan (Canton) with sophomore Greg Carey sat atop the team scoring chart while sophomore Matt Weniger stood fourth in the conference with a 1.68 GAA.

The team will participate in the annual Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth with Merrimack and Holy Cross New Year’s Eve weekend. u

PLATTSBURGH The Cardinals were shutout in consecutive games for what is believed to be the first time in the program’s history at the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout at Middlebury, Vermont Thanksgiving weekend. Norwich won 3-0 in the first round before Plattsburgh and Middlebury skated to a 0-0 tie in the third place game.

Empire State Games Has Major Sponsor

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tewart’s Shops saw the value of the Empire State Winter Games and has committed to team with the games again in 2012. Their relationship with the Empire State Winter Games began in 1980, just weeks after the Lake Placid Olympics.

“Community involvement is an important part of Stewart’s culture, of what makes Stewart’s work,” said Gary Dake, president of Stewart’s Shops. “We are an employee and family-owned company, and we believe that giving back to the communities we serve is the right thing to do.”

Stewart’s Shops is confirmed as an Official Bronze Level Sponsor of the 2012 Empire State Winter Games, scheduled for February 2-5 in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Wilmington. u

Hockey New York State

December 2011

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From The West Section College Report West

By Warren Kozireski

BROCKPORT

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enior James Cody was just one goal shy of averaging one per game and classmate Ian Finnerty was tied for the top spot in the nation in assists.

The main trouble is defensively as the Golden Eagles were allowing more than five goals per game in and out of conference.

BUFFALO STATE The high-powered Bengals had scored the third-most goals of any Division III team in the nation and their only three losses were one-goal affairs (with one empty-netter).

Justin Knee and Trevor McKinney had 11 and ten points respectively while McKinney had scored four of his seven goals with the man advantage. Kevin Carr was solid in net playing in all but one game through November.

CANISIUS Canisius freshman Matthew Grazen (East Amherst) recorded his first collegiate point in a 1-1 draw with crosstown rival Niagara before netting his first goal as the Griffs fought 12th ranked Lake Superior State to a 2-2 tie on home ice.

Senior goaltender Dan Morrison moved past former teammate Andrew Loewen into second place on the school’s all-time career saves list on November 20 against Lake Superior. He is 296 behind Bryan Worosz for the all-time mark.

ERIE CC

Scott Roy, Christopher Kendall (Cheektowaga) and Corey Kifner (Williamsville) all had eclipsed the 20 point mark in just eight games as the 8-0-1 Cats try to defend their national title.

Included for Roy was a seven goal weekend against County College of Morris in mid-November.

FREDONIA

In a re-run from one year ago, the

Blue Devils were in the middle of the pack in SUNYAC with one conference game prior to the break Senior Bryan Ross was atop the national scoring chart heading into December with 18 points in nine games while freshmen Jared Wynia and Stephen Castriota are off to great starts with eight points each.

GENESEO Sophomore Zachary Vit is proving his 35 point rookie season was no fluke with 12 points in his first nine games. Senior David Arduin and junior Colbin Rosmarin each had four goals with half of Rosmarin’s coming with the man advantage.

Freshman goaltender Bryan Haude (Hilton) stopped 15 shots to claim the win in his first career start against Framingham on November 12th.

MONROE CC

Ten different players had scored ten or more points as the 8-1 Tribunes were again near the top of the NJCAA standings.

Zach Lewis (Syracuse), TJ Reilly (Rome), Dan Turgeon, Chris Rinaldi, John Ambrose, Mike Boyd, Erich Haney (Camillus), Max Hedenbergh, David Roberts (Brockport) and Zach McDonald were providing balanced scoring for Craig Chamberlain’s squad.

Hockey New York State

December 2011

NIAGARA

R.I.T.

Junior defenseman Dan Weiss scored his first collegiate goal November 6 against Holy Cross in his 63rd career game.

Sophomores Scott Arnold and Ryan Rashid are leading the offensive attack while freshmen Sam Alfieri (Buffalo) and Isaac Kohls are also off to solid offensive starts to their collegiate careers.

The team is in the midst of a school record 11-game road swing which will include the Mariucci Classic at the University of Minnesota just prior to New Year’s. The next home game isn’t until January 13.

The team was shut out for the third time this season against RPI Thanksgiving weekend. All three have been on home ice and mark the first time in the Division I era they have been held scoreless three times in one season. They also are just 1-2-2 in games when holding opponents to fewer than three goals.

Senior goaltender Shane Madolora set a new school mark when he registered the 8th shutout of his career against Holy Cross November 18.

RIT announced the identity of its forthcoming arena as the Gene Polisseni Center. Naming of the facility results from a $4.5 million

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Page 14 partnership between the Polisseni Foundation and B. Thomas Golisano, founder and chairman of Paychex Inc., and an RIT trustee.

Gene Polisseni, who founded the Polisseni Foundation with his wife Wanda, served as vice president of marketing at Paychex until his death in 2001.

The $4.5 million commitment becomes the most recent gift in support of the goal of $15 million of the total $30 million cost of construction for the new arena. The school has now raised approximately $7 million and will likely break ground—they hope in the fall of 2012—when reaching the $15 million mark. u

West Seneca Girls Strong Showing North of the Border

hree of the West Seneca Girl’s teams traveled to Southern Ontario in early November. West Seneca’s 14U team lead by Tournament Co-MVP Goalie Sam Heintz went undefeated in the St. Catherine’s Tournament up to the finals. The 14U Girls beat strong teams from Markham, Ingersol, Georgina and Niagara Falls before losing a heartbreaker in a shootout during the finals. The team’s strong defensive play lead by Brianna Carlin and Jessie Urbank gave up less than a goal a game in the opening rounds. Offensively Kristen Brzyski, Marissa Higgins and Jordan Weisenburg all found the back of the net for West Seneca during the tournament.

The West Seneca Girls 12U team participated in the St. Catherine’s Chaos tournament posting wins against Hamilton (6-2), Scarborough (6-0) and Belmont (2-0). The Wings 12U played a strong semi-final game against the host team and the eventual tournament champion, St. Catherine’s, losing 1-0 on a late goal. In all it was a strong showing for the young Wings team lead by 10 year-old goalie Maggie Spyche.

The West Seneca 16U team competed in the Waterloo Fall Challenge Cup against strong competition. The girls lost a tough game against the host team but rebounded well beating Otonabee Keene 4-2 and Aurora 2-0. u

Amherst Youth Hockey will host their Top Gun Winter Classic on January 13 through January 16 for Girls 12U and 14U, Tier 2.

This is a four-game guarantee with all games played at the Northtown Center at Amherst.

For more information log on to www.PHtournaments.com or call Tiffany Sayers, 716-903-4197.

Hockey New York State

December 2011

Page 15

An Ultimate Experience: Rochester Edge Play In Tourney Go to NHL Game, Visit College!

T

he Rochester 12U’s participated in the Pittsburgh Girls Thanksgiving Classic. They didn’t come home winners but they came home with lots of memories.

The Team attended a Pittsburgh Penquins Game and they also did a meet and greet with Robert Morris alumn and U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist Brianne Mclaughlin. They also toured the Robert Morris College Ice Hockey locker room and player lounge. Morgan Beikirch, director of girl’s hockey in Rochester, is a graduate of Robert Morris College.

The results of the Pittsburgh Tournament for local teams includes: U12 Tier 2: Hamburg Hawks faced Rochester Edge in consolation match and beat them 4-1.

U16 Tier 1: Niagara Junior Purple Eagles beat the New Jersey Colonials 3-0 in the elimination round and lost 0-5 to the Mississauga Chiefs in the semi-finals.

U19 Tier 2: West Seneca beat Muskoka 4-3 in the consolation round.

The Pittsburgh Girls Thanksgiving Classic is hosted by Steel City Selects and the Pittsburgh Elite Girls. u

T

Hamburg Hawks Win Championship

he Hamburg Hawks 14U Girls Ice Hockey Team won 1st Place in the St. Catherine’s Chaos Hockey Tournament this November. The girls went undefeated in round robin play beating teams from Oakville, Ingersoll, Markham and Stoneycreek. Playing West Seneca in the championship game, the girls battled back from an early 2 goal deficit and took the game into a shoot-out where they completed their come from behind victory. After finishing second in New York State last season, the team trained hard on and off the ice throughout the offseason in preparation for another strong year. Members of the team are front row left to right: Sophia Koenig, Meghan Roche, Ally Edwards, Frangelica Bautz, Olivia Luthringer, and Sarah Martin. Second row left to right: Coach Jim Bautz, Alyssa Franklin, Maddy Kromer, Coach Matt Allard, Abby Krug, Ava Simoncelli, Toria Allard, Nicole Dubill, Coach Hans Koenig, Karley Baker and Coach Jeff Baker. The team’s goalie is Brittany Nowak. Follow the team’s success at www.hamburghawks. org. u

Hockey New York State

!

lo Rink h Buffa t r o N ovated wly ren e n e Th

T

December 2011

Page 16

North Buffa lo R mana ink, Taco ma A geme v nt of the B enue, is n uffalo o Bison w under s.

North Buffalo Rink Gets Makeover

he Buffalo Bisons have taken over the management of the North Buffalo Rink on Tacoma Avenue. With that they, along with the cooperation of the City of Buffalo, have renovated the entire building with new lighting, a new Zamboni, complete Brightly repaint and added new benches and other amenities. lit, Hist

oric and

colorful atmosph posters--all in a ere. friendly

All this will provide a warm, friendly and welcoming atmosphere to those teams who come to play! Yes, even the parking lot has received a redo.

The Buffalo Bisons are looking forward to hosting your team this season and beyond!

(Photos and Story

by Janet Schultz)

d, war painte ly w e N

you! elcome w l l i w oms, mer ro

Bison’s B arney W alsh show s off built for the uppe one of the new be r seating nches area!

Hockey New York State

December 2011

West

RIT continues on its winning streak

with an 8-0 record. They face Chatham, Trinity and Amherst prior to the holidays, and then host Adrian College on January 6 and 7.

Freshman Forward Celeste Brown was named ECAC West Rookie of the Week for November 13. She scored her first collegiate hat trick and had a plus 3 in a 6-0 win over Potsdam.

On the leader board is Kourtney Kunichika with six goals and 10 assists and Ariane Yokohama with one goal and nine assists.

Amherst native Hannah Epstein has had one assist and Honeoye Falls native Ali Hills has had two assists this season.

Niagara University Goalie Sarah Moses was

named CHA Goalie of the Week for the third time this season. She stopped 53 of 56 shots in a 1-0-1 set against St. Cloud.

NU is 7-6-4 overall going into December facing Ohio State on the road and Clarkson at home, before a winter break.

Abby Ryplanski was named NU Student Athlete of the Week for November 8. NU took several CHA honors that same week with Ryplanski being named Goalie of the Week; Kalli Funk, Rookie of the Week and Erica Owczarczak (Niagara Falls) Offensive Player of the Week.

Scoring leaders at this point in the season are Jessica Hitchcock with 8 goals and 5 assists; Buffalo’s Kelsey Welch with 7 goals and 6 assists and Jenna Hendrikx with 5 goals and 6 assists.

Ryplanski has a .930 save percentage with a 5-2-1 record and Moses has a .875 save percentage with a 2-4-3 record.

Buffalo State Niagara Falls native Christine Wil-

liams was named ECAC Player of the Week for November 22 after 5 goals, including a hat trick, and an assist in a win over Chatham.

Jordan Lee stopped 29 of 30 shots against Chatham with her first shut out as a Bengal and being named to the ECAC Honor Roll.

Rochester’s Jeyna Minnick was also named to the ECAC Honor for her goal and two assists against Chatham and the game winner in the second of the doubleheader.

The Bengals are 4-3-1 overall going into December when they face Plattsburgh, Plymouth State and Castleton before taking a winter break.

Williams has 9 goals and 2 assists this season, followed by Brianna Murphy with 9 points and Jeyna Minnick with 5 points.

Goalies Lee and Garland have .932 and .864 save percentages.

Page 17

Central

Cornell

The Big Red move into December with 9-1 overall and 6-1 conference records. They are on a five-game winning streak with only two games left before the winter break. However, those two games are against Mercyhurst.

Leading the team this season are Jillian Saulnier (24 points), Rebecca Johnston (20) and Brianne Jenner (20). Goalie Lauren Slebodnick has a .938 save percentage after four games played and Amanda Mazzotta is .896 after six games played.

Saulnier was named ECAC Rookie of the Week for November 1 and Rookie of the Month for November. Saulnier had four goals against Colgate in her college debut and a goal and assist against Yale. She was also named ECAC Rookie of the Week on November 8 for her 5 point game against Syracuse.

Jenner was named ECAC Player of the Week for November 1. Jenner recorded 3 goals and an assist in the first week of the season.

Emily Fulton was named ECAC Rookie of the Week on November 22 for her two-goal, one-assist in a wins against Princeton and Quinnipiac. Fulton is a freshman from Stratford, Ont. She is Cornell’s third Rookie of the Week this season.

Senior Netminder Amanda Mazzotta was named ECAC Goaltender of the Week for the eighth time in her career on Nov. 29. Missing the previous week’s game due to injury, she was stellar in the net for the Big Red against Boston stopping 20 of 21 shots. She came back in game two saving another 21 shots and coming within 5:34 of a shutout.

Hockey New York State

December 2011

Elmira Buffalo’s Haley Welch has a goal and

The Big Red have had six players named to Canada’s U22 team. They include Amanda Mazzotta, Chelsea Karpenko, Catherine White, Hayleigh Cudmore, Jessica Campbell and Jillian Saulnier.

Utica Utica is 4-6-0

so far this season.

They meet Cortland on December 3 and 10 and then are home to Manhattanville after the holidays.

Meghan Myers leads the scoring with 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points.

Cortland Cortland heads into the end of the

year with a 2-3-1 record facing Utica at home and a week later on the road.

Senior Goalie Katie Double (Farmington/Victor HS) became the program’s career saves leader with 46 saves over Elmira. She has 1,581 saves, eclipsing the mark of 1,576 set by Rachel Hutchinson in 2000-03. Double was named ECAC West Goalie of the Week (Nov. 8) after stopping 43 shots in a 1-1 overtime tie against Oswego and making 39 saves in a 2-1 loss to the Lakers the following day.

Leading the score board are Brianna Rossi with 2 goals and 3 assists and Chelsie Hausberger with one goal and 3 assists.

two assists at Elmira helping the team with a 6-1-1- overall record.

Elmira meets Potsdam on December 3 and 4 and then Williams College on December 11. Following the winter break, the team goes on the road to Manhattanville.

Leading the scoring are Tori Charron with 6 goals and 5 assists; Alex Bresler, 6 goals and 4 assists.

In the nets are Lauren Sullivan with a .915 save percentage and 6-1 record and Lisa Marshall with a .936 save percentage and 2-0 record.

The Elmira JV Women’s Ice Hockey Team is 4-1 going into December.

Syracuse The Orange are 6-10

overall and face Lindenwood and Robert Morris prior to winter break.

Coming back on January 2 they face Colgate on the road and host Mercyhurst on January 6 and 7.

Holly Mattimoe has 10 points this season scoring 7 goals and 3 assists, followed by Margot Scharfe with 5 goals, 4 assists. Mannsville native Kelli Goodnough has 3 goals and 3 assists and Marathon’s Brittany Krebs has two goals and two assists.

Netminder Jessica Drinkwater has a .902 save percentage.

Oswego Oswego

is 2-4-2 on the season going into the holidays. Their December rivals include Neumann, Hamilton and Amherst. The team is on holiday until January 13 when they travel to Chatham.

Melissa Seamont is on top with 5 points, followed by Fairport native Kelly Collins with one goal and 4 assists and Caledonia native MacKenzie Lee with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Leading the goaltenders is Catherine Cote with a .892 save percentage and

Page 18 Hamburg (NY) native Bridget Smith is in goal with a .885 save percentage.

Seamont was named ECAC Player of the Week for November 7 after she put in the game winner against Cortland and had more ice time than any other Laker. She also played a large role in the power play fending off 16 of 18 attempts by Cortland on the power-play.

Colgate

Colgate’s Women’s Ice

Hockey Team was recognized by Autism Light for Heroes in the Autism Community. Autism Light is a blog written by the father of an autistic son.

Colgate’s Autism Awareness Project was launched last season in honor of one of their fans, Kati Williams of Norwich.

Kati has Aspergers Syndrome and is an avid fan of the Colgate Women’s team.

The team not only raised funds for local, regional and national agencies that assist families impacted by autism, but they created a chapter of Autism Speaks U that educates the Colgate community on autism.

Our congratulations to them!

Colgate is 6-10-1 overall and with no games in December they return to action on January 6 at Rensselaer.

Leading the scoring are Brittany Phillips with 8 goals and 12 assists; Jocelyn Simpson, 6 goals, 8 assists and Melissa Kneber, 8 goals, 4 assists.

Kimberly Sass of Amherst (NY) has had one assist this season.

Hamilton

Hamilton College goes into December with a 0-3-0 record. They face off against Connecticut College and SUNY Oswego this month.

New Yorker’s Abby Runyon of Fairport/Buffalo Bisons and Jillian Tokarczyk, North Tonawanda/Buffalo Bisons are members of the Hamilton squad.

Hockey New York State

December 2011

North

Plattsburgh

Currently 5-2-1 the

Plattsburgh women’s ice hockey team faces Buffalo State College on December 3 and 4 followed by Norwich, Manhattanville and Potsdam.

Chelsea VanGlahn has 9 goals this season along with 3 assists; Teal Grove has 5 goals/12 assists and Jenny Kistner has 3 goals/7 assists to put them on the leader board.

East

Potsdam Dawna Salvarinas and Izzy Fayerman earned

ECAC West recognition for November 20 by being named Goalie of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively.

Salvarinas made 33 saves in the Bear’s 3-2 victory over Oswego, ending a four-game winless streak. She has a 1-2 record in three starts with a save percentage of .896.

Fayerman scored the first two goals of her career to help the Bears erase a 4-1 deficit in the third period of a 5-5- tie with Oswego. She has played in all seven of Potsdam’s games this season, totaling two goals and one assist.

The Bear’s are 2-4overall and 2-4-1 in the ECAC West facing Elmira and St. Michaels before the holidays.

East 1

St. Lawrence Going into December with a 6-7-3 record, St. Lawrence will

face Union and Rensselaer before going on holiday and then facing Boston College in Boston on January 5.

Leading scorers are Karell Emard (5 goals, assists); Kelly Sabaten (6 goals, 7 assists) and Rylee Smith (5 goals, 8 assists).

Making the saves are Caitlyn Lahonen with a 3-3-1 record and Carmen MacDonald with a 3-4-2 record.

Clarkson Clarkson is 8-4-4 this semester. They

face Rensselaer and Union at home the first weekend in December and then come to Niagara University on December 10 and 11.

Juana Baribeau was named to the ECAC Honor Roll on November 14 and Carly Mercer was named to the ECAC Honor Roll on November 1.

Jamie Lee Ratray and Carly Mercer lead the scoring for Clarkson.

www.Hockeynys.com and Friend us on Facebook

Page 19

Rensselaer The Engineers are 4-10-4 going into De-

cember. They take on Clarkson and St. Lawrence before the holidays.

Jordan Smelken and Alisa Harrison lead the scoring.

Manhattanville The Valiants are 3-4 overall and take on Plymouth College, Southern Maine, Middlebury and Plattsburg in the upcoming weeks. u

Please forward your college press releases and add us to your mailing list; Janet Schultz at Janetschultz@yahoo.com.

Hockey New York State

December 2011

Page 20

A

wareness. scares us.”

That one simple word sums up exactly

The OJHL is a very physical hockey league, with what the Dent Neurologic Institute and the three members of the Jr. Sabres receiving treatment for Buffalo Jr. Sabres hope to accomplish with concussions last season. While all three players returned their new partnership. It is a partnership that both groups from their injuries, Ledyard wouldn’t put them back on hope to make more people the ice until he got aware of concussions. clearance from the

Numerous head neurologist. injuries and related symp Dr.Mechtler, Vice toms such as headaches, President of DENT dizziness, fogginess, and as well as the Cenbehavioral disorders repreter’s medical director, sent a substantial portion of recognized something the 120,000 visits each year very special and to Dent’s four Western New refreshing about the York campuses. attitude of the Jr. Sa “Ultimately, we bres leadership. There

By Randy Schultz just want people to really was the head coach become more aware through of the highest caliber this campaign of what to amateur hockey team, do and what to look for with players only havwith head injuries,” commented Dr. Joseph V. Fritz, Chief ing a short time to prove themselves to college and profesExecutive Officer of DENT. “There are also a couple of sional hockey scouts, putting the safety of the player first. pieces of information that we find very compelling to this

The message became very clear to Dr. Mechtler: partnership.

“If the Jr. Sabres can follow a safe return to play protocol,

“The first is that nationally there are twice as so can every player at every level of amateur hockey in many concussions as there are strokes. While there has WNY.” been a lot of attention put on strokes, there hasn’t been as

Meetings were then held between the Jr. Sabres’ much on concussions. president, Larry Playfair, Ledyard, Dr. Mechtler, Dent

“Second, the Jr. Sabres represent the pinnacle of CEO Joseph Fritz and Community Outreach Director, Mayouth sports in Western New York. These players have a ria Caserta. Discussions centered on how to educate and lot of high aspirations and a lot to prove. impress upon coaches, trainers, players and parents.

“They also represent name recognition. If people

The Junior Sabres-Dent partnership was formed. see them doing it the right way, then they should be doing

“The concept of Dent’s sponsorship is to demit as well.” onstrate through the Jr. Sabres how all amateur hockey

The Dent Neurologic Institute was formed in 1963 programs can make a huge impact on reducing devastating and is one of the largest free standing neurology practices head injuries to our youth,” stated Joseph V. Fritz, Chief in the country. Excluding colleges, the Jr. Sabres are the Executive Officer of DENT. “Specifically, an awareness highest level of amateur hockey in the Western New York campaign that targets four essential components: obtain area, playing in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. baseline preseason tests so medical decision making after

Grant Ledyard, head coach of the Jr. Sabres, is a head injury is more accurate; prevent head injuries as well aware on concussions having experienced a half best as possible; recognize an injury and ‘when-in-doubtdozen of them during his National Hockey League career. sit-them-out’; receive timely medical care and commenda “I’ve had that feeling of what it is like to have a tions from physicians that understand the brain.” concussions and the lingering aftereffects,” remarked the

Ledyard added to those comments. former NHL defenseman. “It’s not something I would like “We know that it is an important issue,” said Ledany young player of hockey, or any sport, to experience. yard. “But we also know what DENT stands for.

“There’s more to a concussion that just not feeling “There are people out there with much bigger well after you’ve been hit. And then the second concussion problems that what we have as players. What we’re lookthat could come in a short time after that is what really ing for is a streamlined testing for kids so they have a

Dent and Buffalo Jr. Sabres Partner to Raise Concussion Awareness

Hockey New York State

December 2011

Page 21

baseline test to work from.” other hit while healing from a prior concussion is extreme Each element of concussion and prevention and ly dangerous and could be career ending or life altering.” care is being explicitly addressed through this partnership.

Ledyard summed up the situation.

All Jr. Sabres receive preseason IMPACT testing adminis- “Things have really changed since I was a player,” tered in a proctored environment. concluded Ledyard. “In my day you would get hit and

Players are outfitted with the Messier M11 helafter that get a pat of the back, an ice bag on your neck met, both to and away you provide the went back out best possible on the ice. equipment “But now protection things have and outwardchanged. ly advocate Players are the Messier bigger and Project for faster and safe hockey. the equipJr. Sabres ment they are front office wearing is personal, different.

Dr. Joseph Fritz, Hockey NYS Reporter Randy Schultz, Dr. Laslo Mechtler and Buffalo Jr. Sabres Coach “Things who are Grant Ledyard discuss concussion awareness, education and prevention. (Photo by Janet Schultz) prominent need to figures in the change. And community as members of the Sabres Alumni, are jointly those changes are being made. participating in seminars attended by coaches, trainers,

“And between the Jr. Sabres and DENT we just family physicians, players and parents. want to make more people aware of what to do in case a

Coaches throughout WNY are being provided concussion occurs.”u playmaking clipboards imprinted with concussion facts

and contact information so that time critical information is readily available when needed most - on the bench.

“When a player is injured, it is critical to seek the proper medical guidance,” stated Dr. Fritz. “Parents know their child, and are most likely to sense that something is ‘just not right.’

“Only a small number of concussions result in loss of consciousness, even typical signs such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, or fogginess can be subtle, but associated with a very vulnerable state.

“So it is important to get the player to a medical facility that specializes in this type of injury.”

“Most of the time, all that is needed is some rest,” added Dr. Mechtler. “But that amount of time varies from person-to-person, and it is best that a concussion specialist make that assessment.

“These assessments are also more accurate, and therefore allow the player to return more quickly, when comparing to baseline measurements. Some players suffer from extensive or longer lasting symptoms and require more sophisticated testing, medical treatment, and rehab.

“The concussion specialist will coordinate this care and make sure the player gets back as soon as possible, while at the same time recognizing that getting an-

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Kid’s Page

Hockey New York State

W

hile Tim Connolly may be playing hockey in Canada for the Toronto Maple Leafs, his heart and soul still lies in New York State. Born in Baldwinsville NY, Connolly’s roots spread quite a distance across the Empire State.

Professionally, the talented center had played his entire National Hockey League career in NYS for the New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres until the start of this campaign when he began play for Toronto. But Connolly roots go much deeper than that.

Tim’s father, Mike, grew up in Kenmore, NY, near Buffalo. Mike went to high school at Canisius, where he became an allCatholic player in football and baseball.

He later moved to Syracuse, where he established a career and family. It is where Tim was born and raised.

It’s also where Tim’s hockey career began. Interestingly, Connolly’s hockey career almost came to an end before it actually got started.

“When I was about three or four, I skated for the first time,” remembered Connolly, now in his 12th season in the NHL. “I fell and didn’t want to go back out on the ice.

“I was scared. But soon after I began learning to like the ice and I’ve loved it ever since.”

As a child, Connolly had his own ice rink, so to speak.

“We had a small ice rink in the back of our house,” recalled Connolly, who was signed by the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent on July 2. “My dad built it and it was great.

“And there was a tree right in the middle of this rink. And the tree had a name.

“Jerry was its name. It was named after the Sabres defenseman, Jerry Korab.”

With a huge smile on his face, the 6-1, 190-pound Connolly continued.

“And with a little bit of imagination, I would use that tree to skate and stickhandle around. I began learning how to develop some of my moves using that tree.

“That rink is where I learned how to play hockey.”

Connolly gives a great deal of credit to his success in hockey to both of his

December 2011

Page 23

parents.

“They gave up a great deal for me,” said Connolly, who also has three sisters, Christy, Katlin and Shannon. “They went through three or four cars taking me around playing hockey, especially with a lot of the trips we had to make to Canada.

“They spent a lot of money on me to make it as a hockey

Home Grown New York State

Tim Connolly

by Randy Schultz

player.”

The Maple Leafs center also spoke of another individual who made a difference in his hockey career.

“Don Kerman was a big influence on me as a player,” remarked the right-handed shooting Connolly. “He coached me for nine or 10 years when I was growing up playing hockey in the Syracuse area.

“He taught me everything I know about hockey when I was growing up.”

After developing his hockey skills in the Syracuse amateur hockey leagues, Connolly moved on to play Junior Hockey with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League at the age of 16.

Following two seasons of play with the Otters, which saw Connolly score 64 goals and 130 points, the Syracuse native was drafted fifth overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the Islanders.

But instead of being sent back to the Otters, Connolly signed his first NHL contract and began playing with the Islanders at the age of 18.

Looking back on it today, Connolly admits that it was a risky move.

“I came into a situation where I got to play right away,” stated the 30 yearold Connolly. “I learned a lot and I know

things were difficult for me and the Islanders at the time.

“I was young and so was the team.

But we learned and grew together.

“When I got traded to the Sabres I was ready to grow and make the next move.”

Unfortunately, a portion of Connolly’s career with Buffalo was spent injured, including two major concussions. But when he was healthy, oh how Connolly could play.

“There are a lot of things you have to like about Tim,” commented Sabres head coach, Lindy Ruff. “There’s no doubt that he plays a pretty exciting game.

“As a playmaker, Tim can take you on and beat you one-on-one. He has tremendous moves on the ice that can freeze the opposition.

“Plus, even with all his injuries, including the concussions, Tim was still the type of player who didn’t mind going into places where other players might not go on the ice.

“He went into spots where you might shy away from after you’ve had a concussion. He could also play good, solid twoway hockey.”

Which is something Connolly takes pride in.

“I came into the NHL with the reputation of being a scorer,” concluded Connolly. “But over the past few years I’ve learned to play more of a defensive game.

“I enjoy killing penalties or tying to shut down an opponents top scoring line.

It’s an important part of the game.

“I just hope I can now take my game to another level in Toronto and help the Leafs get back into the playoffs.”u

Hockey New York State

December 2011

Page 24

PUCCS Tournament Successful

By Janet Schultz;Photos by Paul Dressel

T

he First Annual PUCCS Cup was taken by the Regals Alumni after they defeated Team HPHD. Buffalo Sabres Alum Mike Robitaille made the presentation at center ice.

However, the Regals had the Cup, but HPHD got the opportunity to play the Buffalo Sabres Alumni because they raised over $10,000. Among those taking on HPHD were Rob Ray, Matt Barnaby, Andrew Peters, Darryl Shannon and Ric Seiling.

Over $104,000 was raised to go toward the research and prevention of childhood concussions.

Six teams with 87 players battled it out on the Holiday Twin Rinks on Sunday, Nov. 27.

In addition to the hockey play there were over 200 people who met and received an autograph from Buffalo Sabre Derek Roy; bid on auction items led by Buffalo Sabre Alum Rick Seiling as auctioneer and listened to Buffalo Sabre Announcer Harry Neale as he called the Alumni/HPHD game.

PUCCS is the Program for Understanding Childhood Concussion and Stroke. The Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association partnered with PUCCS to host this tournament.

PUCCS is a not-for-profit organization comprised of various officials from throughout the region including physicians. Their purpose is to create a program to gain better understanding of the impacts of strokes and concussions among children participating in youth sports.

The Regals Alumni won the cup.

Buffalo Sabres Alumnus Mike Robitaille announces the winner!

PUCCS Vice Pres. Mike Answeeney and PUCCS President Dr. Elad Levy with check for $104,000.