January 2017 nyhol

NY HOCKEY NY HOCKEY JANUARY 2017 Volume 6, Issue 4

E-MAGAZINE

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Dear Reader:

In This Issue: Brooklyn Floorball....................... 6 Buffalo Stars................................34 Central NY....................................12 East NY..........................................22 FingerLakes Outlaws................16 Iroquois JV....................................35 Kacerosky....................................... 8 McMullen....................................... 5 Niagara Co Com College.........42 North NY.......................................26 NWHL.............................................10 NYS Girls......................................... 4 Section VI Boys...........................33 Starpoint Hockey.......................43 Syracuse U12...............................17 West NY.........................................31 WNYGVIH......................................36

Happy 2017!

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone in hockey. This month’s issue of NY Hockey OnLine Magazine has a number of stories in it that take us from one end of New York State to the other.

I had the opportunity to talk to people involved with a Floorball program that was initiated by the New York Islanders. The plan is to get kids interested in hockey through Floorball.

You will also read about SUNY Potsdam hockey player Sean Kacerosky and the battle he has on and off the ice with diabetes.

We had the chance to see the Syracuse Nationals U12 team when they came to play hockey in Western New York.

Good news is coming out of Rochester with the announcement that the Atlantic Hockey Championship will be remaining at the Blue Cross Ice Arena for the near future.

We are featuring a photo page on the first year college team at Niagara County Community College as well as a short feature on the Starpoint boys high school hockey team and what they did for their community leading up to Christmas.

As always Janet has NYS’s girls and women’s hockey covered while Koz has the men’s college scene taken care of.

Please continue to submit any stories and/or photos you may have concerning your hockey organization. If you know of any companies interested in advertising in the magazine or web page, please have them contact us as well.

To all of you, Happy New Year.

Best Wishes, Randy Schultz NY Hockey OnLine

NY Hockey On-Line (E-Magazine) 3663 Irish Road Wilson, New York 14172 716-751-6524 nyhockeyonline@ nyhockeyonline.com

Columnists Warren Kozireski, Wkozires@brockport.edu Janet Schultz Randy Schultz Rob Sedia Chuck Gridley

Publisher &Managing Editor Randy Schultz Randy@nyhockeyonline.com

NY Hockey OnLine is an equal opportunity employer.

Contents 2015-16 NY Hockey Online All rights reserved

Designer/Photographer Janet Schultz Janet@nyhockeyonline.com

NY Hockey OnLine is published monthly at no charge and can be accessed via the publication’s website www.nyhockeyonline.com

www.nyhockeyonline.com

New York State Girls High School Hockey Standings as of December 24, 2016 Section X Massena Potsdam Canton St. Lawrence Salmon River

2-0-0 2-0-0 2-1-0 1-4-0 0-0-2

Section VII Beekmantown 2-0-0 Plattsburgh 1-0-0 Albany Academies 0-0-0

Lake Placid 0-1-0 Saranac Lake 0-2-0 Section III Skaneateles

3-0-0

Clinton

2-0-0 Alexandria Bay/1000 Islands 1-2-0 Ithaca 0-1-0 Oswego -0-3-0 NYHOL is looking for someone to share the statistics for each of these Division. The web site for these Sections does not contain this years stats.

Contact Janet at Janet@nyhockeyonline.com with links or information.

We also will accept game stories and photographs.

(Photos by Janet Schultz from 2016 NYS Championship)

4

R.I.T

. senior forward and ChurchvilleChili native Garrett McMullen entered the first weekend in December needing two more games played to reach 100 in his four-year college hockey career.

And that has been a dream come true.

With ten career goals and five assists in his first 98 collegiate games, McMullen has almost always been a role-player on the third or fourth line since joining the Tigers—a job that doesn’t receive a lot of accolades or notices from fans, but one that is essential to every team.

“For me this has probably been some of the best hockey Garrett has played for is this year,” R.I.T. head coach Wayne Wilson said.

“Whatever line he has been on, he brings a lot of momentum and has worked extremely hard.

“I’ve been happy with him. Nothing has been given to him and he’s had to work hard for everything. From our perspective we appreciate his efforts that he comes to the rink with every time. He’s been great and it’s great to have a local guy and be able to see what they can do.”

McMullen played varsity hockey as an eighth-grader and freshman with Churchville-Chili under Jim Jackson for one year and Brian Young for one year before heading to prep school at Northfield, Vermont for three seasons. Then he headed west to the Trail Smoke Eaters in the British Colum-

bia Hockey L e a g u e where he scored 38 goals and 80 points over two seasons. “ T h e league out there had some guidance and I had some people I trusted who had been through the

CHURCHVILLE-CHILI NATIVE MCMULLEN IN HOME STRETCH FOR R.I.T.

By Warren Kozireski

ropes playing junior and took an extra couple of years before going to college and they suggested that the league would fit for my style of play,” McMullen said. “And there’s a lot of recruitment out of there. It’s a good, solid league; a pretty offensive league so it fit my game at the time.”

“I went to boarding school for three years and that was a good experience as well making me grow up a little bit moving away from home and getting my focus on school and hockey—there really wasn’t much time for anything else.”

Now the final three months of his collegiate career begin. As of Thanks-

5

giving he was one of just seven forwards on the Tigers roster to be a plus in plus/minus—a statistic that measures times on the ice for equal strength goals for and against.

“Is it going quick—yeah,” McMullen said after a recent Tigers home game.

“October seems like it takes forever to get here and when you start playing every weekend it seems to fly by.

“I’m just enjoying it weekend by weekend, game by game. I don’t want to get too much in it being my last year. I’m just trying to enjoy it and live in the moment.”

B

ack in 1943 Betty Smith wrote “We put together a program called the novel, “A Tree Grows In floorball for hockey” continued BonelBrooklyn.” The book was a li. “It is a way to get kids at the grassroots level introduced to the game. huge success.

In the Fall of 2015 another tree of “It is a grassroots effort to grow sorts began growing in Brooklyn. That the game. It reduces the need for heltree came in the form of a sport called mets, elbow pads, shin pads and sticks. floorball.

It began with just eight schools in the Brooklyn area in the Fall of 2015. By the time the program is finished this spring over 100 schools will have been exby Randy Schultz Photos Cortesy Brooklyn Floorball posed to floorball.

This includes schools in Nassau, Suffolk and Brooklyn as well as a handful of schools in Manhattan.

“The idea is to get as many kids involved with the game as possible,” said Mike Bonelli, a USA “When you are introducing these Hockey Coaching Education Section kids to hockey in a gym class, you Coordinator for the East Section of may only have 25 to 30 minutes. If you New York State. “We have floorball have to put all that hockey equipment sticks that are branded with the Island- on that takes up a lot of time.

“With floorball, hand them a stick ers logo.

“I used these hockey sticks at a and they are ready to play. And the hockey school I operate. I think we sticks won’t damage gym were one of the first programs in the floors. It is a great way to US to use these hockey sticks as a grow the sport. training tool in prep school programs.” “This program allows us Floorball is a huge sport in Swe- to have access to every elden. There are more floorball players ementary school-aged child registered to play than there are hock- that can hold a stick in their hand. When they go home ey players registered.

Yet Sweden produces a good num- at the end of the day the tell ber of professional hockey players. their parents that they played That seems to be the idea now being hockey.

“This program has cregenerated in the United States.

ated a culture in the schools. The kids are playing hockey in school through floorball.

“The bottom line is that we are exposing a lot of kids to the game of hockey.”

Kids in school are exposed to this style of hockey for two or three weeks at a time as part of their unit of gym class.

Those kids will then be pinpointed and given the opportunity to participate in the “Try Hockey For Free Day” later in the year during the “Hockey Week Across America” event.

The Islanders are set to expand the outreach program on Long Island and New York City throughout the 201617 school year. The Islanders have once again partnered with Generation Floorball in New York City to help facilitate the program.

Last spring, the Islanders intro-

Islanders Grow Hockey With Floorball

6

duced floorball to several hundred students at numerous afterschool programs throughout Brooklyn. Not only did the students take part in the fast, fun and explosive version of floorball, they also received an opportunity to visit the Barclays Center and watch several Islanders game.

Back in February Islanders forward Ryan Strome visited the program’s kick-off event in Bergen Beach. Strome showed the participants some elementary hockey skills and engaged with the fans.

program allows us to do just that.”

In addition to the 100 schools taking part in the program, the original after-school program in Brooklyn is also going strong. The initiative that started off with eight elementary and middle schools in the spring of 2016, expanded with an additional two schools this past fall.

“The Islanders program, by far, has been a huge success,” concluded Bonelli. “They have become the model that other teams are following.

“There is no doubt that the Islanders are growing the sport of hockey in Brooklyn and the surrounding area.”

“Once the program got started in Brooklyn, the organizers took it to another level by actually forming a league with teams,” stated Bonelli. “They kept standings and everything for the kids.”

The Islanders Floorball program came to an end for the 2015-16 school year in late May on a Tuesday night at the Bergen Beach Community Athletic Center in Brooklyn. P.S 312 and P.S. 207 battled to be the first-ever champions of the Islanders inaugural floorball program.

“The floorball program was a huge success last year and we are excited to expand into more schools this season,” commented Islanders President and General Manager, Garth Snow. “It has always been a goal of the organization to grow the game of hockey in the community.

“By working with Generation Floorball, this

7

S

ean Kacerosky arrived at SUNY and collected two goals and three Potsdam in the fall of 2014 to earn assists for five points. Potsdam’s a degree in Biology and play NCAA defense gave up just 79 goals in ice hockey. During his first season with the 1582 minutes, the fewest in the Bears the Kendall Park, N.J. native played program’s 40 seasons. in just four games. The limited playing After wrapping up the year, Kactime didn’t deter him as he had already erosky was focused finishing out dealt with other obstacles that would have the semester strong academically stopped other players from reaching this and preparing for his junior seapoint. son. On April 19, an unseasonably (Potsdam Press Release) Kacerosky learned he had diabetes on warm day in the North Country, Dec. 12, 1997, when he was just four years Kacerosky was at the beach with old. From that point on he learned to get used to hospitals, some friends. needles and constantly monitoring his body. Learning to “I wore a bathing suit with a liner in it,” said Kacebalance the disease and living life is challenging, but cer- rosky. “There were some dull pains. I went home, checked tainly manageable with increasing knowledge and improv- and it didn’t feel quite right so I went to student services the ing technology. It’s more challenging, but certainly not im- next day and they sent me to get an ultrasound.” possible, to play hockey with diabetes. Hall of Famer and He returned to class after the ultrasound, before another two-time Stanley Cup Champion Bobby Clarke played 15 stop at health services for the results. seasons and recorded over 1200 points in the NHL, while “They said sit down,” said Kacerosky. “I was thinkhandling the disease. With all these things in mind, Kac- ing it was something bad if they’re telling me to sit down. erosky continued to advance to higher levels of organized They said I had testicular cancer and that I had to go see a hockey. pathologist.”

He played in 19 games with the Philadelphia Jr. Fly- The news was certainly unsettling for Kacerosky, but ers of the Atlantic Jr. Hockey League during the 2012-13 he felt his past medical history helped him handle it better season. The following year he had a breakout campaign than many would have. with the New York Bobcats of the Eastern Hockey League, “I Immediately I thought, ‘how do I beat it,’ because scoring 12 goals and assisting on 15 others for 27 points. when you hear the c-word, you kind of get the feeling that The performance caught the attention of college teams in- this is it,” Kacerosky said. “I was diabetic already on top cluding the Bears and he was in a Potsdam jersey the next of that, so getting bad news is something I’ve had happen season. before in my life. I didn’t have the attitude that I’m going to Kacerosky entered his sophomore year as part of a give up. I thought, how do I make it work.” young defensive corps with A pathologist some gaps to fill due to the spoke to Kacerosky and graduation of key veterans. wanted to send him to He and his teammates resurgery that night. Since sponded. The Bears started things were moving so 2015-16 red hot and earned fast, it took some time for a national ranking for the his parents to travel from first time in 15 seasons en New Jersey. Fortunately, route to their fourth playoff Kacerosky had another appearance in the previgroup of supporters close ous five years. When the by. dust settled, Kacerosky

“The first people had played in all 26 games I actually told were my

Potsdam’s Kacerosky Battles On and Off The Ice

8

teammates,” Kacerosky said. “They all left class to come and see me before surgery. It’s easy to have a good mindset when you have 26 people that are always there for you no matter what.”

Just over a day had passed from when Kacerosky noticed the pain and to going into surgery. Fortunately, they caught the cancer early.

“They had the tumor sent to the lab,” said Kacerosky.

“They did a test on my blood which tests your alpha-beta proteins. They checked the markers. Lance Armstrong had the same type of cancer and when he got tested, his was like in the millions. It was very, very bad, like stage 4. Mine was about 40, so it hadn’t spread very far in my body.”

Since his markers were so low, Kacerosky didn’t require any further treatment other than a minor follow up surgery. He just goes in for a CAT scan every two months.

Kacerosky has had three since the surgery and is still in remission. When all was said and done, Kacerosky only missed one day of classes due to the scary situation.

“It took a little while to heal,” Kacerosky said. “I couldn’t go up the stairs for two weeks. They didn’t want the stitches to pop out. So after that I just went back to my normal stuff like lifting weights, skating every day. August is when we all come back to school and start skating so I had to take it slow for a little bit, but thankfully I didn’t miss too much. Typical hockey player, two weeks and I was doing stupid stuff.”

After a little bit of recovery time he was healthy and ready to start his junior season. Just over a minute into the second game of the year, Kacerosky recorded his first assist. Less than minute later, he was on the receiving end of a slash that broke his right index finger. The injury cost him six games. He had pins placed in the finger, making it three surgeries in four months. Again, he was only slowed down and is back in the lineup.

While he realizes how serious his brush with cancer is, he doesn’t consider it the toughest obstacle he’s had to deal with.

“It’s kind of easier (to deal with than diabetes) in a way because it was only one day and thankfully I didn’t have to go through chemotherapy or radiation,” said Kacerosky.

“So I didn’t have to handle that aspect of it. Diabetes is every day.”

He is currently beating both diseases and is pleased to be a part of a program that his holding its DHC Night for

the Fight Against Cancer this Saturday.

“I think it’s a very good thing for people to be aware of,” Kacerosky said. “With November just ending, the month for male awareness and male health issues, I think it’s awesome that we’re doing something like that and helping to raise some money for cancer research.”

On Saturday night, the Bears will wear special purple jerseys during their game against Geneseo in support of the fight against cancer. A ceremonial puck drop will open the contest. A donation table and remembrance poster will be available for contributions and acknowledgements. All proceeds from the night will go to the American Cancer Society.

While Kacerosky admits his luck, he also has the mindset of a fighter. That will continue to serve him, whether on the blue line for the Bears or in any other aspect of his life.

9

NWHL

Standings as of December 24: Boston 8-0-0 Connecticut 4-5-0 New York 3-7-0 Buffalo 3-6-0

Brianne Decker

GAA

Brittany Ott 1.14 Lauren Slebodnic 1.50 Brittany Ott

League Leaders: Goals: Brianne Decker, 6 Kelly Babstock, 6 Assists: Rebecca Russo, 8 Janine Weber, 7 Points Kelly Babstock, 12 Alex Carpenter, 11 Rebecca Russo, 11

Save % Brittany Ott Nicole Stock

.949 .922

Shut Outs Brittany Ott

2

Around the League ...Ivana Bilic has left the NWHL Connecticut Whale.

This was her first season after four years at Bemidi State. ...The NWHL All Star Weekend will be held February 11 and 12 in Pittsburgh. It will feature a Skills Showdown and the All Star Game.

For tickets go to NWHL.zone

10

...Goalie Sojung Shin was named NWHL Player of the Week for December 12. Shin had her first professional win and second shut-out in NY Riveters history in a 2-0 win over Connecticut Whale. ...Molly Engstrom has left the NWHL Connecticut Whale to play with a Swedish Women’s League. Engstrom is a two-time Olympian and played four years at the University of Wisconsin. She also played for the CWHL prior to coming to the NWHL in its inaugual season. ...Nicole Kosta was named Player of the Week for December 11 after garnering 5 points in two games that resulted in the Whale beating New York and Buffalo. ...The NWHL returns to the ice January 7 with Boston at New York and Buffalo at Connecticut.

Attendance Based Bonuses for Players

“The decision to have the players benefit from strong attendance came out of recent discussions about how we can grow our league and business together,” said NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan.

“We’re very happy to offer this to the players and be the only women’s hockey league in North America that not only compensates its players, but provides attendance-based bonuses. The players make our league, and they deserve this. Our fans should know that when they come out to see NWHL games and fill the stands, they are supporting our amazing players in a big way.”

As an example, when the Boston Pride hosted the Connecticut Whale on Dec. 3 and drew a capacity crowd of 750, the players from both teams shared all of the revenue from the 250 tickets sold over the 500seat mark. The attendance-related payout is a bonus beyond each player’s salary. NWHL players also receive 15 percent from sales of their respective jerseys and shirseys.

The NWHL and the player representatives from the league’s four franchises in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut and New York created the attendance initiative together.

“I am excited that the league is taking strides forward to remain faithful to the players,” said Anya Battaglino, a defender and player representative with the Connecticut Whale. “This is truly rewarding the product on the ice, and it is so important that the league honors that. To all of our fans near and far, if you want to support the league, buy a ticket, come to a game, and fall in love with our dreams.”

BROOKLYN, NY – The National Women’s Hockey League today announced a bonus payment structure for its players based on attendance.

“This was a great example of collaboration between the NWHL and the NWHLPA,” said New York Riveters defender Ashley Johnston, who is the captain and a player representative for the team. “It demonstrates the unique opportunity we, as players, have in being able to lay down the foundations of a professional female hockey league. This platform will aid players in financially sustaining their dreams of being a professional athlete and continue to be a role model for every kid who is looking up to them, dreaming to wear a NWHL jersey one day. I’m excited to continue working with the league in making the NWHL the best place for players to play and for fans to enjoy the incredible sport of hockey.”

For each game, players will receive 100 percent of ticket revenue after 500 tickets are sold. There will be a 50/50 split between the home and road teams participating in the game. The bonus is for every regular season game at every venue, Happy Birthday Krusher and went into effect on Dec. 1.

11

CENTRAL NEW YORK

Central Men’s College Ice Hockey Report

by Warren Kozireski Wkozires@brockport.edu

BROOME CCC The Hornets need to wait until mid-January when the schedule resumes to try to secure their first win of the season. And they’re being outscored almost threeto-one with 110 goals allowed and just 35 scored.

Sophomores Richie Bittles (New Windsor) and Ryan Pretino (Penfield) lead the offense with 31 and 12 points respectively.

CORNELL

Riding a five game winning streak into the holiday and ranked 21st in the nation, the Big Red were back to their defense and goaltending formula allowing their opponents only 25 goals in 11 games.

Freshman forward Noah Bauld scored his first collegiate goal Nov. 26 at Madison Square Garden against New Hampshire. In the same game junior forward Alex Rauter scored the team’s first penalty shot goal in a span of 949 games, dating back to a goal from Joe Nieuwendyk on Feb. 27, 1987.

Five of Cornell’s seven victories so far this season have come in games in which the Big Red has surrendered the first goal. Only two other teams in the country have that many wins when being scored upon first — Minn. Duluth (6-1-3) and Union (6-3-2).

CORTLAND

The Red Dragons were the surprise team of the first half in SUNYAC at 4-3 in league and over .500 overall thanks to a four game unbeaten streak in The Raiders got the first win cluding a conference road sweep at Buffalo State and in December ion the final game pri- Fredonia—the first for the program since the 2010-11 or to the break and were just below season. the middle of the pack in the ECAC. Mike Crowley (Buffalo) was named SUNYAC Their 4-9-4 overall record is a little Athlete of the Week Dec. 12 after his six-point weekmisleading with four one-goal losses end as the Red Dragons swept a pair of road conferplus a two-goal loss with an empty- ence games. He led the team in scoring and assists netter. while Darren McCormick (Buffalo) had eight goals.

Freshman goaltender Colton Point earned his first A group of freshmen were giving the team multicareer victory Dec. 3 against Arizona ple scoring lines with Stefano Alonzi, State.

Dougie Elgstam and Sean Perichak Jake Kulevich became the 29th plus defenseman defenseman in program history to reAidan Salerno cord 50 career points. He and Adam (East Atlantic Dauda were the only skaters with Beach) all with more than nine points. six or more points Senior Andrew Black (Buffalo) over the first 12 will play his 100th collegiate contest games. in January. “ We ’ v e been in a situation Black

COLGATE

13

where we’re rebuilding the culture and now they’re all my guys so we live and die with the youngsters, but we’re better than we were and we have a lot of faith in them,” head coach Joe Cardarelli said.

“Obviously we stick with them through this learning curve. We’ve won the games that we’re supposed to win and we’ve lost the games on paper where we’re the underdogs, but that’s an excuse that can’t last; we have to learn 60 minutes. And to be frank, our older guys have never had that pressure to win these games.”

ELMIRA The Soaring Eagles had only one ECAC West win, but rattled off three straight wins in lateNovember including a sweep of Nichols, who was receiving votes in the national poll, so things could be turning around.

With the large freshmen class, no surprise that four of them sit atop the team scoring chart in Matthew Cuce, Connor Powell, Nick Ford and Eric Bolden. Cuce led the squad in assists with the other three tied for the team-lead with six goals each.

Another freshman—Parker Butler—was putting up sparkling number sin goal with three wins and a 3.53 GAA.

HAMILTON

The Continentals were the only unbeaten team in NESCAC and sat one point out of first at the break and they were riding their defense (only 11 goals allowed over eight games) and junior goaltender Evan Buitenhuis, who was third nationally in goals against (1.00) and second in save percentage (.961).

Junior Neil Conway with sophomores Rory Gagnon and Jason Brochu were pacing the offense with eight points each.

points away from the century mark in his career and five goals from 50.

HOBART Beaten just twice in the first half, the Statesmen were in a three-way tie for second in the ECAC West and were ranked eighth nationally. The trouble is the two losses came against conference opponents.

“We haven’t hit the stride that I believe this team is capable of, at least not yet,” head coach Mark Taylor said. “And reaching for some guys to play at an even higher level than they did last year. If you were an All-American last year you better be a two-time AllAmerican. Right now we’re trying to find that and we’re not there yet.”

Senior leadership is pacing the offense led by Bobby Sokol, Nick Bingaman and Bo Webster with freshman Zach Sternbach making an impact—third on the team in goals.

Freshman goaltender Alexander Connal was seeing more playing time with his 2.11 GAA and four of the team’s six wins.

The team has almost five weeks off before resuming Jan. 13-14 on home ice.

MOHAWK VALLEY CC The Hawks swept through their three December contests outscoring their opponent 28-9 combined and take a four-game winning streak into 2017.

CJ Buckingham led the team with 11 points while Dustin Frankey and Jordan Trudeau each led with eight goals. Grant Romeo had seven goals and Hunter Pate six while Kyle Cronin and Logan Warren had eight and seven assists respectively.

(Continued on next page)

Senior Robbie Murden entered January just five

14

MORRISVILLE The Mustangs ended the first half with only one conference win, but a victory and overtime loss to nationally ranked Utica over an eight-day stretch in December could provide second half momentum.

Joe Santino, Jordan Carvalho and CJ Stubbs were all above the ten-point mark through 14 games, but the offense was thin after that. They also need to play better in the own end getting outscored 68-41.

Freshman goaltender Jared Young made a careerhigh 52 saves in a win over nationally ranked Utica Dec. 9.

OSWEGO

With ten straight wins to open a season, the top ranked Lakers were off to their best start since the 2010-11 group won its first 12 contests, but the streak came to an end Dec. 10 at Buffalo State.

Seniors Shawn Hulshof and Alex Botten were paing the potent offense (both top 15 in Division III) that was averaging 4.91 goals per game—good for fifth in the nation. Senior Matt Galati passed the 100 career point mark in December and Kenny Neil was nine points from joining him as of Christmas.

UTICA The Pioneers sat in first place in ECAC West as of the break with a perfect 6-0-0 record, but were somehow left off the final national rankings of 2016. That is likely due to their four non-conference losses—all since Thanksgiving.

Freshman forward Jarrod Fitzpatrick was named the ECAC Men’s West Conference Rookie of the Week for the second time this season Dec. 12. He is the top scoring freshman on the team with seven points on five goals and two assists.

Roman Ammirato was leading the team and ranked 20th in scoring nationally with nine goals and 20 points. Junior forward Kenny Valenti (Queensbury) was approaching the 50 career point mark and stood second on the squad with 15 points, including two shorthanded goals.

15

A

TEAM EFFORT POWERS THE OUTLAWS TO GOLD!

strong team effort powers the Finger Lakes Regional Central Outlaw Squirts to Gold. With eleven players getting in the points column and a shutout game by the goalie the Squirts were able to bring home the gold in the Miracle Holiday Classic held in Lake Placid, Dec 16-18th. The team played on all three sheets of ice at the Olympic Center; the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, the 1932 Jack Shea Arena and the USA Rink.

The first game against Essex Sting out of Vermont saw nine different skaters score and 16 assists handed out; the team was led by S. Falbo, B. Coffin, L. O’Connor and C. Hollister with 4 points each. N. Oplinger had the shutout in goal for a 12-0 win to start off the tournament. The second game versus Sara-Placid was much of the same with an 8-1 win for the Outlaws; the team was led by S. Falbo and A. Nielsen with 3 points each. The third game versus Saratoga Blue Knights (team 1) was the pivotal game, both teams were undefeated and the winner moved onto the Championship game. The Blue Knights jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead and at the end of the first period the Blue Knights were up 1-0. The Outlaws responded with a hard fought goal by D. Sciarabba to start the second period and get momentum moving in the Outlaws direction.

B. Coffin then put in two more and A. Nielsen put in an empty netter to seal the deal. Onto the Championship Game!

The Outlaws were fired up for the Championship game versus the Saratoga Blue Knight (team 2) and were not going to let anything stand in their way of Gold; the end result, a 10-1 win and returning home with Gold and a Championship banner to hang from the rafters! D. Sciarabba started the game off with a goal within the first 30 seconds and finished with 3 goals. The team was led by D. Sciarabba, B. Coffin and A. Nielsen along with solid goalie play from N. Oplinger.

The defense which allowed only 3 goals all tournament was anchored by D. Jump, L. Enns, D. Martyniuk and A. Nielsen.

Coaching the team to the big win was Head Coach Jay Sciarabba and Assistant Coaches Brad Jump and Jim Nielsen. Congratulations to all their hard work and effort go out to N. Oplinger, A. Mekos, S. Falbo, D. Sciarabba, C. Hollister, G. Corso, L. O’Connor, D. Jump, B. Coffin, F. O’Brien, D. Martyniuk, L. Enns, B. Carlisle, S. Lynch and A. Nielsen.

16

Syracuse Nationals U12 Came to Buffalo to Play Niagara

The Syracuse Nationals U12 girls team headed West to Buffalo to play the Niagara Rapids in Key Bank Arena, home to the NHL Buffalo Sabres.

(Photos by Janet Schultz)

17

18

Cortland

With a 10-2 win over Post University, Cortland comes into 2017 with a 1 and 8 record.

They are back in action January 6 against Morrisville at home.

Sydney Carlucci leads the scoring with 4 goals and 4 assists. Carlucci comes from Baldwsinsville and the Rochester Edge.

Captain and Orchard Park native Richelle Skarbowski has a goal and 4 assists.

Central New York Women’s College Hockey Report

By Janet Schultz Janet@nyhockeyonline.com

Elmira

The Soaring Eagles will head to Vermont January 7 and 8 to take part in the East West Classic. When they return they will play at Cortland January 13 and at home to Cortland the following day.

Junior Louisa Lippiatt Durnell leads the Soaring Eagles with 2 goals and 8 assists for 10 points.

Elmia is 7-0-1 as they head into the New Year.

Syracuse

The Orange are 5-8-5 overall and begin the New Year with a January 4 game at Boston.

Honors went to Stephani Grossi, Maddi Welch and Alysha Burris in December.

Grossi was named Syracuse Athlete of theWeek for December 5 after leading the Orange in points on 6 goals and 5 assists.

Welch was named CHA Goaltender of the Week for December 5 after she posted a shutout against RIT, the second shutout of her career and in only her second start at Syracuse.

Burriss was named CHA Player of the Week for December 12 afer she led the Orange to a 2-2 tie with #4 Clarkson by making the tying goal with 1:59 left.

Leading the scoring for the Pioneers are Gabrielle Schnepp with 2 goals/8 assists and Meghan Power with 2 goals/8 assists.

Erin Goin was named ECAC West Goaltender of the Week for December 5 after making 27 saves in a 3-2 win over Morrisville in the Pioneer Annual Gold Game. Goin comes from Dobbs Ferry and played at Hotchkiss School.

Olivia Hirschy was named ECAC West Rookie of the Week after 2 assists in a 9-0 win over Lebanon Valley.

Colgate

Zalewski

Utica

Colgate enters 2017 with a 15-2-3 overall record led by Jessie Eldridge with 9 goals/20 assists; Annika Zalewski (New Hartford/Buffalo Bisons/Nichols School), 7 goals/11 assists and Lauren Wildfang, 4 goals/14 assists.

They return to the ice January 6 and 7 at St. Cloud, Minnesota.

(Continued on next page)

Utica is 6-4 overall as they begin the New Year with a January 10 game against Canton.

19

Oswego

A last second goal

by Hamilton handed the Lakers their second loss of the season and a 11-2 overall record heading into the New Year.

The ECAC West named Olivia Ellis Athlete of the Week for December 4 and Jacquelin White, ECAC West Rookie of the Week for same week.

They combined for 12 points in a sweep of Canton.

Ellis leads the scoring with 9 goals/15 assists followed by Alex Aramburu with 10 goals/13 assists and White with 10 goals/10 assists.

Cornell

(Cornell Press Release)--The women’s hockey team entered the winter break with an overall record of 8-4-1 and a 6-2-1 record in ECAC Hockey play. Here are five numbers to take note of at the midway point of the month-long layoff from play. .959 Senior goaltender Paula Voorheis currently leads the nation with a .959 save percentage. The senior – whose 1.30 goals against average is third in the nation – made a career-high 51 saves against No. 1 Wisconsin.

1.62 Cornell is giving up 1.62 goals per game, which is the fourth best mark in

the nation. That number is also the Big Red’s lowest goals per game allowed through the first 13 games in a season since the 1974-75 season, when Cornell allowed 1.54 goals per game. The team also opened the year by allowing one-goal-or-less in the first four games, marking the first time since the 2012-13 season that the Big Red gave up one goal or less in four consecutive games.

3 Freshman forward Kristin O’Neill has netted three short-handed goals this season, a number that ties her for the program’s single-season record with four others (including senior co-captain Kaitlin Doering). O’Neill is tied for the national lead in shorthanded goals but her .23 short-handed goals per game is nearly a tenth of a point more than those who share the lead.

6 When Yale scored at the 13:30 mark of the second period on Nov. 12, it marked just the first time all season that a team scored against Cornell in the middle frame. The Big Red’s sixgame streak of not allowing a goal in the second period was the longest such streak in the NCAA. 40 The Class of 2020 – which makes up 37 percent of the Big Red roster – has notched 40 percent of the team’s points. Of the 73 points that Cornell has accrued this year, 29 have come from the freshman class as 15 of the 29 goals (52 percent) and 14 of the 44 assists (32 percent) have been earned by rookies.

Records Watch •Voorheis sits at No. 6 for most career wins in program history with

20

36 and needs one more to tie Kathryn LoPresti for fifth all-time.

•Voorheis has made 209 saves this year and is now No. 2 all-time in program history with 1,876.

•With her blanking of Harvard on Dec. 2, Voorheis is now in sole possession of fifth place with eight shutouts.

•Senior Hanna Bunton has taken over the 11th spot all-time in shots on goal and needs nine shots to surpass Taylor Woods in 10th with 348.

•Bunton has also moved into a tie for 10th in game-winning goals with nine.

•Doering and O’Neill are tied for 11th all-time with three short-handed goals.

Cornell returns to the ice the first weekend of 2017 when it welcomes Providence to Lynah Rink for a pair of games on Jan. 6 and 7.

Hamilton

Hamilton will return to the ice at the St. Michael’s Doubletree Ice Hockey Classic in Vermont on January 6. They return to regular season play at Potsdam on January 10.

Sam Walther was named NESCAC Player of the Week for December 12 after stopping 52 of 55 shots on goal in a 3-2 OT victory over Oswego and made 19 saves in a 3-1 win over Cortland.

Leading the scoring are Meghan Ahern (Oswego/Millbrook) with 3 goals and 6 assists along with Katie Parkman with 3 goals/6 assists.

Hamilton is 5-2 overall.

(Continued on next page)

William Smith

At 3-6-1 overall William Smith returns to the ice against Connecticut College on January 1 and 2.

Krista Ferow has a goal and 6 assists and Williamsville’s Jordan Roetzer has a goal and 5 assists.

Morrisville

Renee Schmaltz was named to the D3Hockey.com women’s hockey team of the week for November 27 after allowing only 1 goal in three games that week. That was the best start in the program’s history in its second season of competition.

Morrisville, 10-2, returns to the ice on January 5 at Cortland and then home the following day to the same team.

NY HOCKEY MAGAZINE accepts all stories, game results, tournament news and photographs from hockey organizations throughout New York State.

Email all material to Janet@nyhockeyonline.com Randy@nyhockeyonline.com www.nyhockeyonline.com Follow us on Facebook and Twitter nyhockeyonline

21

East Hockey

East Women’s College Report

by Janet Schultz Janet@nyhockeyonline.com

Manhattanville

The Valiants are 6-4 overall and play January 10 at Lebanon Valley.

Sarah Sinning leads the scoring with 4 goals/5 assists. She is from Southold, NY and played for the National Sports Academy.

Lake Placid/Northwood’s Cassie Vent has a goal and 7 assists.

Union

Jordi Nardrich had her first collegiate goal in a 2-1 loss to the University of Maine.

Union, 3-17 overall, is home to Yale on January 7 and Brown on January 7.

Haley Shugart had 5 goals/3 assists and Caitlyn McLaren has 3 goals and 5 assists to lead the team with 8 points each.

Cheynne Harris was named ASN Player of the Week following a 2-1 win and 2-1 loss to Minnesota State/Mankato.

RPI

The Engineers open 2017 at home to Brown on January 6 and Yale on January 7. They are 5-14-1 with Sabrina Repaci leading the scoring with 7 goals and 4 assists.

NY HOCKEY MAGAZINE accepts all stories, game results, tournament news and photographs from hockey organizations throughout New York State. www.nyhockeyonline.com

23

ARMY

East Men’s College Report

The Black Knights sat atop the Atlantic Conference standings with a 9-4-0 record at the break and it’s a pair of freshmen leading the offense.

Dominic Franco and Zach Evancho (Buffalo) combined for 11 goals and 23 points through the first 16 games.

And they had allowed only 29 goals over those 16 games with senior goaltender Parker Gahagen (Buffalo) playing every minute with a sparling 1.69 GAA and a .940 save percentage—third and second in the nation respectively.

by Warren Koziereski

conference with a late-November win over former nationally top-ranked St. Norbert on their resume.

Sophomore Matt Lippa had already matched his goal total for all of last season with eight in only 11 games and led the team in scoring.

Sophomore defenseman Marco Ferrero, who didn’t register a single point in ten games as a freshman, stood second on the squad with four goals and seven assists.

Freshman forward Ken MacLean (New Rochelle) had three assists in his only three games.

R.P.I.

With only one win since Nov. 4, the Engineers needed a second half turnaround to avoid a first round road playoff series. The team will have seven home games plus two neutral site Evancho matchups in the second half. They Ranked third nationally among junior need to shore up their own end as they were outscored colleges, the Vikings were 4-9-1 overall through the first 79-44 through the first 20 games—by far the most goals half of the schedule. Six conference games remain start- allowed among teams in the conference. ing the top-ranked Erie for the first pair in mid-January.

Sophomore Evan Tironese continues his solid second Chris Breault led the team in assists and scoring while season with four goals and 16 assists to lead the team. SeEvan Perkins (six goals), Peter Borgosz (Depew) and Kyle nior Riley Bourbonnais (Greece), who recently passed the Constanty (Plattsburgh) join Breault with five goals each 100 career games played mark, is tops with nine goals— to pace the offense. just one shy of 30 career.

Sophomore Nate Muller was the most effective of a Sophomore goaltender Cam Hackett registered his three-goalie rotation with a 3.17 GAA and .904 save per- first collegiate shutout Nov. 26 at Arizona State. centage.

Engineer forwards lead the country in blocked shots.

HUDSON VALLEY CC

MANHATTANVILLE

UNION

The Valiants entered the holiday break tied for second in the ECAC West

The Dutchmen entered the to-ten nationally as of the holiday break thanks to a six-game winning streak—all

24

on the road.

Senior forward Mike Vecchione was leading the nation in points per game and was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for the second consecutive month in November. Vecchione ranked tied for second in Division I in points per game in November (2.00) and led the nation with two shorthanded goals. He finished tied for second among ECAC Hockey skaters with 10 points in the month on four goals and six assists, recording at least one point in four of five games and producing three multi-point games.

Alex Sakellaropoulos began December by being named the ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week for the second time this season after backstopping Union to its third ECAC Hockey. He made 78 saves on 83 shots, including a career-high 52 saves against No. 5/7 Quinnipiac to become the first Union goaltender to record 50 or more saves in a game since Keith Kinkaid stopped 52 shots against Quinnipiac on March 12, 2010.

Junior forward Spencer Foo completed his first career hat trick Dec. 10 at Yale. Foo later extended his point streak to 16 games, the longest by a Union player since Jason Walters had a 15-game streak during the 2009-10 season.

Senior defenseman Jeff Taylor (Clifton Park) was tied for third among the nation’s blueliners with a plus-13 rating. His five goals as of Christmas mark a career high.

OTHER AREA NOTES: • Mercyhurst freshman James Anderson (Kings Park) scored his first collegiate goal and point in his seventh game Nov. 25 at Canisius.

• Harvard freshman defenseman Adam Fox (Jericho) was name ECAC Rookie of the Month the final week in November after he scored one goal with two assists in games against Boston University and Bentley.

25

North Hockey

Northern New York Men’s College Hockey Report › Warren Kozireski

Wkozires@brockport.edu

CANTON The Roo’s entered the break on a roll with their first win since opening weekend and their first tie since early November. The Middlebury Classic finishes up the 2016 portion of the schedule before three straight on home ice in January.

Freshman Vili-Jesper Koivula continues to impress leading the squad in goals, assists and points. Classmate Tyler Bullard (Ballston Spa) was also off to a solid start with six goals over his first ten games. Junior Josh Sova (Oswego) was one point away from 50 in his career.

CLARKSON A seven-game unbeaten streak, highlighted by the championship crown of the Shillelagh Tournament, capped off the most successful month of November for the team in nine years. They made it eight unbeaten in the first game of December before dropping their final two heading into the holiday.

The tournament win in Notre Dame was the team’s first in-season tournament crown since 2006.

Freshman goaltender Jake Kielly was named ECAC layer of the Month for November after he went 4-0-2 with a 1.62 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.

He was also ECAC Goaltender of the Week in the final

week of November.

Clarkson’s Class of 2020 is the top producing freshman class in ECAC Hockey and is tied for second overall in the NCAA, averaging 2.94 points per game. The Knights’ seven rookie skaters have accounted for 35% of Clarkson’s offense with 53 points on 18 goals and 35 assists.

Their Jan. 7 game versus Rensselaer will be at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid.

PLATTSBURGH If the season ended with the holidays, the Cardinals would not be in the conference postseason and no one can remember the last time that happened (definitely not since the format expanded to six teams).

In the final weekend prior to the break, they also were swept at home in a weekend series for the first time in the regular season since 2010-11.

Pat Egan (Gates-Chili) led the team in scoring, but no player had ten points through the first ten games. Cole Stallard led the squad with six goals.

Freshman goaltender Joshua Davies was seeing more playing time and had earned three of the team’s first five wins.

POTSDAM The Bears finished the 2016 portion of their schedule with eight consecutive losses, but three of those were one goal affairs.

Like their northern conference foe, no player had eclipsed the ten point mark through the first 12 contests with Dylan Vander Esch leading the way with six goals and nine points.

Freshman Anthony Merante (Niagara Falls) redirected a pass from senior assistant captain Vinny Caligiuri (Shoreham) for his first collegiate goal Dec. 9 against Brockport.

27

ST. LAWRENCE Entering the break ranked 17th in the nation, the Saints were one point from first place Union in the ECAC standings and outscoring their conference opponents 33-13.

Junior goaltender Kyle Hayton, who led the Saints to a 5-0-3 record and a No. 19 national ranking, was named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association National Division 1 Player of the Month and ECAC Goaltender of the Month for November. He posted a 5-0-3 record and began the first weekend of the month by recording backto-back shutout home wins in leagueplay over Princeton, 4-0 and then No. 6/7 ranked Quinnipiac, 2-0. In doing so he broke Bill Sloan’s 60-year old St. Lawrence program record for career shutouts with 10. He became the first Saints goaltender to post back-toback shutouts since current volunteer goaltender coach Alex Petizian did it on Feb. 27-28, 2009 at RPI and Union.

The team begins 2017 with a season-long seven game road swing and play 11 of their last 15 contests away from home.

POTSDAM CANCER AWARENESS Right Top: Colleen Kacerosky, with husband Robert, parents of cancer survivor Sean drops puck for Geneseo Captain RJ Burns and Potsdam Captain Sean Kacerosky.

Right Botton: Cancer Survivor Wayne Wilkins, grandfather of Coach Chris Bernand, drops puck for Geneseo Captain and Potsdam Captain.

28

Northern New York Women’s College Hockey Report

by Janet Schultz Janet@ nyhockeyonline.com

Potsdam

Amanda Peterson was named ECAC West Player of the Week after posting the game winner with 23 seconds left in overtime for a 2-1 win over New England College. She followed that with a goal and assist on the game-winning goal in a 3-1 victory over New England.

Potsdam enters the New Year with a 7-5 record as they trave to Hamilton on January 10 and return home January 13 and 14 to Neumann.

Rochester native Jordan Ott leads the team with 7 goals and 4 assists, followed by West Chazy native Amanda Peterson with 5 goals/3 assists.

Plattsburgh

One loss at the hands of #9 Oswego gives Plattsburgh a 10-1 overall record. They travel to the Norwich East West Classic on January 7 and 8 and then come home to ECACW rival Chatham on January 14 and 15.

The Cardinals are on the top of the USCHO and D3Hockey.com polls.

Leading the team in scoring are Kayla Meneghi, 7 goals/10 assists; Melissa Sherman, 12 goals/4 assists and

Jordan Lipson (Schaghticoke/Millbrook School), 5 goals/10 assists.

Clarkson

The Golden Knights are 15-3-4 overall and face Yale on January 13 and Brown on January 14.

Cayley Mercer leads the scoring with 11 goals/17 assists.

Three Knights garnered honors in December including Mercer being named ECAC Player of the Week on December 6. Mercer scored a short-handed goal in a 3-3 tie with St. Lawrence University and then scored the game-winner in a 4-1 victory over St. Lawrence. The win put Clarkson in first place in the ECAC. On December 13 McKenzie Johnson was named ECAC Goaltender of the Week after her second start this season with a 4-1 victory over Syracuse. She made 28 saves, 13 in the second period alone.

Jessica Gillham was named Clarkson Student-Athlete of the Week December 11 after a goal and assist against Syracuse.

St. Lawrence

The Saints will play in the D1 in DC game against Mercyhurst on January 7 and 8.

D1 in DC is organized by the Pride Hockey Association which is committed to developing female student-athlete leaders from Washington, DC metro area through ice hockey.

The game will be played at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the practice facility of the NHL Washington Capitals.

Grace Harrison took ECAC Goaltender of the Month honors for November after she had her best month in her career, statistically, with 4 shut-outs in 6 starts, 121 saves, allowing only 3 goals for a .984 save percentage. She currently holds the school record for shut-outs.

Kennedy Marchment and Brooke Webster are leading the scoring with 11 goals/18 assists and 10 goals/18 assists,

29

respectively.

Canton The Roos are 6-4 overall and take off for the Castleton Tournament on January 7 and 8. They are home to Utica on January 10.

Tess Adams, who leads the scoring for the Roos (7 goals/2 assists) took Roo of the Week honors on December 11; CHC Player of the Week on December 12 and D3Hockey.com Team of the Week for her 3 goals and 4th collegiate hat trick in a 3-2 victory over Cortland.

Brooke Susac was named CHC Goalie of the Week December 12 after making 20 saves and having her 6th victory of the season in that 3-2 win over Cortland.

NY HOCKEY MAGAZINE accepts all stories, game results, tournament news and photographs from hockey organizations throughout New York State.

Email all material to Janet@nyhockeyonline.com Randy@nyhockeyonline.com www.nyhockeyonline.com Follow us on Facebook and Twitter nyhockeyonline

30

West Hockey

Atlantic Hockey Championship to Remain at Blue Cross Arena Through 2019

T

he Atlantic Hockey Championship will remain at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena through the 2018-19 season according to Atlantic Hockey Commissioner Robert DeGregorio. The league has finalized terms of a three-year deal with the Blue Cross Arena after operating on a year-to-year basis the last few seasons.

The Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinal and championship games have been played at the Blue Cross Arena since 2007, with campus sites serving as the championship location prior to 2007. Since moving to a neutral site, the tournament has continued to grow, with the league experiencing record-setting attendance numbers the last two seasons.

“We couldn’t be happier to have this deal done with the Blue Cross Arena” said Commissioner DeGregorio. “We have been able to make the Atlantic Hockey Championships a staple of the Rochester-area in our 10 years there and are thrilled we can continue our partnership with the arena, Jeff Calkins, and the

City of Rochester for another three years.”

The City of Rochester recently announced that SMG, who has managed the arena since 2000 and whose contract was set to expire on September 30th, will remain as the operator of the facility. Along with a new contract, SMG will also begin the process of upgrading the arena, using more than $10 million in state funding to target areas that need improvements.

“This commitment by the Atlantic Hockey Conference is great news for the City of Rochester and the Blue Cross Arena” said Blue Cross Arena General Manager Jeff Calkins. “We value our partnership with the league and the trust they place in SMG and the City of Rochester to host a prestigious NCAA Division I hockey tournament in our community.”

The Atlantic Hockey Championship heads to the Blue Cross Arena on March 17 and 18, 2017 for the semifinals and finals.

32

T h e season has just started for the Federation with games being played almost daily at

various rinks in WNY. The standings as of December 24 are listed below: Non-League

Division 3 Grand Island 6-0-0 (6 games) West Seneca East West Seneca West

Zach Rehbaum leads the scoring with 7 goals/4 assists for 11 points. He playes for Williamsville South.

Mat Carden, Lewiston-Porter, also has 7 goals and 4 assists.

(NYHOL would like reports from The Federation on a regular basis.

We will be covering games periodically but will accept press releases/ game reports/special stories from the teams. Please send to Janet@ nyhockeyonline.com)

With two games played and 4 points each, these teams are all tied. They return to the ice January 6.

Division 1 Orchard Park Williamsville North

4-1-1 4-2-0

After six games played Division 2 Williamsville East Hamburg

4-1-0 (5 games) 4-1-0 (5 games)

Division 4 Lewiston-Porter CSD 5-2-0 (7 games) Kenmore West 4-1-0 (5 games)

St. Joseph Marauders 2-0-0 Williamsville North 2-0-0 Hamburg 2-0-0 Clarence 2-0-0 Sweethome 2-0-0 Williamsville East 2-0-0

Kenmore East will meet Kenmore West on January 16 at HarborCenter for a 5 p.m. puck drop.

Section VI Boys Varsity

4-1-0 after 5 games 2-3-1 after 6 games

Leading scorer is Mike Steffan with 8 goals/7 assists for 15 points. Steffan is from Williamsville East.

33

Wanted: Coaches

T

he Buffalo Stars Youth Hockey Program will begin accepting resumes for Travel and House Coaches for the 2017-18 season starting December 15th.

Resumes and a letter of intent should be sent to: sportsniag@aol.com If you have any questions contact 491-0375. Resumes will be accepted through January 15th and interviews will begin that week. Coaches will be selected by February 1st.

Stars Experience Lake Placid

B

uffalo Stars Squirt Major AA had a great trip to compete in the CAN/AM Challenge Cup in historic Lake Placid, NY on the rinks of the “miracle on ice of 1980�. The team played extremely well and earned a chance to compete for the bronze medal in the tournament but came up just short in their efforts.

Coaches our extremely proud of the players and their efforts this weekend. For more information about Buffalo Stars Hockey visit us at www.buffalostars.com

Stars Player of the Week (December 4)

T

he Buffalo Stars Midget Spotlight Player of the Week ending December 4 is Connor Krupa of the U16 Full Season Team.

Connor is 15 years old and a tenth grader. He resides in North Tonawanda.

The Defenseman is looking at a career in law enforcement and his favorite subject is art.

Among his favorite players are Alex Ovechkin and his favorite college team is Penn State. He considers Ovechkin a role model because of his skill.

In his spare time he enjoys Legos and plays golf and enjoys Batman and Superman movies, with favorite super hero being Batman.

He enjoys all types of music and his favorite food is chicken wings.

His personal hero(s) are his parents because they support him in everything he does.

This season Connor is focused on becoming a strong and more skilled defenseman and taking his team to the State and National championship.

34

Iroquois JV Report

by Coach Jim Banko

December 2, 2016 Iroquois 3 Lockport 1 On a unseasonably mild Friday night in early December the Iroquois Chiefs matched up against the Lockport Lions.

The game was tight and filled with solid defense and even better goaltending from both sides. In the end the junior Chiefs prevailed 3-1 with goals from Mitchell Carlson and Dylan Giancarlo. Continuing his strong play assisting on two of the three goals was Paul Fitzgerald. Defensively Shane Gusterferro, Patrick Moran and Tyler O’Donnell thwarted the Lockport team throughout the night. Also having strong games was the starting line of Austin Baker, Ryan Kingston and Zack Murphy. In goal Alex Musielak played stellar making several key saves down the stretch.

December 4, 2016 Iroquois 2 Lew-Port 8

On Sunday night the JV Chiefs played the fast and skilled Lewiston-Porter Lancers. The game was tight through the first two periods with Iroquois keeping the Lancers attack under check even with a few rough defensive plays helping the LewPort offense. Providing the offense for Iroquois was the top line of Mitchell Carlson, Luke Pukalo and Paul Fitzgerald. Defensive Dalton Trites and Tyler Kaplewicz moved the puck well and played strong in front of Iroquois net. Playing their best game of the year were Ben Plonka and Ryan Kingston, each of whom had several great shifts and opportunities. In goal was Zac Vitez, who played well against the fire powered lancers.

December 10 Iroquois 6

in three straight goals were forwards Mitchell Carlson, Ben Plonka and Jack Zienski (both with their first career high school goals). These goals were the result of a tremendous forecheck and heads-up defensive puck rushing. Contributing helpers on these goals were Paul Fitzgerald and Dalton Trites.

After an unfortunate bounce went in the net against Iroquois the game entered the third period tied up at three.

At that point the Chiefs proved their superiority by commanding the play TNT zone. It was an impressive display of smart hockey, physical dominance and skill. Scoring the second of his three goals to start the period was Mitchell Carlson from new found defensemen Tyler ODonnell.

Scoring next off a beautiful shot from the right faceoff dot was Paul Fitzgerald with an assist from Shane Gusterferro. Finally, with his first hat trick of his high school career Carlson pounced on a rebound with help from Fitzgerald and Gusterferro.

While the scoresheet serves its purpose it doesn’t capture the true essence of the game. Playing down three players all of the players on the Chiefs chipped in on the victory.

Bryce Yorke had his most physical game of his career while Austin Baker had more than a few chances to extend the Iroquois lead. Backstopping the entire game was goalie Zack Vitez. Vitez overcame some unfortunate plays early and allowed the Junior Chiefs to focus scoring goals.

Current record stands at 4-4.

Tonawanda/North Tonawanda 3

Hockey is an exciting game. There is non stop action and poetic movement all taking place on frozen water.

On Saturday night the Iroquois Junior Varsity Chiefs played their most exciting game of the year. Starting slowly and getting behind quickly 2-0 in the first period the Chiefs regrouped and found their scoring touch. Pouring

35

Who Will

I

t’s another puzzle in Western New York as to who will head off to the State Championship and who will take the WNYGVIH championship.

After 8/9 games played Williamsville is leading with a 9-0-2 record but followed closely by Orchard Park/ Frontier/Lake Shore with a 7-2-0 record.

But not to be forgotten is Monsignor Martin, who has taken home a championship trophy for the past several years. They are sitting in third place with a 5-1-2 record.

Amherst/SweetHome/Clarence is also to be reckoned

Lead in with as they have played 10 games and have a 5-50 record.

Next up are Kenmore/Grand Island, West Seneca/Hamburg/Eden and Lancaster/Iroquois/Depew.

At any given time, any of these schools could hit a win streak that would rearrange the standings. That is a reason not to miss a single game.

The WNYGVIH League is back in action January 2 at 4:30 p.m. at Northtowns Center when Amherst/ SH/Clarence take on Orchard Park/ Frontier/Lake Shore.

Games are then on tap for the rest of January.

Leading the scoring as we enter 2017 are Julia Ming ( with 15 goals/10 assists in 9 games played and Emma Faso with 10 goals/12 assists. Both play for Amherst/Clarence/Sweet Home.

Between the pipes with 135 minutes played is Maggie Spyche (OP/F/LS) with 3 wins and a .957 save percentage.

Williamsville’s Mia Wendell has played 180 minutes with 4 wins and a .944 save percentage.

Looking at goalies who have played extensively, Gina Denisco (Amherst/SH/ Clarence) has played 358.07 minutes with 4 wins and 4 losses and has a .801 save percentage and 4.78 GAA.

36

2017?

D y l a n Gorski of Lancaster/Iroquois/ Depew has seen 315 minutes of action and posted one win and one loss with a .851 save percentage and .5.57 GAA. The League also has received some local recognition with Mary and Emily Kromer being named #1 Super 7 Athlete of the Week for December 21. The sisters are Orchard Park/Frontier/Lake Shore’s leading scorers.

Maggie Spyche

KenmoreGrand Island Teammates Leah Czeerwinski

The Kromer’s were also #7 Super 7 Athletes of the Week earlier after combining with 5 goals/4 assists.

Kaitlyn Drew Mead was named #2 Super 7 Athlete of the Week for December 16 after posting 4 goals in a 5-0 win over West Seneca/Hamburg/Eden. Mead plays for Monsignor Martin.

The League is taking part in a fundraiser for Sam Heintz, a goalie who has had a brain tumor removed from above her eye. She has no sight loss but will need reconstructive surgery along with treatments for the tumor.

The Buffalo Stars 19U team has set up a Go Fund Me Account.

37

Western New York Women’s College Hockey Report

face Penn State on the road and return home January 27 and 28 to Lindenwood.

Kendall Cornine leads the scoring with 6 goals/5 assists.

by Janet Schultz Janet@nyhockeyonline.com JDSchultz3663@gmail.com

Buffalo State

The Bengals head into 2017 with a 5-4-1 record with Buffalo’s Erin Gehen (West Seneca) leading the scoring with 5 goals and 3 assists.

The Bengals will play January 6 and 7 at Salem and return to home ice January 10 to WilGehen liams College and January 14 and 15 to William Smith.

RIT

Claudia Black was named CHA Rookie of the Week after scoring RIT’s lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Bemidji. She has 4 points in 22 games.

RIT is struggling as they enter the New Year with a 3-18-1 record and face Mercyhurst January 13 and 14 in Pennsylvania. The following weekend they

Norton

University of Buffalo

With an undefeated season as they move into the New Year. the Lady Ice Bulls are 11-0-1 overall. They are second in W2 College Hockey East (ACHA) and the three top leading scorers in the league are UB’s Madeline Norton (Buffalo) with 32 goals/22 assists; Mamie Talty, 14 goals/29 assists and Alexis Peters (Buffalo) 19 goals/21 assists.

Black

38

Western New York Men’s College Hockey Report

by Warren Kozireski

Wkozires@brockport.edu

BROCKPORT The Golden Eagles concluded the first half with a 2-0 win at Plattsburgh—the first time they have ever won on Cardinal ice since the teams started the series in 1977. The Cardinals were 80-2-4 in the all-time series entering the game.

Freshman Matt Schneider (Manlius) was named SUNYAC Goalie of the Week the last week of the first half after Brockport swept their North Country trip for the first time in program history. Schneider made 64 saves while allowing just two goals in two games for a save percentage of .970.

Sophomore Tim Kielich (East Aurora) isn’t scoring goals like he did when winning SUNYAC Rookie of the Year last season (12 goals), but he is passing well with a team-leading 12 assists. Freshman Connor Hutchins had the goal lead with six at the break with all but one on the power play.

BUFFALO STATE After a 3-0 stumble against Cortland, the Bengals rebounded in a big way one night later defeating the nation’s top ranked team in Oswego handily 5-1 in the final game of the first half. They were ranked ninth in the nation as of Dec. 12.

Freshman Anthony Passero led the team with 15 points at the December break with classmate Zach Remers (Clarence) three points back. Upperclassmen Taylor Pryce, Zach Nieminen and defenseman Brody Power also were in double-figures in scoring.

Senior goaltender Mike DeLaVergne (Pawling) was continuing to prove he was one of the best in the conference, if not the Remers country, with a 1.00 GAA, .964 save percentage and eight wins. The team was being outshot 423-357 through 13 games.

Passero (#10) in game against Plattsburgh.

CANISIUS A three-point weekend in early December launched the Golden Griffins into a tie for fifth place in Atlantic Hockey with a road trip to Holy Cross the final weekend of the month left.

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It’s been an up-and-down season for the young squad, which dressed 13 underclassmen for a late-November game.

Junior forward Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo) was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week after the December weekend after tallying five points (2g, 3a) to take over the team scoring lead. But he was the only player to have ten points through the 17 game mark of the season.

Senior goaltender Charles Williams stood fifth in the nation in save percentage at .935 through the holiday break.

ERIE CC The defending national champs were a perfect 5-0 in December and ranked first in the country among junior college programs.

Through 15 games, freshmen stood atop the team scoring chart with Brendan McFall (Hamburg), Anthony Cybulski (Cheektowaga) and Bill Shaffer (Portville) all with 20 or more points.

Freshman Jeffrey Gardner (Auburn) had garnered seven of the squad’s 12 wins

FREDONIA With Cortland, the Blue Devils were the other surprise team in SUNYAC with four conference wins at the halfway mark—the same number as in all of last season.

Junior forward Samuel Wilbur had earned almost half of his 31 career points this season and was leading the team with 14 points while Bobby Polachek was tops with five goals through the first 11.

Only three of the teams’ first 34 goals scored came from defensemen. The team will lay six non-conference games in tuning up for the final six game SUNYAC stretch.

GENESEO The seventh ranked Knights had only two conference losses—against ranked Oswego and Buffalo State—and swept the tough North Country trip to finish up the first half on a high note.

Conlan Keenan (Penfield) was named SUNYAC Rookie of the Week Dec. 12 as he notched his Division III-leading seventh power-play goal of the season to go along with an assist in Geneseo’s 5-4 victory at Plattsburgh before tipping home the game-winning goal with less than two minutes left in regulation after also tallying an assist in a win at Potsdam. He had the second most points of all first year players in the nation (18) and led the team with 13 goals.

Stephen Collins (Pittsford), whose next game will be the 100th in his career, was lighting it up offensively with 22 and 17 assists to lead the country in helpers.

NAZARETH

The Golden Flyers managed just one tie over the final four games prior to the holiday and things don’t get any easier at the Northfield Bank Tournament Dec. 30-31 against nationally ranked Norwich (#5) and then either Williams or top-ranked Oswego on day two.

Senior Dominik Gabaj, in just his third season with the team, was closing in on 60 career points and led the team with eight goals and 15 points. Sophomore Austin Romzek and junior Oliver Janzen were tied with eight assists each.

Senior goaltender Brandon Lane had earned each of the team’s four wins and was sporting a 2.98 GAA.

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NIAGARA

R.I.T.

The Purple Eagles were looking up at the rest of the Atlantic Conference and took a five-game losing skid into the holiday break.

Senior goaltender Jackson Teichroeb became the first Purple Eagle in four years to record back-to-back Teichroeb shutouts over Sacred Heart Nov. 19 and Nov. 25 versus AIC. With seven career shutouts, Teichroeb now ranks third in program history behind only Greg Gardner (16) and Juliano Pagliero (8). The last time a Niagara goaltender recorded consecutive shutouts was in 2012, when Carsen Chubak earned three straight shutouts, part of a program-best shutout streak of 252:59.

Teichroeb became the seventh in Division I this season to register back-to-back shutouts and his shutout streak of 159:15 was the fourthlongest this season.

Vince Muto (Niagara Falls) entered the holiday break ranked first in Atlantic Hockey, and tied for seventh in the NCAA, with 38 blocked shots this season. His career high for blocked shots in a season came in 2013-14, Muto when he blocked 50 in 37 games as a freshman.

Derian Plouffe was selected by Atlantic Hockey Nov. 24 Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week—the first time in three years that a Niagara player earned that accolade.

Plouffe scored three goals, one assist, and a plus-6 rating in three games.

The Tigers entered the holiday break tied for second in the tight Atlantic Conference thanks to a five-game league winning streak. That was largely due to balanced scoring with ten players at ten points or more over the first 18 games.

Goaltender Mike Rotolo (Greece) became the program’s Division I leader in games played and saves surpassing Jordan Ruby in both categories.

Myles Powell became the first in the Division I era of the team to score two shorthanded goals in one game against Bentley. He leads the team with ten goals and 16 points.

The Tigers scored six power play goals in one game for the first time since Oct. 21 2006 at Niagara on Dec. 2.

After selling out their Brick City Homecoming game at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena for the seventh consecutive season, the Tigers will try for eight Oct. 14, 2017 against Northeastern.

OTHER AREA NOTES: • The Atlantic Hockey Championship will remain at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena through the 2018-19 season.

The league has finalized terms of a three-year deal with the Blue Cross Arena after operating on a year-to-year basis the last few seasons. The Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinal and championship games have been played at the Blue Cross Arena since 2007.

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NYHOL stopped by Cornerstone Arena to see Niagara County Community College play Buffalo State’s Club team. It’s NCCC’s Inaugural Season.

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Starpoint Hockey Gives Back

A

s most hockey parents know, being part of a hockey team means more than just showing up at the rink and playing a game.

It means being part of a family. For the 4th year in a row, the Starpoint Hockey family, consisting of Varsity and JV players, coaches, and their families, donated their time to help with a community service project

called Boxes of Love in downtown Buffalo. Boxes of Love was founded by Pastor Eric Johns to help inner city families with food and toys during the holiday season.

Players collected toy donations for needy children of Western New York, as well as worked in the warehouse packing 880 bags of groceries that will be distributed to families before Christmas.

It was an impressive sight to see the boy’s teamwork off the ice as they gave back to our WNY community.

After the work was completed, the team went back to Starpoint High School for a pizza party and team bonding. Special thanks to Good Guys Pizza in North Tonawanda for their generous donation to our effort.

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