WNY Hockey Report October 2013

October 2013 VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 1

! k c a B s i y e k Hoc

In This Issue: College Coach Conduit HARBORCenter Tour Women’s Hockey Senior Hockey Preview WNY Legends of the Game

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Contents

In This Issue: P.O.Box 302 East Aurora, NY 14052 716-830-0182 info@wnyhockeyreport.com Managing Partner Ian C. Woods icwoods@wnyhockeyreport.com Vice President, Business Development Ned McDonnell Commish@wnyhockeyreport.com Publisher & Managing Editor Randy Schultz Randy@wnyhockeyreport.com Designer & Photographer Janet Schultz Janet@wnyhockeyreport.com Senior Columnists Warren Kozireski Warren@wnyhockeyreport.com Contributing Editor Jeff Kolcon Jeff@maksymum.com Communications & Marketing Director Val Andrews Val@wnyhockeyreport.com Columnists Janet Schultz Michael Mroziak michael@wnyhockeyreport.com Rob Sedia rob@newedgehockey.com Lars Lewis Lars@wnyhockeyreport.com Matt Ondesko Matt@wnyhockeyreport.com Tom Barnett Tombarnett@earthlink.net Anthony Fiorello anthony@wnyhockeyreport.com Skylar Vitko-Woods

HARBORCenter Tour.................................................................... 4 WNY Legends of the Game....................................................... 5 Senior Hockey Preview............................................................... 6 College Coach Conduit............................................................... 7 Juniors: Should I Play Up?.......................................................... 9 Around the Associations..........................................................10 Rochester Americans.................................................................11 Junior Sabres................................................................................12 College Hockey: Men................................................................13 Women’s Hockey.........................................................................15 Rochester Jr Americans............................................................16 St Francis Hockey .......................................................................17 Insight Hockey.............................................................................21 The Whiteboard...........................................................................23 Rochester Youth Hockey News..............................................25 Section VI Preview......................................................................25 College Club Hockey.................................................................27 NiceRink, Getting Started........................................................28

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3

Feature – HARBORCenter Tour

4

Buffalo Skyline Changing Everyday

by Janet Schultz Janet@wnyhockeyreport.com I love doing unusual stories and being adventuresome.

When the invitation came to tour the construction site of HARBORCenter, I knew it was something I couldn’t pass up— even on a beautiful day perfect for golfing!

While everyone knows driving and parking will be challenging for the hockey season, and any other events you are attending at the First Niagara Center, I’m in agreement with HARBORCenter President John Koelmel and Chief Development Officer for the Buffalo Sabres Cliff Benson when they say it will be worth it.

“The WOW factor will take over when they see the updated renderings of the building on display at First Niagara and as they walk past the construction site,” said Koelmel.

As I walked past the tribute to the French Connection and saw the crane looming over First Niagara and HARBORCenter, I thought it was one of the most beautiful sites I’d seen and gave me confidence in the City of Buffalo that good things will happen when creative and energetic people with vision get together.

A slight thought of apprehension crept in as I walked up several stairs made of metal, that rocked a little, onto the site.

We stood on the parking ramp on the second floor.

Plywood, piping, concrete and steel girders fill the skyline.

You have to look up and imagine the ice arena that is yet to come. There is so much to be done that you can’t imagine it being finished for the 2014 season.

“We are on time,” said Koelmel. “Next October we will be ready to go with the rink, restaurant, retail and parking ramps.”

“This is moving as fast as any construction project anywhere in the country,” said Benson. “Seventy-five percent of the workforce comes from within a 100 mile radius.”

“That means there is passion in this workforce,” he continued. “This team is proud of what they are doing and what they are bringing life to.”

Our group spent a good 20 minutes on the ramp as Benson and a member of the Mortenson Construction group explained various aspects of construction.

It was there that I learned Benson had worked construction early on in his life and had actually pulled the plywood away from concrete after it had hardened, forming the floor of buildings.

After descending from the parking ramp, we walked down Scott Street as if we were viewing the retail shops.

“We have had numerous inquires from groups that want to partner with us,” said Koelmel of the retail area. “We are in the negotiation stage right now.”

We then made an interesting stop.

Currently there is a staircase filling a large square with a deep hole. The hole, an elevator shaft. So what you say?

Well, this shaft is for the elevator that will move the Zamboni up to the floor where the ice arenas will be located.

“We learned from Washington, where they also put their arena on a second floor and the elevator they installed wasn’t large enough for the Zamboni,” Benson explained.

“They actually had to take parts off the Zamboni to get it to fit.”

Buffalo won’t have that problem, the Zamboni was measured before the elevator was ordered and the shaft built.

Next we stood in the kitchen of the restaurant.

Right now it housed a concrete truck pouring concrete, construction workers installing girders and the floor made of gravel.

Soon it will be a sportsthemed restaurant that will be run by HARBORCenter, not a franchised restaurant.

“This will be under the Pegula umbrella,” said Koelmel.

More than 120 construction workers are on the site six days a week totaling more than 58,000 hours of work thus far. They have installed three quarters of a mile of underground plumbing, 1.7 miles of underground conduit and installed 1,483,665 pounds of rebar (reinforcing bar that is a common steel bar used as a

WNYHockeyReport.com

tension device for reinforcing the structure).

The Sabres are also concerned about their fans and have been working with the Erie County Harbor Development Center and other constituencies to make the movement in and out of the area as user friendly as possible.

When Fall 2014 comes around, the Buffalo skyline will look a little different. The HARBORCenter projects will be complete, the new Casino has come on board, there are new restaurants in the Cobblestone District and the NFTA renovated their station in that area.

All of this will make Downtown Buffalo and the Harbor Front the place to be for years to come.

WNY Legends Of The Game

5

WNY Legends In Hockey: Gates Orlando

by Randy Schultz Randy@wnyhockeyreport.com It is late on a Thursday afternoon in early October.

Gates Orlando steps off the elevator and walks through the Buffalo Sabres press box high above the ice at the First Niagara Center.

It is nearly an hour before the Sabres will face the Columbus Blue Jackets. Orlando, a scout for the New Jersey Devils, is on hand to watch the game, take notes and report his findings on the game back to the Devils.

As Orlando, who played in parts of three seasons as a player with the Sabres, makes his way to his seat, he is greeted by several other pro hockey scouts. Some shake his hand, while others simply say hello.

There is no doubt the scouts are glad to see Orlando and the Devils scout is simply glad to be seen. For Orlando, this is the first time he has been back to work in almost two years.

In March of 2011 Gaetano “Gates” Orlando was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He agreed to participate in a clinical study being conducted by the University of Rochester Medical Center.

“My doctor (Dr. Eugene Storozynsky) had asked me to wear a LifeVest defibrillator,” recalled Orlando, now 50. “It ended up saving my life.”

On May 22, 2011 Orlando was in his suburban Rochester home when his heart began beating at a very high rate (reportedly at 277 beats per minute at its worst). Then his heart stopped.

Orlando collapsed on the floor and was unconscious.

Forty seconds later a shock from the LifeVest revived him.

“If I hadn’t been wearing that vest, I would be dead,” remarked the Montreal, Quebec native. “That’s when I fully realized how serious my condition was.

“I ended up having two heart transplants in 10 months. I never really put a lot of thought into the situation at the time.

“I knew that I was alive and I had to stay alive. I trusted my doctors and staff.

“I knew someday my time would come when a heart would become available and it did.”

On April 4, 2012 Orlando received his first transplant, an artificial heart. He lived with that until February 4, 2013.

“They removed my human heart and put a piece of plastic in its place for 10 months,” recalled Orlando.

That’s when a donor was found and Orlando received a human heart. Following more than two years of nonstop critical care, which included 208 days inside Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, Orlando finally got to back to his home in Victor in March.

“I’m very appreciative to the donor and the donors family,” stated Orlando, who also played in all or parts of five seasons with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. “This was a life-changing experience for me.

“It has changed my perspective on a lot of things.”

Orlando has been a battler his entire life. The first

thing he battled was his size.

During his hockey-playing days, the former center was listed at 5-8 and 175 pounds. Many said he was too small to play hockey.

He began his climb up the hockey ladder playing for the Montreal Jr. Canadiens of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Following one season there, Orlando jumped to Providence College, who was coached by Lou Lamoriello.

After one season at Providence, Orlando was drafted by the Sabres, 164th overall, in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.

Instead of turning pro, Orlando stayed at Providence for the following three seasons. He scored 93 goals and 210 points in just 129 games. He was even a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top US collegiate player.

“It was always my goal to play in the NHL,” said Orlando, a member of the Rochester Americans Hockey Hall of Fame. “It was very exciting for me when I finally made it to Buffalo with the Sabres.

“I had the chance to play with Hall of Famer, Gilbert Perreault, who I followed when I was a kid growing up.

“I enjoyed my time spent in Buffalo, as well as in Rochester. Rochester has been home to me since my first season there back in 1984.”

Orlando made a huge decision in 1987 when he turned down another contract offer from the Sabres.

Instead he headed to Europe to play in Italy, where he played for the next seven seasons.

Being of Italian decent, Orlando flourished as a player with three different teams. He won MVP honors one season and was an All-Star several times.

Following Italy, Orlando then travelled to Switzerland, where he played in the Swiss League for five more seasons. Despite his size, which wasn’t a problem in Europe, Orlando was considered one of the best North American players to ever play in Europe.

Following his retirement as a player, Orlando then coached hockey for five more seasons, including two with the Albany River Rats as an assistant coach. The River Rats were a minor league team of the New Jersey

Skate Great

ockey H edge

Devils where Lamoriello had gone to as a general manager.

Lamoriello has been very special to Orlando.

“He has been like a father-figure to me and to all his players, especially going back to my days at Providence,” commented Orlando, who has a Business Management degree from Providence. “I had stayed in touch with Lou throughout the years.

“He helped me get back in the game, first as a coach, then later as a scout, which is where I’m at today.

“I must admit that I don’t think I would have made it mentally over the past two years if it wasn’t for the support of the New Jersey Devils organization. They were phenomenal.”

Orlando also has advice today, especially for the smaller sized players.

“You have to have passion,” stated Orlando. “I think passion will supersede size in a lot of ways.

“I think you also have to have the skill and the smarts to play the game. If you work hard and apply yourself, anything is possible.”

For Orlando, he still lives by those words.

“Following the past two years, I’m enjoy being back in the game as a scout,” concluded Orlando. “For now, I just live one day at a time.”

Get the edge with Skate Great Tip #9: Forward Crossover

A common error when learning forward crossovers is to cross the foot over leading with the heel instead of the toe turned in. Leading with the toe will place the crossing skate onto the inside edge increasing the ease and flow of the crossover motion.

The Hockey Edge tip - on a circle perform a swizzle pump with the outside foot and while leaving it on the ice, “pigeon toe” it in (position 1) and then cross in front of the weight bearing foot (position 2).

Repeat multiple times clockwise and counter clockwise. Then perform the same motion while lifting the foot over on slow crossovers.

Position #1

Position #2

For more information visit www.SK8GR8.com/hockeyedge

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Adult Hockey Preview

6

2013 Fall WNY Adult Hockey Preview

by Anthony Fiorello Hockey in Western New York is different than most places. From the pros to the college ranks to junior, high school and squirt hockey, hockey players of all ages and skill levels compete year-round and have truly made Western New York, in the words of Buffalo Sabres president Ted Black, “Hockey Heaven.”

Adult leagues also represent a portion of hockey in the area. Nearly anyone can play in them, from players who have competed at the highest level to average Joes; adults at any stage of life can compete.

Many leagues in which adults can compete include:

Batavia Men’s Hockey League

posted immediately after games via the website.

“Our elite leagues attract some of the top talent in the area, including current and former NHL players,” Heaney said. “Our 35-plus winter league includes Kevyn Adams, Jay McKee, Darryl Shannon and Craig Muni and Michael Peca has played three of the four past seasons.

The summer league in recent years attracts a number of Division 1 players who are home for the summer, as well as NHL players. One of those summer players was Patrick Kane.”

More information can be found at www.hockeybuff.com

“What makes us different from many leagues is that, to date, we have tried to control the level of parity rather than just open it up to teams of unknown talent and demeanor that are based solely on skill level, i.e. “A”, “B”, “C” etc.,” league director Paul Demler said. “We attract players within the commuting distance of Chautauqua County, Cattaraugus County and northwestern Pennsylvania (including Erie).”

For more information, visit www.jahl.us.

Erie Metro Hockey League

Holiday and Leisure Rinks Ron Nowakowski – 716-665-3860 The LSHL is made up of ten divisions and begins the week after Labor Day (second week of September).

Games are played nightly throughout the week.

One of the longest tenured adult leagues in Western New York, the LSHL has many different skill levels spread amongst the various divisions.

For more information, visit http://www.holidayrinks. com/content/pages/senior-hockey-home.

Falleti Ice Rink Steve Pies – Board Member of the BMHL In the Batavia Men’s Hockey League, a pool of 104 players is rated by an eight-member board before each season. Based on the ratings, the eight teams in the league conduct an annual fantasy draft in order to determine the teams for each season.

There is a 25-player waiting list to get into the league and players who wish to get into the BMHL must participate in a ratings skate in order to determine where they would fall in the ratings system.

If someone has played in the league within the past three years, they will be placed at the top of the waiting list. If a player wishes to return to the league after the grace period expires, they must go through the application process again.

The BMHL season format is made up of one preseason game and 21 regular season games. Every team makes the playoffs, which are conducted as a three-game round robin. There is also an All-Star game held at the end of the season. USA Hockey rules are in play.

The cost for a full season is approximately $130 per player, and the age range of players is 18 through 67.

Buffalo State Ice Arena Joe Kalczynski – 716-684-7000 The EMHL uses a 26-game league schedule that normally begins in September.

The league consists of five Divisions – Classic, Adams, Patrick, Norris and Smythe. Each division fields five or six teams, and registration for each level is currently open.

The EMHL plays 15-minute periods. Should games end in ties, three-man shootouts are used, followed by one-on-one sudden death shootouts if no shooter finishes.

All teams are guaranteed to play at least one playoff game and the semi-finals and finals are both a best of three series.

The cost to play is $400 per player, per season.

The most unique aspect of the EMHL is an in-season tournament for each of the divisions that end midway through the season. The winning team receives Sabres tickets.

The EMHL also features an All-Star Game/Skills Competition that occurs in February before the conclusion of the regular season.

Buffalo Police & Fireman’s League

Jamestown Adult Hockey League

Cazenovia Rink Kris Krtanjek – kk14@roadrunner.com 716-597-8899 The BPFL is generally starts in the first week of October. The season consists of 25 regular season games which typically conclude around April 1st to accommodate vacations.

The league normally operates in the morning. There are six active teams in the league – the NFTA, the Erie County Sheriffs, the Buffalo Police Department, the Buffalo Firemen Green, the Buffalo Firemen Red and the Department of Corrections.

The cost per team is $3,150 per season which includes ref fees and scorekeepers.

In game play there are 15-minute periods including stop time. The top four teams make the playoffs where it is single elimination; just a semi-final and a final.

Elite Hockey – HockeyBuff

Northtown Center James Heaney – jamesheaneyjr@gmail.com HockeyBuff is entering its 24th year of operation.

It originally started at Lafayette Rink in North Buffalo and it now plays exclusively at Northtown Center at Amherst. Two leagues are operated in the winter, one for elite players 35 and older and another for intermediate players 21 and up. Two summer leagues are also held for players 18 and up – one for elite players, another for intermediate.

HockeyBuff prides itself as a “well-organized, nononsense league that makes smart use of technology”, according to league director James Heaney. Players can register online and handle scorekeeping electronically.

Game results and updated scores and player stats are

Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena Paul Demler – lp2demler@winstream.net The Jamestown Adult Hockey League is a not-forprofit, non-check league open to both male and female players age 18 and up. They are currently affiliated with the AAU, which has opened its sports umbrella to include adult ice hockey for the 2013-2014 season.

In addition to AAU policies, the league maintains its own by-laws, which includes a supplemental aggressive penalty and fine policy that helps maintain a more “friendly” atmosphere without detracting from competition. In years past they were affiliated with USA Hockey.

There are two divisions - a 6-team “open” division usually comprised of younger, faster and/or highly skilled players and an 8-team “B” division usually comprised of older and more novice level players where the pace is toned down. Balance and parity are maintained among the teams, which is overseen by a board comprised of team captains. New players are generally assigned to teams based on need.

The seasons normally begin by mid-September and end in March and have included 21 regular season games, three playoff games and a division championship game. Games are officiated by sanctioned referees and are held Sunday nights between 5pm and 9:30 pm using our twin rink facility. Games include three 15-minute stop time periods. All teams make the playoffs. The playoff format runs in tournament-style format (points per period/game) with the top two teams making the respective divisional championship game. The current cost for the season is $410 per skater and goalies pay $205. Monthly payment plans are offered as well. The cost for players coming in during the season is prorated.

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Labatt Senior Hockey League

Lakeshore Adult Hockey League

Rob Kerbs www.lakeshorehockeyarena.com The 14-game LAHL season begins on the second week after Labor Day. Games are held from Sunday through Thursday at the Lakeshore Hockey and Sports Center. C and D level play on Sundays, B+ and D levels on Mondays, C-on Tuesdays and C and C+ levels play Wednesday and Thursday.

Team ratings levels are based on team rosters submitted by each team’s captains. No player in the top two skill levels can play below a C+ league in order to maintain competitive balance.

The playoff format is determined by how many teams are in each division. For example, a division with eight teams will see the top four teams in postseason play.

Team registration cost is $3,760, with 16 players equates to $235 per player. Players must be 18 and up to participate.

The league game play format consists of 15-minute periods with stop time, unless a team is up by six goals or more with less than 10 minutes left in the third. If that is the case, then it goes to a running clock. Overtime lasts for three minutes and then a 3-on-3 shootout happens. If teams are still deadlocked in a tie, then sudden-death shootouts occur.

A tournament will be held on New Year’s Eve and Day, and the Spring Tournament of Beers sponsored by Labatts and Molson is also held by the LAHL.

Niagara University Adult League

Dwyer Arena Christian Glowinski – cglowinski@niagara.edu The Niagara Adult League is held at Dwyer Arena at Niagara University, with players ages 18-and-up eligible to play. Each team will play 22 regular season games and a minimum of one playoff game. Playoffs are consisted of a one-game quarterfinal and the semifinals and finals are three-game series. Standard USA Hockey rules apply.

The second annual Dwyer Arena Overnight Challenge will be held on Saturday, December 28 and the Niagara Challenge, a three-day tournament, will be held in April.

“One thing that is different about our league is the way that divisions are set up,” league director Christian Glowinski said. “Most teams are reluctant to declare A or B skill levels, so I schedule teams to play everyone once.

(Continued on page 32)

College Coach Conduit

7

College Coach Conduit

by Warren Kozireski Warren@wnyhockeyreport.com New York State college hockey fans have been privileged to watch and enjoy some of the top coaches in the history of the game.

Current Boston College head coach Jerry York stands atop the all-time coaching wins list with 935 career wins (and counting) with 125 of those earned behind the bench at Clarkson University.

Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery had 523 career wins as of the start of this season—just 19 wins from moving into the top-15. And former Geneseo head coach Paul Duffy is 46th on the list with 358 wins over his 730-plus games.

Some of today’s coaches played college hockey in the western New York area such as current Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder, who played goal for RIT, former Niagara head coach—now Colby College head coach Blaise MacDonald, who played defense for the same team, Chris Schultz (Gates-Chili) at Geneseo, who played for the Knights in the mid-1990’s and former Niagara Purple Eagles forward Nick Carriere who is behind the bench at Buffalo State.

But there are three coaches among the top-60 all time in coaching wins on the list—two active—who laced up the skates as a player for the same western New York college.

With unofficially only 154 victories in 575 contest over 38 seasons, Brockport has been far from one of the

most successful programs on the ice, but Mercyhurst College’s Rick Gotkin, Fredonia’s Jeff Merideth and former Canisius College head coach and current D’Youville Athletic Director Brian Cavanaugh all wore the green and gold jersey during their playing careers.

Gotkin entered the 2013-14 season ranked 26th alltime on the coaching wins list with 453 over 24 seasons.

A defenseman during the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons after transferring from Canton, Gotkin spent one season post-playing career as an assistant coach at Brockport before moving to Division I RPI in 1986-87 and 1987-88.

He joined Mercyhurst in 1988-89 in the second year of the program’s existence and just began his 26th season behind the Lakers bench.

“I attribute me to being in the top-60 to having great people around me,” said Gotkin. “Start with unbelievable assistant coaches and great student-athletes who have made me look a lot smarter than I am.

“I think we all love the game and played with or for a great guy like the late E.J. McGuire and Brian Cavanaugh was an assistant there when I played. (McGuire was born in Buffalo, played and coached at Brockport and was later an NHL assistant coach with Mike Keenan in Philadelphia and Chicago, a head coach with Portland in the AHL and an assistant with Rick Bowness in Ottawa before moving into scouting and becoming the head of Central Scouting for the NHL before his death in April 2011).

“I don’t think that I possess anything special or better than anybody else. I think we manage people and I’ve been blessed with great students.

“I don’t know about the other guys, but that’s how I feel.”

Gotkin has produced seven All-Americans, four Players of the Year, three Rookies of the Year and 17 allconference selections over his now 25 seasons behind the bench with the Lakers, but he was far from the best player on his teams.

Rick Gotkin, head coach at Mercyhurst, entered this season ranked 26th all-time on the coaching wins list.

He recalls one locker room exchange with McGuire: “I remember Plattsburgh was killing us, which happened a lot, and back in the locker room E.J. was getting on the defensemen about how we were playing the twoon-ones and he spun around and said ‘Gotkin—what do you do on a two-on-one’ and I said ‘I can’t speak for these other five defensemen, but I get up and slide down the bench to get a better view.

(Continued on page 16)

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Junior Hockey Wisdom & Opinion

9

Should I Play Up?

by Jeff Kolcon Jeff@maksymum.com

There is an argument around hockey. Should I play up? Is it better to be a 4th line player on a great team or a first line player on a weaker team? Parents, players and coaches have debated this topic since wooden sticks and leather goalie pads.

Should the younger player play up with the older and often stronger boys or should he “dominate” at the lower levels. Mite to squirt, squirt to peewee, peewee to bantam, bantam to midget, midget to junior, this happens at all levels and can add tons of stress to the family that has to make the decision. in fact, the debate continues into the junior college, and pro ranks. Does a player stay at a developmental level to rack up the points instead of playing on a more elite junior squad that may limit his production.

There is no doubt that a very small percentage of players can play up to a higher age and skill level and not only survive, but also be very productive. Many of us had a chance to watch or coach with or against Patrick Kane on his ascent. Playing up worked for him. For every Patrick Kane there are hundreds that made the choice to play up and had far less success.

The merits of playing up are easy to point out. The player will be challenged by bigger, faster players and will have to adjust to the faster level of play. In some cases this is a win/win situation.

The younger player can adapt and be productive. The player is happy. The team is happy. The parents are happy.

There is another scenario for playing up that is not as positive.

The player is good enough to make the older team, barely. In other words, the top scoring center on the Squirt Major AAA team becomes the 3rd line dump and change player on the Peewee Minor AAA team. For those of you that buy into the argument that it is good for development to have to prove yourself all over again and work your way back to the top, I would argue that confidence is a major key in the game of hockey. In my opinion, it is much easier to coach confident players instead of coaching players that are questioning everything they do hence making slower and poor decisions on

the ice. I believe in hard work. I believe in earning everything you get in life. However, confidence and self esteem can dismantled much faster than the time it takes to develop and establish those essential traits in a player.

As a general rule, I don’t believe in playing up. Maybe by relating this to the academic setting I can put this issue into better perspective. If you are straight A student in 7th grade do you go into the school and demand that your child is placed into 8th grade? Most of us would not even consider that move because of the other factors that are involved including social relationships and maturity. Imagine the chaos if all kids with high marks expected to move up to eighth grade. Most would agree staying in seventh grade, even if you are on top, is the right move for the vast majority of students.

I am an advocate of players brimming with confidence as they advance up the age brackets. This is not a popular opinion in a society that demands instant results and focuses on what a team or organization can do for them instead of what they can offer to the team and organization. The vast majority of players at the AA and AAA level should be playing age appropriate.

Several years ago I had the fortunate experience of coaching the U14 Edge Tier 1 girls team. This team not only won the state title, it also went on to capture the silver medal at nationals. This team would not have happened if the Edge organization had not stuck to their guns regarding playing up. The Director at the time, Ray Cardella, was adamant that the organization remain true to their beliefs. This kept the older level coaches away from the U14 roster. Although several girls were utilized as alternates for older teams, the age appropriate rule remained in effect.

Not only did Ray’s stance reaffirm my belief that age appropriate play works, it also gave those 17 girls a chance to experience a once in a lifetime run not to be achieved if they were spread out over several older, watered down teams. Time has proven that age appropriate play did not hurt this group. Thirteen of those players are now at Wisconsin, Cornell, Mercyhurst, Maine, Plattsburgh, Oswego, and several other great college hockey programs.

The issue of playing up extends all the way into pro hockey.

Spencerport native, Shane Prince is a second round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators. He is coming off a very successful rookie year in the AHL. He had a tremendous run during training camp

this year and was repeatedly singled out by management and the press as a player to watch. So why is he back in the AHL? Although there are many issues that will factor in to keeping a young player at the developmental level for a bit longer, the essential reason for the trip back to the minors has to do with placing a round peg in a round hole. The Senators know what Prince is capable of achieving. They know he is capable of putting up points. They believe that he is a first or second line NHLer. They also know that if Prince plays a fourth line role, he will be ineffective. They want to wait either until a top six forward spot opens or until Prince forces himself into the top six by his performance. Hence placing a round peg in a round hole. A scorer moves into a scorers role not a checking line role.

Fortunately, the model in junior hockey that is becoming more and more popular is that of multiple teams working together for development purposes. What you see now is more movement between teams that are strategically working together to develop players. A U18 player may play in a junior game to replace an injured player but not relinquish his spot on his respective team. A top tier junior player may drop down to a lower level junior team for the same reasons or to possibly get back into shape coming off an injury.

This model works to allow players to slowly adapt to the next level without having to fully immerse. Staying with their age and skill appropriate team builds their confidence while having the ability to practice and play against bigger and faster players allows for an understanding of what it takes to progress to the next level. On the East Coast, you rarely see a program that does not have strategic relationships with either U18 programs or multiple level of junior teams competing at different levels.

The NAHL and USPHL have developed models for long term growth.

Keep in mind that the average college hockey player entering their freshman year is two years removed from high school graduation. Further, over 90% have played junior hockey. If taking talent was the only precedence, college coaches could easily run 18 year old freshmen in their lineup. As a whole, they usually don’t. Further NHL programs could entice the 18 year old to jump into the NHL. With very little exception, the don’t.

Make sure to consider all options prior to jumping up to an older team.

Halloween Tournament Friday 10.25 10:30 am Buffalo Saints 12:00 pm Centre Wellington Fusion 1:00 pm West Seneca Wings 2:30 pm Valley Forge Minutemen 4:00 pm Perinton Blades 5:30 pm Cleveland Alliance 7:00 pm Sudbury Wolves 8:30 pm TNT Tornados

Saturday 10.26 8:00 am Perinton Blades 9:30 am Valley Forge Minutemen 11:00 am Centre Wellington Fusion 12:30 pm TNT Tornados 2:00 pm Cleveland Alliance 3:30 pm West Seneca Wings 5:00 pm Sudbury Wolves 6:30 pm Buffalo Saints

vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.

vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.

Perinton Blades Cleveland Alliance TNT Tornados Sudbury Wolves Centre Wellington Fusion Buffalo Saints West Seneca Wings Valley Forge Minutemen

Holiday Holiday Depew Depew Depew Depew Depew Depew

Sunday 10.27

Cleveland Alliance West Seneca Wings Buffalo Saints Sudbury Wolves Valley Forge Minutemen Centre Wellington Fusion Perinton Blades TNT Tornados

Depew Depew Depew Depew Depew Depew Depew Depew

8:00 am 9:30 am 11:00 am 12:30 pm 2:00 pm

3rd seed 4th seed consolation #1 consolation #3 WINNER 8:00am

vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.

2nd seed 1st seed consolation #2 consolation #4 WINNER 9:30am

Depew Depew Depew Depew Depew

Semi Finals 1 Semi Finals 2 Consolation Consolation FINALS

Holiday Rink: 3465 Broadway, Cheektowaga, NY 14227 – Depew Rink: 78 Gould Avenue, Depew , NY 14043

For more information visit: www.saintshockey.com WNYHockeyReport.com

Around The Associations

10

Around The Associations

by Janet Schultz Janet@wnyhockeyreport.com

Amherst Hockey

Amherst Youth Hockey will be continuing its highly rated Top Gun Tournament for House Teams – Martin Luther King weekend. The Tournament will be a travel like experience for Micron through Bantam Major and will include a three game minimum. Contact Steven B. Bengart , Tournament Director, at bengartlaw@gmail.com

Bud Bakewell

You no longer need to live in Amherst tory Hockey For Free Day, November 3 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Riverside Park, 2607 Niagara Street. This is a chance for anyone interested in ice hockey to skate and try the game. Pre-registration is required.

Call Allen Shubbuck, 716-913-1521.

Bud Bakewell is also in need of Squirt MOHL Team players. Contact John Fracos, 716-605-5344 if you are interested.

Bakewell’s Novice/Mini Mite Program will be following the USA Hockey admissions 8U guidelines and be at no cost. This is a Saturday skating program being held in 2 to 6 week sessions during the entire 2013-14 season.

Contact Allen Shubbuck for more information.

Buffalo Regals

The Buffalo Regals 16U Tier I Buffalo Regal girls went undefeated in round robin play during the Cleveland Ignite the Ice tournament.

They defeated the Ohio Flames, Washington Pride and Team Detroit earning number #1 seed in the Sunday morning cross-over and making them face their cross-town rival Buffalo Bisons in the semi-finals.

In the Semis, the Regals won, 3-1, while out-shooting the Bison’s by a 32-11 margin. Tori Allard (2 assists) opened the scoring in the first period off a pass from Zoey Perchaluk. The Regals added two goals in the second, one by Perchaluk (1 assist) and another by Emma Ruggiero (Amherst) on the power play. Brynn Wopperer (Amherst) added two assists and goaltender Amber Dubill had a solid outing, letting in one goal late in the game.

In the finals, they faced Team Detroit again and although the Regals outshot the Detroit girls 32-18 overall, they ended up losing 3-2 in a shootout after two scoreless OT periods.

As part of the upcoming nationally recognized Rochester Fire in Ice tournament, the Regals will be hosting the 5th ranked team in the country, the Chicago Young Americans, at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 19 at Holiday Twin Rinks.

The Regal’s 14U Tier I girls also went undefeated in Cleveland and claimed the Championship by allowing one goal against overall in the process.

In round-robin they beat the Washington Pride, St. Louis Lady Blues and Ohio Flames before beating the Buffalo Bison’s in the semi-finals by a score of 4-0. In the finals they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1.

With the success in this tournament, Myhockeyrankings.com, ranked the 16U girls #13 and the 14U girls #8 nationally, the highest ranking of any team locally.

The Regal’s 12U Tier II girls, led by leading scorer, Jersey Phillips, and with the goaltending of Hannah Barrett, earned the number one seed overall after going 2-1 in round-robin play. They beat the NU Purple Eagles girls 2-1 in the semi-finals on goals by Jersey Phillips and Jenna Cavalieri and lost to the Cleveland Sabres in the finals.

In a matchup against the Buffalo Bisons they earned a 1-1 tie, starting off the season an a very good note for a young team.

Buffalo Saints

The Buffalo Saints PeeWee Major team will host the Centre Wellington Fusion, Cleveland Alliance, Perinton Blades, Sudbury Wolves, TNT Tornados, Valley Force Minutemen and the West Seneca Wings at their Halloween Showcase on October 25 through 27.

Buffalo Shamrocks

The Buffalo Shamrocks own ‘Rocktober ‘training camp’ is in full swing, during which time players are evaluated for proper placement among our varsity (travel), JV (select) and club (house) squads at the mite, squirt, pee wee and bantam levels.

NEW TO HOCKEY OR DISCOURAGED BY PAST EXPERIENCE? For the better part of the past decade, the ‘Rocks have been at capacity with a waiting list in place, however, as we assess roster placement, and in an effort to provide more opportunity, the Shamrocks have OPENED UP A LIMITED NUMBER OF ROSTER SPOTS for our Learn-to-Skate (6-U), Mite Novice (7-U) and Girls 14-U (2 girls jerseys remaining: 1 for skater, 1 goaltender) teams.

For more information about registering for these valued spots, call 523-ROCK or visit www.gorocks.org.

Buffalo Stars

This year the Buffalo Stars & Coaching and Player Development Director Tim O’Connor has not only taken strides toward player development efforts with the full season Midgets NJPHL Program he has also brought to the organization three player development skill coaches, Mark Zarbo, Mark Metzger and Jason Hill, all of whom have played at the junior, college or professional levels will give all the teams in this organization a chance to work with them this season.

Players won’t have to go outside the organization for a developmental camp.

Mark Zarbo has extensive hockey experience, playing Division 1 college hockey at Bentley in the AHA for one season and for three seasons at RPI in the ECAC. He graduated in 2010 from RPI with a BS in Business and Management.

In Junior hockey, Mark played for the Youngstown Phantoms Jr A in Mark Zarbo, new Buffalo Stars the NAHL and the skill coach. CD Selects Jr A in the EJHL. In both leagues he was selected to play on the All-Star team.

In 2012, Zarbo interned with the Buffalo Sabres in their scouting department helping them sort and break down video on amateur players for the 2012 NHL Draft.

Recently he was named the hockey column writer for Sports and Leisure Magazine; with his first article coming out in the 2013 October issue. Zarbo grew up playing hockey in the Buffalo area and recently moved back to Western New York to attend graduate school at UB. He is a candidate to for a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree and will graduate in May 2014.

Throughout his career Zarbo was fortunate to have some of the best coaches and trainers from around North America including well known area coaches Gary Reeves, Darryl Belfry, and Jon Christiano. From his

WNYHockeyReport.com

experiences as a player Mark has developed the ability to teach any type of individual or team skill in a detailed but simplified manner.

As a coach he prides himself on being very detailed in all his teaching. Zarbo believes that it is just as important that a player understands the “why” of a skill and not just the “how.” Players that do not understand why they are performing a skill will never fully understand how to correctly use that skill in a game.

After graduation Zarbo’s goal is to develop the best all-around hockey development program in WNY and Southern Ontario. His knowledge of on-ice mechanics, off-ice training, injury prevention and rehab methods will allow Mark to design efficient player specific programs. No program in the area has a coach or trainer who has as much combined playing, coaching and training experience as Mark. His goal is take that knowledge and put it into use for all players to benefit from.

The Buffalo Stars will open the 2013-14 House League Season on Saturday, November 2 with the MOHL teams playing at 3 p.m. (PeeWee), 4:15 p.m. (Bantam #1), 5:45 p.m. (Bantam #2) and 7:15 p.m. (Midget).

They will begin the day with their Annual Try Hockey Free for a Day Program beginning at 2 p.m. Any child new to the game will have an opportunity to try it out for free.

As a show of support for the brave men and women of the Armed Forces, the Buffalo Stars will conduct a Chinese Auction with all proceeds going to support the Wounded Warrior Project. To learn more about the Wounded Warrior Project visit: http://www. woundedwarriorproject.org All games will be broadcast on the Stars UStream Internet TV Channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ buffalo-stars-junior-hockey%20 Buffalo Stars Midget Goalie Needed With the Midget MOHL breaking down into both Mnor and Major age groups, our Midget MOHL team found itself in the position of having to play Minor. We have one 18 year old that was pre registered but he will no longer be able to play for us since the rest of our team is minor. I believe we have found this boy a home.

However, we now find ourself in the position of having to find a Midget Minor MOHL goalie. If anyone knows of a goalie looking for a team have him contact our VP House Dave Lynch at: 253-3157 Buffalo Stars Youth Hockey Player Opening The Buffalo Stars Bantam MOHL #2 House Team is in need of a goaltender (1999 or 2000 birthyear) for the upcoming season. The team plays in the WNYHL MOHL Division. The team has already started skating so the opening is immediate. The opening is for a goalie in the 1999 or 2000 birth year. Contact Dave Lynch at 2533157 for information.

Cazenovia Chiefs

The Cazenovia Chiefs Pee Wee Mixed team brought home the Finalist Trophy from the Early-Season Challenge Tournament in Philadelphia on October 4-6.

The team swept the round robin portion of the tournament with wins over the Metro Maple Leafs(MD) 5-1, North Jersey Avalanche(NJ) 1-0, Exton Kings(PA) 4-2, and New Jersey Stars(NJ) 6-4. The championship game was a fiercely contested battle with the Chiefs finally being overtaken in the final minutes by a PP goal and empty netter in a 6-4 loss to North Jersey Avalanche. The Chiefs had a balanced attack with all three lines found the score sheet along with a solid defense and stellar goaltending for the entire weekend.

The Cazenovia Chiefs Squirts AA Travel Team defeated Pittsburghs South Pointe in a 6 round shootout to capture the Niagara Falls Columbus Day Hockey Tournament.

(Continued on page 14)

Rochester Americans

11

Rochester Americans Report

by Warren Kozireski Warren@wnyhockeyreport.com At the start of the 2012-13 season the Rochester roster had as many as nine defensemen, which created quite a bit of early competition before injuries and call-ups whittled that number down a bit.

Fast forward to this season

and…the same.

Enter Mark Pysyk, Jamie McBain, Henrik Tallinder and rookie Rasmus Ristolainen into the Sabres lineup with returnees Christian Erhoff, Mike Weber and Tyler Myers. Plus Alexander Sulzer has been up and down twice through the first two weeks of the season.

Veteran Drew Bagnall is surrounded by prospects on the Rochester blueline Chad Ruhwedel, Brayden McNabb, Nick Crawford, Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Matt MacKenzie plus free agent signee Alex Lepkowski.

That totals 15 defensemen at both levels.

Buffalo drafted defensemen Ristolainen and Nikita Zadarov in the first round last June to, they hope, raise the talent bar and competition for playing time at both levels.

and is beginning just his second pro season coming out of Rimouski in the Quebec League. He has struggled a bit to pick up the defensive nuances of pro hockey and hasn’t yet put up huge offensive numbers as a pro, but comes with an offensive pedigree with 67 goals and 126 assists and 193 points in 243 junior games.

MacKenzie has played just 51 games with Rochester due largely to the blueline numbers issue this year and last, but keeps the game simple and is adjusting with more icetime.

And West Seneca native Lepkowski as of this writing was still waiting for his first professional game, but brings size at 6’4”, 203 lb. as a shutdown defenseman.

So who is next?

“I think that it’s going to be dictated by who goes down up there,” said free agent signee and seven-year pro Bagnall. “At this stage everyone kind of fits into a role.

“If it’s a power play guy that goes down, it’s definitely not going to be me because that’s not my job. At the same time, if they need a stay-at-home hard-nosed guy, maybe that’s between McNabb or me.

“It all depends on circumstances and I think you realize that the longer you play the game and you’re just happy when other guys get the chance and when they come down you hope they’re better for it.”

“15 guys is a lot of guys, but so much happens throughout an AHL or NHL season that every team needs depth so you just get in when you can and try to take advantage of your opportunity,” said MacKenzie.

“Last year with the lockout there wasn’t anything going on injury wise and we had nine “d” down here, so it was tough. But once the NHL came back and guys were moving up and coming down, you have to be ready.

“Everyone’s goal is to be in the NHL and this is a building block, so you just bide your time.

“I don’t know (who would be the next call-up). We have a lot of good “d” here, McNabb and Ruhwedel are playing really well and Bagnall is solid—we have a good blend of different styles so whatever the Sabres are looking for that’s who they’ll call.”

NEWS & NOTES:

• Former Amerks Bobby Perrault, Al MacNeil and Bill Dineen are among four inductees in the Class of 2014 of the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.

Perrault backstopped the Amerks to the Calder Cup championship in 1966 and 1968 while taking them to the finals two other times. MacNeil spent parts of four seasons (1956-60) on the Amerks blueline while Dineen was with the team in 1961-62, but made his mark as a two-time Calder Cup head coach with Adirondack in 1986 and 1989. The Hall will contain 38 inductees with the 2014 class.

• Through week two of the regular season, Rochester still had four goalies on their roster—the lack of an official ECHL or lower minor league affiliate was making it difficult to place two for playing time.

• With their 8-1 loss to Grand Rapids in the season lid-lifter, the Amerks have now lost five of their last six home openers.

• Former Amerks defenseman T.J. Brennan was named the AHL Player of the Week for week one after he scored four goals with two assists in two games.

• Former Amerks forward Mike Harder is now a volunteer assistant coach with the Colgate men’s team in the ECAC.

Rochester Americans defenseman Brayden McNabb moves up ice.

Through the first handful of NHL games, Sulzer was the choice as the defensive call-up when injuries struck the Sabres blueline and they needed another blueliner.

But who would be next?

Bagnall was signed as a free agent and is beginning his seventh AHL season. The 6’3”, 215 lb. has never scored more than two goals in any professional season, but brings a physical presence and veteran influence to the team.

McNabb was a third round draft pick of the Sabres and is in the final season of his entry level contract.

At 6’4”, 205 lb., he also can be physical, but also has a big slapshot and has 56 assists over 107 games in an Amerks uniform.

Ruhwedel signed a two-year deal as a free agent out of UMass-Lowell and played seven games down the stretch last season with Buffalo. He registered his first professional point October 11th against Utica in his ninth pro game, but put up 15 goals and 48 assists over three collegiate campaigns.

Crawford was resigned for this, his fourth pro season, as more of a shutdown defenseman who can play with the second power play unit when needed. He has 51 points including 18 goals with 54 assists over his 199 AHL games.

Gauthier-Leduc was a third-round selection b Buffalo

Rochester Youth Hockey Tournaments 2013-14 Facebook.com/ JuniorAmericans

2001 AAA & AA Tournament ........................... Fri, Nov 8 - Sun, Nov 10 2004 AAA & AA Tournament .............................Sat, Dec 7 - Sun, Dec 8 2000 AAA Tournament.................................. Fri, Jan 10 - Sun, Jan 12 2002/2003 AA Tournament .......................... Fri, Jan 24 - Sun, Jan 26 2002 AAA Tournament.................................... Fri, Jan 31 - Sun, Feb 2 Cross-Ice Tournament ......................................................... Sat, Feb 8 House Tournament ......................................... Fri, Feb 28 - Sun, Mar 2

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Jr. Sabres

12

Buffalo Jr. Sabres: Back in the Hunt

by Michael Mroziak Michael@wnyhockeyreport.com Any concerns that the Buffalo Junior Sabres may take a few steps backward were quickly put to rest once the puck dropped on the 2013-14 Ontario Junior Hockey League season.

Not only has the team moved ahead after losing so many talents from the 2012-13 roster, they’ve actually thrived with their returning veterans and new blood.

They actually show signs of being even deeper than last year’s regular season success story.

First and foremost, there’s no singular go-to guy that the team depends on for goals, nor one or two assist specialists. The scoring has been plentiful and more distributed. Pat Egan, last season’s third-leading scorer behind Tyler Gjurich and Ryan Schmelzer, shared the team’s lead in overall points with 15 (five goals, 10 assists) in 10 game appearances, tied with first-year player Nick DeSimone (four goals, 11 assists in 11 games).

Team captain Schmelzer remains one of the team’s valued leaders, with four goals and seven assists in his first 11 games played this season.

The team’s leading goal scorer early on was Michael Ederer. In his first 11 games, the young forward had seven goals.

The team also has scoring punch from contributors including veteran forward Nolan Sheeran and rookie Darren McCormick, as well as veteran Max Mikowski and rookie Nick Smith.

The team will have even more firepower upon the return of Daniel LaFontaine, who was lost to a leg injury very early in the season, but not until he scored two goals and five assists in just four games. His return was hoped for close to the Holidays.

The defense, thought to be the greatest concern in the preseason with questions about its depth, has risen to the challenge and, in combination with goaltenders Joseph Pianta and Brandon Mueller, has helped Buffalo allow the fewest goals in the OJHL West Division, giving up only 33 goals in their first 11 games.

Both goalies have been more than capable. Pianta’s finest moment to date in a Jr. Sabres uniform was on October 6, when Buffalo rallied from a 3-0 deficit at Whitby to force overtime, which then led to a shootout.

After McCormick scored for Buffalo, Pianta stopped all three Whitby shooters he faced to preserve the team’s 4-3 comeback win.

Mueller, who lost his first start of the season on September 11 (a 5-2 decision to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens), won his next two starts, including a 4-0 shutout on October 8 against the Burlington Cougars at the Northtown Center at Amherst.

What this amounts to for the Jr. Sabres is a team that has been an early contender for the OJHL West division.

The competition this year is greater and fiercer, with the rival Georgetown Raiders again in the hunt along with an improved Milton Icehawks squad that features

Grand Island, NY native and former Jr. Sabre Shane Bennett, who was among the Icehawks’ top scorers.

Also challenging Buffalo for the division this season is a vastly improved Hamilton Red Wings squad that retooled itself after one of the club’s most disappointing finishes in recent history last season and is recharged and ready to challenge.

The Jr. Sabres enjoyed a September that kept them at home for a vast majority of their schedule, and it proved friendly as the team lost just one game in regulation. October gives Buffalo six games at home and six on the road, while November will see them travel more than they host.

Pat Egan, last years third-leading scorer is looked upan as this years go-to guy for goals and assists.

Evans becomes the fifth player on the Jr. Sabres’ 201314 roster to make a commitment to a college program.

Forwards Ryan Schmelzer and Nolan Sheeran will enroll at Canisius College next year, while defenseman Dennis Gilbert and forward Michael Ederer are scheduled to begin their college commitments in 2015. Gilbert is verbally committed to Niagara while Ederer is slated for St. Lawrence University.

GJURICH’S ROAD TO PROS BUMPY

Defenseman Mason Evans has committed to Connecticut College for the academic year 2014-15.

EVANS CHOOSES CONNECTICUT COLLEGE Defenseman Mason Evans, by way of his personal Twitter account, announced on October 14 he is committing to Connecticut College beginning next academic year, 2014-15.

Not to be confused with the University of Connecticut, Connecticut College is a smaller, private liberal arts school based in New London, CT. Their hockey team, known as the Camels, competes in the NCAA Division III level New England Small College Athletic Conference.

The former Nichols standout was called up to the Jr. Sabres briefly in the late stages of the 2012-13 season and earned a full-time spot on the roster this season.

According to the team’s official media guide, Evans aspires to study international business upon enrollment in college.

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Tyler Gjurich has certainly raised eyebrows on his quest to turn pro. If only a team would let him hang on.

Gjurich, last year’s leading scorer for the Jr. Sabres and entire OJHL, scored two goals in two games for the Hartford Wolf Pack during his tryout with the American Hockey League club.

Unfortunately for Gjurich, the New York Rangers affiliate included him among their cuts shortly before the start of the AHL season.

He was then invited to try out for the Rapid City Rush of the Central Hockey League. He appeared to score a goal in game action for the South Dakota-based club but credit was given elsewhere. His stay with the Rush was short-lived, as again he was released after a brief tryout.

The Hatfield, PA native was previously an unsigned invitee to the Buffalo Sabres’ summer pro Development Camp in downtown Buffalo.

One has to believe he’ll get another shot somewhere, not a matter of if but when and where.

Men’s Collegiate

13

WNY Men’s College Hockey

by Warren Kozireski Warren@wnyhockeyreport.com

Division I Buffalo native Andrew Black is off to quite the start to his collegiate career with the Colgate Raiders.

He scored twice over his first three games and was seeing regular time on the penalty kill unit.

“He had an unbelievable training camp from the beginning and is the biggest surprise for me,” Buffalo native and Colgate Raider, said Colgate head coach Don Andrew Black Vaughan. “We knew we had a kid that could finish, but the way he skates, how hard he competes and he’s a great face-off guy—he’s much more of a complete player than we anticipated. I’m thrilled for him and for us.”

Black was named Eastern Junior League Player of the Year last season – his second season with the Jersey Hitmen.

“One of the big things I’ve always focused on is adjusting quickly,” said Black after his third game at RIT. “I definitely want to keep it going and take another step forward.”

Canisius With his goal in the opener at Niagara, senior Kyle Gibbons closed to within seven points of becoming the eighth player in the school’s Division I history to reach 100 career points. The goal was his 43rd career in trying to become just the third Griff with 50 career goals.

Freshman Shane Conacher picked up his first collegiate point—an assist in the opener at Niagara before leaving in the first period with an injury. He was the only freshman in the lineup.

Canisius plays just one of their first nine games on home ice—November 9th versus Mercyhurst.

The Griffs are the second tallest team in the nation this year averaging 6 feet, 0.82 inches tall.

Niagara This season marks the first time since its first campaign 17 years ago that the Purple Eagles begin with no goaltenders having appeared in a collegiate game.

Defenseman Matt Williams is six games away from 100 career games played.

With their comeback win against Canisius October 12th, the Purple Eagles are now 11-3-1 all-time in conference openers.

Sophomore defenseman Matt Dineen scored his first collegiate goal in the Canisius contest in his 25th career game. Freshman forward TJ Sarcona scored his first

collegiate goal in the same contest. Mike Conderman (Greece) scored his first Niagara goal in the season opener versus Clarkson.

Former Purple Eagles goaltender Juliano Pagliero is the assistant coach at Holy Cross after serving in the same capacity with Utica College for two years.

RIT Mike Colavecchia entered the season ninth on the all-time scoring list with 81 points and registered a goal and an assist over the first two games.

Senior Adam Mitchell did not play in either of the first two games and remains six games shy of 100 career games played.

The team sold out their annual Brick City Homecoming game against Michigan 15 days in advance. Boston College will be the opponent at Blue Cross Arena next October.

Division III Preview Geneseo The Knights won 12 of 14 games during a stretch from lateNovember to early-February, but their season ended during the conference semi-finals for the second time in three years.

They will retool a bit this year after losing three of their top six scoring forwards to graduation along with four of their top-six defensemen.

Leading scorer Zachary Vit is the go-to offensively and is back for one more season needing just five points to join the 100-point club. Junior Tyler Brickler, SUNYAC All-Rookie selection David Ripple, junior Justin Scharfe (Webster), senior Carson Schell, Gary Childerhose and Jonathan Sucese (Fairport) will be asked to step into offensive roles.

The key to the season will likely be the blueline with First Team All-SUNYAC defenseman Jack Caradonna and sophomore Nate Brown the only two starters returning with a quartet or more of newcomers filling the remaining spots, though Division I transfer Matt Solomon via Sacred Heart will help.

“Returning only two defensemen that played regularly last season we need the incoming freshmen and Solomon to step up and fill the void,” said head coach Chris Shultz, who enters the campaign three wins from 100 in his career.

Among those freshmen blueliners are Derek Stahl, Cam Hampson, Matt Lee and J.D. Rassert along with sophomore returnees Dennis Playfair (Buffalo/Jr. Sabres) and Matthew Hutchinson.

“We are hoping one of Bryan Haude (Hilton), sophomore Nick Horrigan or freshman Matt Leon will step up and take over the number one (goaltending) job.”

Fellow Sacred Heart transfer Ryan Stanimir arrives for his junior season with Jack Ceglarski, Stephen Collins (Pittsford) and Connor Anthoine other newcomers at forward.

Buffalo State The Bengals won a quarterfinal playoff game for the second consecutive season, but their season ended in the conference semi-finals also for the second year in a row. They embark on the 2013-14 season after losing four of their top six scorers, but returning most of their defense and starting goaltender Kevin Carr in his senior campaign.

Mike Zanella is the only player back who scored more than nine goals last season (16-10-26), so the coaching staff will fill first line and offensive roles with Brett Hope, seniors Shane Avery and Mac Balson and a host of others.

Sophomores Todd Graham, Ben Kramer and Sean Hrivnak help solidify the blueline with seniors Jason Cleaver and Clay Lewis.

Carr played in all but eight minutes last season in net and either holds or is closing in on every Bengals goaltending record. He begins this season 312 minutes away and 315 saves away from moving into the top spot. He already holds career records for save percentage (.917), goals against average (2.71), wins (35) and shutouts (7) set during his first three seasons as the starter.

“We’re excited for another SUNYAC season,” said head coach Nick Carrierre. “We’re expecting rigid competition on a nightly basis.”

Charles Lapierre joins the blueline corp with Taylor Prince, Dan Turgeon (MCC), Jake Rosen (East Amherst), Anthony Beaumont, Adam Rossi and Nick Berst key newcomers at forward. Goaltender Mike Delavergne arrives after his championship run with Wiles BarreScranton (AJHL) last season.

Fredonia It’s a bit of a rebuild for the Blue Devils after ten players, including their top scorer and two goaltenders, departed. Add the scarcity of goals last season—ranked 72-of-72 teams at 1.77 goals per game and scoring more than two goals in a game just six times over 26 games—and the objective is clear.

“We went out and brought in guys who have scored goals in juniors,” said head coach Jeff Merideth. “We are excited about the upcoming year and working hard to pump the offensive side of Blue Devil hockey back into our game.”

Scorecards will be needed for the home opener on November 8th with 14 newcomers.

Blake Forslund, Frankie Hart, Marcus Ortiz, Garrett Moore (Arcade), Travis Fernley, Mackenzie McAvoy, Hunter Long and Erik Moberg join the forward ranks while Zach White, Darrin Trebes (Buffalo), Marcus Moles and Kurt Gottschalk fighting for at least three openings on defense.

Goaltender Chris Eiserman also arrives via Bridgeton Academy.

Alex Perkins, Andrew Christ, Stephen Castriota, Taylor Bourne, John DeFeo, Chad Bennett, Jared Wynia and Matt Owczarczak (Buffalo) will battle the new forwards for top-line minutes.

Aside from Edens, returners on defense include sophomores Mitch Kaufman and Ryan Wilkinson with juniors Tyler Matecki (Buffalo) and Cory Melkert.

(Continued on page 14)

WNYHockeyReport.com

Around The Associations Around The Associations (Continued from page 10)

14

Perinton Youth Hockey

Perinton Youth Hockey will host the 24th Annual House Spring Tournament for all 2013/14 House A and B Teams in February and March. The A Division will play February 28 through March 2 and the B Division will play March 7 to 9.

Games will be played at Thomas Creek Ice Arena in Fairport. Deposits and applications must be received by December 31. Contact Roger Salmons, 25 Shadowmoor Drive, Fairport 14450. Email him at BigThaw@perintonyouthhockey.org or call (585)7348913.

Southtown Stars

The Southtowns Stars Amateur Hockey Association (STSAHA) 2013-2014 season is off to a successful start with many tournaments scheduled and games to play. We continue to grow, and it is important Hamburg Hawks Pee Wee Major AA to recognize the commitment of both our players and families. Thank Hamburg Hawks Girls 12U won the PeeWee competed in the Cleveland Rock n Roll Cup you to all for your dedication.

BB Championship in the Niagara Falls Fall in September.

Classic Girls Tournament.

If you are interested in having your player join us in the coming years, you can find more information at southtownsstars.com. We look forward to another successful season.

Good luck to our teams during the upcoming season and Go Stars!

The Hamburg Hawks Girls 12U hockey traveled to Niagara Falls, Canada to compete in the Niagara Falls Fall Classic Girls Tournament.

After dropping their first two games they tied their third game. The The Tonawanda Lightning is sponsoring a girl’s hockey Try It For Free Hawks then faced an undefeated Niagara Falls team in a rematch, and won 3-2 to practice on Sunday, October 20 from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. at the Brighton move onto the championship game.

The Hawks deafeated the North Halton Twisters 2-0 to win the PeeWee BB Arena. All participants need to have full equipment to come on the ice.

Contact the Lightning if you need a specific piece of equipment, there championship.

The Hamburg Hawks Pee Wee Major AA team played in the Cleveland Rock n Roll may be some available.

The Lightning are looking for girls ages 8 to 12; but any age is welcome. Contact Jim Cup on September 13-15. Eight teams competed including two teams from Canada.

Derrigan, jimnlisad@roadrunner.com to reserve a spot. Space is limited.

The Hawks lost 4-2 in the finals to the Ancaster Avalanche from Hamilton Ontario.

With several new players this season, they have come together nicely in a short period of time under Head Coach Jeff Sortisio.

During the Tournament the Hawks went 3-2 in the five games they played and The West Seneca outscored opponents 17-14 for the weekend. The scoring was balanced and both Squirt Tier II team goalies, Noah Webster and Eli Dunkel, played outstanding. swept the Rock n Roll Cup in Cleveland!

In the game against the Pittsburgh The Monroe Midget Major TB Team won the Pittsburgh Pre-Season Vipers (NHAHA) 207 they won 6-1 Challenge by going 5-0 and beating the Perinton Midget AAA team in followed by a defeat of the Saginaw the finals.

Blades, 9-3. In their third game out they beat the Allen Park Huskies 10-2 and in the championship game West Seneca Wings Squirt ll Team wins the defeated the Pittsburgh Vipers, 4-1.

Cleveland Rock n Roll Cup in September.

Hamburg Hawks

Tonawanda Lightning

West Seneca Wings

Monroe County Youth Hockey

WNY Men’s College Hockey (Continued from page 13)

Brockport Don’t tell the Golden Eagles that every second of every game doesn’t matter. They were four seconds from defeating Potsdam last February before the Bears tied the game and later won in overtime. Brockport finished one point out of the final playoff spot behind---Potsdam.

But it was a learning experience for the underclassmen.

Eight of the team’s top-12 scorers from last season are back along with sophomore goaltender Jared Lockhurst, who was the talk of the league during the first month before getting hurt in November.

Leading point-getter Jesse Facchini and leading goal scorer Shane Cavalier will try to improve on their freshman campaigns with offensive help from seniors Chris Cangro, Brendon Rothfuss (Webster) and Steve Sachman, junior Troy Polino with sophomore classmates Jeremy DeFazio, Chase Nieuwendyk, James Ryan and Michael Zagari.

Replacing departed senior Mike Heyward on the point for the power play could hold the key to the season. Senior captain Mike Deluca, juniors Bobby Chajka and Marcus Farmer plus sophomores Chris Luker (Buffalo Jr. Sabres), Chad Cummings and Jonathan Demme will battle for that spot and top pair minutes.

Among the recruits, forwards Jake Taylor, Nick Marinac and Ryan Johnson arrive from the OJHL as does defenseman Robbie Hall, who had 60 points over his 106 games junior career. Goaltender Andrew Winsor also will fight for games after his 20-3-1 season with Trenton last year.

“We’re looking forward to competing for a playoff spot this year after coming so close the last two years,” said head coach Brian Dickinson, whose next win will be his 125th at Brockport.

“Only losing two seniors, we have a lot of experience returning that we expect to help us in the early part of the season as our schedule only includes three home the games the first half.”

WNYHockeyReport.com

Women’s Hockey

15

Women’s Hockey

by Janet Schultz Janet@wnyhockeyreport.com The 2013-14 season starts off with four young women taking leadership roles at various levels of ice hockey. Three have a strong connection to the former DI women’s ice hockey program at Niagara University, while the third comes from Buffalo State College’s DIII program. They are going to lead women’s ice hockey teams from behind the bench.

The first announcement came from Buffalo State College when they appointed Candice Moxley as head coach.

Moxley played for Niagara University from 2001 to 2005. She was recruited by Niagara’s first Head Coach Margot Page and served as team captain New Buffalo State Assistant Coach in her Senior year.

Lucy Schoedel (left) and Head She racked up a Coach Candice Moxley (right). career record of 34 goals and 78 points in 135 collegiate games. She was named Rookie of the Year in her Freshman year, named an All-College Hockey America honoree and was a three-time CHA All-Academic Team member. After college she played for the CWHL and in her three seasons with the NWHL, earned a silver medal at the ESSO Nationals and at the 2007 Provincial Championships.

Moxley served as an assistant coach at Robert Morris College, as a full-time Head Coach at Trinity College School and then as an assistant at Ohio State, under NU alumnus Nate Handrahan.

Moxley has also brought in a local assistant coach in Lucy Schoedel, an Ithaca native who played for the University of New Hampshire and for Syracuse University. Schoedel spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Brown University.

Next up was the naming of Rachel Hauser as the Head Coach for Niagara University’s women’s club ice hockey team. Hauser made it through four years of DI hockey at Niagara and then the program was eliminated. She was continuing her education in a graduate program and headed over to the team to play another year. That led to helping then-coach Jason New Niagara University Elliott and when he took Women’s Club Ice Hockey a job elsewhere, she was Coach Rachel Hauser. appointed Head Coach.

Hauser comes with experience and passion.

She began her career on roller blades in Pennsylvania.

Switching to ice hockey she played with boy’s teams and eventually for the Philadelphia Flyers Girls Ice Hockey Team.

According to a story in a Lancaster (PA) newspaper, Hauser was unstoppable as she moved her way from Lamepeter-Strasburgh High School. She played for the Lamepeter-Strasburgh Boys varsity program where she lettered two years and was the first woman named to the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League’s All-Star team.

She played four years for the Delco Phamtoms 19U team and as a Lady Phantom contributed to a 2003 AWHL Championship. She captained that team in 2004-05.

When not selected by a DI collegiate hockey program, she went to the Toronto Rattlers Intermediate AAA Women’s Touring Team and led the team to a Trinity Tournament Title and served as an assistant captain.

After a season with the Rattlers, she found her way to Niagara. She played in 99 games with the Purple Eagles, was named to the CHA All-Academic Team two years and then moved to the club program while she continued on her graduate studies in business administration.

“When Jason asked me to serve as an assistant coach last year, it was my first experience as a coach,” explains Hauser.

It may be her first experience as a head coach, but she has captained several teams and worked with the USA Hockey Development Program at girl’s select camps.

“Club hockey is a lot different,” explains Hauser.

“There’s not as much of a commitment as there is at DI or DIII but it still gives players a chance to continue playing hockey after high school and youth hockey.”

NU plays as an independent but looks forward to joining a league at some point in the future.

“This will be a rebuilding year for us,” said Hauser.

“We lost eight players to graduation and only have four returning.”

“Everyone will be new when they take the ice,” she remarked.

Next up is Melissa Jechovich, named head coach for the University of Buffalo Lady Ice Bulls.

Jechovich is a native of Niagara Falls. She began her hockey career at age six with Grand Niagara and then went to the Niagara County Coyotes in their inaugural season. She also played for Niagara Falls Boy’s Varsity before her collegiate career with Buffalo State College.

New UB Lady Ice Bulls Wanting to stay in the Coach Melissa Jechovich. game, Jechovich joined up with the Lady Ice Bulls as an assistant coach under Ron Adimey. Adimey resigned prior to the start of the season for employment reasons.

Jechovich feels that anyone who loves the game and knows it can coach.

“I’ve always been part of the game and wanted to stay in it,” she said.

This season UB is facing a lot of tough competition in the opening part of the schdule.

“It will be tough, but we will be getting better,” she said confidently.

Finally, one of the biggest announcements of the WNY Girls Hockey season, is the appointment of Linda Groff Mroz as head coach of the WNY Girls Varsity Ice Hockey League Monsignor Martin Team.

Mroz takes over from Chris Malicki, who left the position for family reasons. Malicki coached the team to the league championship in 2012 and 2013. However,

WNYHockeyReport.com

you will still see him behind the bench for the Cazenovia 10U girls.

Mroz has been on the ice since she was 18 months old.

She played three years in travel at Amherst starting at age 7. Mroz was on a boy’s team until she was 18 years old. However, during that time she also played for the Buffalo Bison’s Girls team and the Nichols Girls Varsity New Varsity Girls Ice Hockey Team.

Monsignor Martin Coach She was recruited by NU Linda Mroz. Head Coach Margot Page and had “a blast” during her four years with the Lady Purple Eagles. During her junior year the Eagles went to the Frozen Four.

Following graduation she took a year off to recharge.

She had played hockey for over 15 years and needed to “figure out life.”

She played roller hockey with the Wings organization and made it all the way to the National Tournament in Venice, California.

“It was a semi-pro league and we got paid in equipment,” said Mroz. “They took us on a truck and let us chose what we wanted.”

Mroz tried for the USA Olympic Women’s Hockey Team that went to Utah. When she didn’t make it she decided to go play some Senior Women’s Ice Hockey with the Buffalo Saints Senior B Team and then formed a women’s team at the Buffalo Regals.

Mroz also serves as director of the Regals Girls Development Program. This is a house program for girls ages 7 to 17. Skill doesn’t matter, it’s a place to develop that.

Mroz has also coached Lacrosse and currently coaches Field Hockey. She also gave Basketball a try, but found that is not her sport. She has coached both boys and girls ice hockey and when the opportunity to be an assistant coach with Monsignor Martin came up, she jumped.

Mroz’s favorite holiday is Halloween, and this Halloween she will be spending it with tryouts for the 2013-14 Monsignor Martin Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Team.

Mroz lives in Amherst with her husband, Brian, and children, Josh, 10; Riley, 5 and Cooper, 1.

RIT Outlook Rit’s women’s ice hockey team has had nothing but exciting times for the past four seasons.

For Senior Melissa Bromley she opened her career with a winning season, closes it by closing Ritter Arena. For Junior Lindsay Grigg, she also starts with a winner and will close out her Senior year in 2014-15 by opening the new Gene Polisseni Center.

“It’s like the best of both worlds starting at DIII in my freshman year and going to a national championship which we lost,” said Bromley. “You gain a ton of experience.”

“The next year we actually won the national championship and it’s unbelievable.

“You’ll never forget it, it’s by far my best college memory and I don’t think that will change,” said Captain Bromley.

“Transitioning to DI we have an amazing fan base (Continued on page 33)

Rochester Jr Americans

16

Junior Americans Finish Pre-Season Strong Elite Off to Fast Start

The Junior Americans Elite team has started the season strong, going 6-0-0-1 in the first month of the season, including winning two of three games on the road in Massachusetts from October 4th-6th.

Game one of the weekend turned out to be the toughest of the weekend, as the Americans faced off against a strong Boston Junior Bruins team. Rochester fell behind 1-0 early in the second period, until Dylan Shapiro tied it up on a nice rush for his second goal of the season. Unfortunately Goalie Will Massey made 29 that was all the offense saves in the loss to Boston. that Rochester could produce, as Boston prevailed 2-0 in a shootout for a 2-1 victory. Will Massey had 29 saves for another strong outing in net to continue his hot start to the season.

College Coaching Conduit (Continued from page 7)

“From my vantage point I got to see and hear a lot and I think I learned and though it all, as much as the game has evolved with players, the equipment, the strategy— it’s still pretty much the same game. You’re still trying to win one-on-one battles, you’re still trying to get pucks to the net, so it’s still hard work, effort and commitment, but it’s still the same game.

Gotkin is ten wins from the top-25 all-time and, in his mid-50’s, could keep coaching long enough to reach the 600-plus wins needed to reach the top-ten.

Jeff Merideth has been behinfd the Fredonia bench for 25 years.

Gotkin’s teammate with the Golden Eagles in the early 1980’s was goaltender Jeff Merideth, who has been behind the bench with Fredonia for 25 seasons. Typically considered the third goalie on the team, he didn’t see a lot of game action, but like Gotkin it allowed him to watch and learn.

He enters the 2013-14 season with 352 career victories as the Blue Devils head coach—just six from catching Geneseo’s Duffy for 46th all-time.

“I think you have to look at E.J. (McGuire) as the

Saturday saw the Junior Americans facing the Bay State Breakers for the first time this season. Connor Boyd got the game off to a fast start, scoring 19 seconds into the first period. Bay State stayed in the game, but Rochester earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory after goals

by Connor McLean and Oliver Janzen. Derek Shatzer stopped 33 shots to earn his third win of the season.

The weekend ended with a 4-1 victory over Bay State in the best overall game the Elite team has played this season. Jimmy Angelicola opened the scoring with his first goal of the season, and Billy Kent extended the early lead to 2-0 with a great unassisted shorthander.

McLean stretched the lead to 3-0 with a power play goal, his second goal in as many games. Tyler Wolf capped the scoring with an empty netter, his team-best sixth goal of the season. Wolf is now tied for sixth in the USPHL Elite Division in goals. Massey was again solid in net, stopping 37 shots to earn the victory. He now leads the Elite Division with a .970 goals against average, and ranks second with a .965 save percentage.

16U Team “Walks a Mile in her Shoes” Members of the Rochester Junior Americans U16 team were proud to “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” on conduit for all three of us,” said Merideth. “E.J. was a very influential person in my life. I was a third string goalie and didn’t help that team do anything, but E.J. was a guy who made me feel like a started and he was influential in my coaching career because he guided me to get my master’s if I wanted to get into college coaching and to get a GA (graduate assistant) position.

New York State college hockey fans have been privileged to watch and enjoy some of the top coaches in the history of the game.

“He was the one who contacted the coach at Ohio State, so I went out there to interview and getting the GA position. Without E.J. showing me the way I would never even be in this field.

“And I think you need to talk about Bill Greer also because when I finished at Ohio State I was Bill’s assistant for a year (at Brockport). Under Bill I finally came to the realization that I wanted to coach college hockey. It was working with Bill that I just got gobbled up by it.

“I think me and Brian and Rick just had great people to be with and people who really took an interest in us.

I think about how I work things here to try to help guys out and it all goes back to E.J. McGuire and Bill Greer for me.”

Cavanaugh began the program at Canisius taking it from an idea to Division III to Division I, but hasn’t been behind the bench as a college coach in several years.

Prior to Canisius, he was an assistant coach at Brockport under McGuire after his playing career there ended in the mid-1970’s.

But he still stands 54th on the all-time college wins list

WNYHockeyReport.com

The Rochester Jr. Americans 16 U Team participated in the “Walk a Mile in her Shoes” walk on October 5th at Ontario Beach Park.

Saturday, October 5th at Ontario Beach Park. The walk was in support of the Alternatives for Battered Women and raised awareness around issues of dating and domestic violence. The U16 team competes in the highly competitive United States Premier Hockey League and skate out of the Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex in Henrietta, NY. This group of young men was happy to spend a few hours of their time giving back to their community and showing their support to such an important cause. with 342 victories having been passed by Cornell’s Mike Schafer late last season.

Now the Athletic Director at D’Youville in Buffalo, he has a similar story, albeit several years earlier than Gotkin and Merideth.

“I think all three of us can trace our roots to two things—E.J. McGuire and a love of college hockey,” said Cavanaugh. “Each of us is unique—Jeff was never a star, but loved the game and landed at a great school in a great location.

“Gotkin went to Mercyhurst and was there when college hockey was growing and they found the ECAC West and then the MAAC as a place to align themselves, which jumpstarted his success winning championships.

And I found my comfort zone at Canisius after I grew up in Buffalo.

“For me I go back to Bob Pederson, who was our club hockey coach and started us at the Division III level.

E.J. and I played for Bob, then E.J. was Bob’s assistant and then, when E.J. became head coach I became his assistant.

“We all did the hockey schools and coaching clinics and made connections, but a lot was driven by E.J. “I don’t think you can tie a coach’s success to their ability as a player on the ice and all three of us are evidence of that. I think we all learned skill sets at Brockport such as organization and hard work that has carried forward in our coaching careers so no of us is sloppy or unprepared for a game when it comes down to organizing practices or analyzing video.”

Three successful college coaches who all who played at the same college, but with the same common denominator of one person.

Merideth summed it up best: “E.J., before he was E.J. McGuire NHL, was one of us and, even after he reached the highest heights of the best league on the planet, we were always his guys.

“How lucky are we 30 some years later doing the thing that we love.”

St. Francis Hockey

17

St. Francis Hockey

by Randy Schultz Randy@wnyhockeyreport.com “About six years ago we decided that we needed a place for our St. Francis kids to play travel hockey and midget hockey. It was needed because of the split seasons and school hockey.

“Nik Fattey envisioned and began to lay the groundwork for all St. Francis Hockey players to continue to develop their skill level and compete together in an organization they could call their own.

“The St. Francis Red Raiders Hockey Program was formed.”

That is how Scott Diebold, the new Director of Hockey and Prep Team head coach at St. Francis, described how the foundation for future hockey success was developed.

This season marks the 40th season of play for the St. Francis High School Red Raiders. Since 1974 the school has developed a rich tradition of fielding varsity teams.

Since their beginnings, St. Francis hockey has won six championships against its Catholic School rivals in the former Monsignor Martin League. They won six championships as part of the Western New York Federation League.

Then in 2000 the Red Raiders joined the Mid-West Prep Hockey League as a founding member. The league now has 10 teams in two divisions and features some of the best high school prep programs in North America.

St. Francis hockey has had their share of success there as well, winning the league championship in 2002 and 2006 and finishing second twice.

They would like that success to continue. That’s why the Red Raiders Hockey Program was formed.

“When Nik began the program four years ago, he began with three teams at the midget level including 18U, 16UAAA and 16UAA,” continued Diebold. “In the last four years Red Raiders hockey has continued to grow and is now offering 15UAAA and 15UAA teams for incoming freshmen.

“We are tournament bound status with our Red Raider Midget teams. We compete for playdowns and States at every level.”

“The Red Raiders midgets play in Scott Diebold, independent schedule Director of Hockey and competing with top Varsity Prep Coach. midget programs both locally and nationally. The Midget schedule also allows for the student athlete to showcase his talents in front of numerous college and junior coaches at the tournaments they attend, particularly in Boston, Chicago and Detroit, to name a few.

Now that Diebold has taken over, where does he see St. Francis hockey going?

“Nik Fattey took us to this level of play. Nik has now moved on.

“Now it’s my turn to continue to build on this. My goal now is to take the Red Raider program and the St. Francis High School program and merge them into one.

“It’s a place for our players to develop we’ve had a lot of players already come through the four-year program already.

“We’re looking for more. Our athletic director, Steve Otremba, and I see it as one program. This program runs year round.

“You have to be a St. Francis student to be involved in the Red Raider hockey teams and the school teams.

“And we actually have a St. Francis Hockey League (SFHL) during the spring of the year. It’s a place to introduce sixth and seventh graders to St. Francis Hockey.

“We work on the skill part of their game for part of the program. Then we play games for the other half of the program.

“We had six teams this year at Leisure Rinks with “About six years ago we decided that we needed a place for our St. Francis kids to play travel hockey and midget hockey. It was needed because of the split seasons and school hockey.

“Nik Fattey envisioned and began to lay the groundwork for all St. Francis Hockey players to continue to develop their skill level and compete together in an organization they could call their own.

“The St. Francis Red Raiders Hockey Program was formed.”

That is how Scott Diebold, the new Director of Hockey and Prep Team head coach at St. Francis, described how the foundation for future hockey success was developed.

This season marks the 40th season of play for the St. Francis High School Red Raiders. Since 1974 the school has developed a rich tradition of fielding varsity teams.

(Continued on page 32)

n o i t n Atte rls! i G & s Boy

Do you have what it takes to be a Niagara Junior Purple Eagle?

• Learn & play at NU’s Dwyer Arena – One of the newest, cleanest and best facilities in WNY! • Organizational Strengths: • Competitive Travel Teams that regularly make State and National Tournaments • Strong Instructional and House Youth Programs • Fun and Challenging House Select Teams • Excellent Girl’s Hockey Program • Affiliation with the Niagara University Division 1 College Men’s Team – skate and learn with Division 1 players.

• Two Features NO OTHER ASSOCIATION in WNY can match: • Minimal cost equipment loaner program for players new to hockey • Four weeks FREE Instructional Program • Lowest House Division playing fees than any other association!

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Visit www.jrpurpleeagles for more info and applications.

The Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles are home to over 800 boys and girls youth hockey players. Our travel & house programs are one of the largest in New York State!

www.jrpurpleeagles.com WNYHockeyReport.com

18

Rochester Yo

@JuniorAmericans

U16 Home Schedule Team

Springfield Pics P.A.L. Junior Islanders P.A.L. Junior Islanders Islanders Hockey Club Bay State Breakers Bay State Breakers New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Syracuse Stars South Shore Kings South Shore Kings

U18 Home Schedule Date Time

Sun, Oct 20 9:30 AM Sat, Nov 16 5:30 PM Sun, Nov 17 10:00 AM Sat, Dec 07 7:05 PM Sat, Dec 21 6:10 PM Sun, Dec 22 9:40 AM Sat, Jan 04 6:10 PM Sun, Jan 05 9:30 AM Sat, Jan 11 1:00 PM Sat, Feb 08 6:00 PM Sun, Feb 09 9:40 AM

Team

Springfield Pics P.A.L. Junior Islanders P.A.L. Junior Islanders I slanders Hockey Club Bay State Breakers Bay State Breakers New Hampshire Jr Monarchs New Hampshire Jr Monarchs South Shore Kings South Shore Kings

Date Time

Sun, Oct 20 9:40 AM Sat, Nov 16 7:30 PM Sun, Nov 17 9:40 AM Sat, Dec 07 9:05 PM Sat, Dec 21 8:10 PM Sun, Dec 22 11:40 AM Sat, Jan 04 8:10 PM Sun, Jan 05 9:40 AM Sat, Feb 08 8:00 PM Sun, Feb 09 11:40 AM

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Days: Wed The Never-Ever League is for the Adult who has never-ever played hockey, or has not played for a while. It combines off-ice instruction with on-ice skill sessions and instructional game time. The league is coed, nonchecking and a totally positive playing atmosphere.

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Insight Hockey

Be a Star...

, BE F IT O T AR TER A P EGIS Y! R DA TO

Just For You...

'Rocks Girls 14 U A

(GIRLS 11-14 ELIGIBLE)

LO

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by Tom Barnett It is a special time of year for a special group of players, a group that we could easily overlook because they are not soon-to-be-drafted, challenging for a spot on the Fed team, lobbying for team captaincy or even on the radar for that matter.

But they are breaking into the ‘lineup’ for the first time.

Like many of us, I have been involved in this game for decades, as a player, coach, administrator while striving to promote the very best experience for our kids. But my joy is coaching and specifically, leading and teaching our ‘Learn-to-Skate/Learn-to-Play’ group level. While others all over the country take flight for the first time, I have the privilege of stamping out little Shamrocks, and instructing our beginners: the rookies in the truest, unvarnished sense of the word. These are the genuine and unimpeachable dreamers, and now, those aspirations much like the journey —be it for a lifetime or short-lived— are about to commence and become reality.

But what about that journey? Yes, with seasons opening, there are the much anticipated and highly predictable nerves, tears and the immediate and unexpected cutting of many golden umbilical cords. There are the traditional first steps of the odyssey and of course, the many missteps, apprehension, drive, stunned silence, unmitigated joy and laughter. There is an abundance of new and the resurrection of formerly loved gear, plenty of support, encouragement and community. The priceless smile-through-the-cage affirms life and is the immediate feedback of ability and effort.

Let the journey begin, right?

Given statistics, unfortunately, there is also a formidable suggestion that the enthusiastic journey ends too quickly for many kids and detours permanently to nearly anything but hockey.

I vividly recall my first hockey experiences, both in the backyard and in the town rinks, my teammates, our coaches and even the outcomes of hard-fought games. In a sport that was once traditionally passed from father to son, I can still remember my dad teaching me how to tape my brand new goal stick that Santa brought and leaving that emphatic inverted open wood ‘V’ at the heel, the oversized but perfectly neat butt end, the ‘I belong’ traditions of the day. It is, simply put: a glorious game; the challenge, the camaraderie, the speed, the FUN, the tutorial and friendships for life. With a frozen pond, a few dads, friends and family that only darkness – and possibly hunger or losing the last puck in a snow bank – could pull you away from the umpteenth seventh-game overtime of the day.

However, with an overwhelming majority of nearly three quarters of registered youth in the U.S. leaving the game by age 12, is it the journey or the destination that has changed?

In exploring this dilemma with many dedicated individuals from the local organizations to USA Hockey in Colorado, a number of factors are to blame.

The economics of the game, year-‘round play, winning at all costs, suspect coaching perspective, uneven and unequal focus and execution of curriculum and development, the pressure of too many tournaments, political opportunism, teams picked prior to tryouts, misbalanced practice-to-game ratios, and burnout are consistently recognized as components leading to poor experience. Even the fortunes of the local or regional professional franchise often has direct impact on the hockey fever of an area.

The good news is, most of those factors are well within our control as parents, coaches and club leaders. Do you remember what kept you in the game? Was it the foundation, a particular individual, your teammates, perspective, a coach’s philosophy or an event that that led to a lifelong love of this game? With that longterm destination now more of an anomaly than ever, a comprehensive review and perhaps a reach to the past for a stronger future may clearly be worth a look.

Each fall, young kids, who couldn’t even walk two or three years ago, are only getting started on their journey, the journey that we ourselves have taken. As with everything else, though hockey may be glorious, it’s not for everyone. But it is, at least for today, glorious and uncompromised for a special group of players who are breaking into the lineup for the very first time.

The journey now begins. What will their reality be like? _________________________________________________________________

Be the very best you can be...

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Tom Barnett, a native Western New Yorker, participated as a player from the youth through collegiate level, and has been involved in coaching hockey and program development for more than 30 years. As founder and president of The Buffalo Shamrocks Hockey Club, a USA Hockey program, Tom was recognized by the National Hockey League as the 2009 recipient of the inaugural Mark Messier Youth Leadership Award.

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The Whiteboard

23

Practice Coach: Level 1 – 4 Which One Are You? this volunteer as the head coach. If this is the case, the organization needs to help this volunteer. Assigning an experienced mentor, having regular meetings to help guide the new coach and/or having occasional on-ice support are reasonable options.

by Rob Sedia Professional Hockey Instructor rob@newedgehockey.com Thank you very much for the emails and positive comments about past articles, your feedback has been fantastic and is very much appreciated!

We have all heard the statement “practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect”. As coaches, we tend to put this on our players as a way to motivate them to “work harder” during practice but the million dollar question is; Are we as coaches practicing what we preach?

Perfect practice starts with the coach and ends with the player. It is a two-way street, without both entities making a full commitment to their part, true development will not take place. An efficient practice environment is important but is diluted without a knowledgeable coach/staff and proper preparation. Technique and biomechanics of skill in such a complicated game as hockey, is very important as there is a right way and a wrong way to execute skill movements as well as train on tactical skills. These 4 practice levels help emphasize how coaches ultimately impact player and team development as well as enjoyment of the game.

LEVEL 2 Some planning takes place at this level but preparation is usually limited to hand written notes/drills right before practice with very little rhyme or reason. The success of these practices is a coin flip at best. Players get bored quickly due to the lack of diverse drills and not being challenged. As a result, player discipline is still an issue at this level. Level 2 practice coaches tend to shy away from technology, keep hand written drill notes, rarely (if at all) utilize development resources, and never seek help. Proper skill technique is usually not being taught at this level either. Sadly, level 2 practice coaches tend to be experienced coaches that come from a different generation of coaching. They tend to be unapproachable and have tunnel vision when it comes to how they do things. Unlike a level 1 practice coach, assigning a mentor or providing support rarely helps due to their “I know what I am doing” mindset.

Level 4 practice coaches take game notes and/or watch game film in an effort to find ways to improve the team and prepare for PRACTICE.

LEVEL 3

Perfect practice starts with the coach and ends with the player. It is a two-way street, without both entities making a full commitment to their part, true development will not take place.

Practices are pre-planned, usually the result of experience, drill software, and utilization of hockey development resources like books, videos, manuals and websites. Ice time is efficiently used and discipline is part of the process. Players work harder at this level because systems are in place and a stable/consistent practice environment has been established. Level 3 practice teams usually have a good win loss record but ultimately measure their success by player development.

These coaches usually look for some extra ice time to practice and scrimmage. Skill technique and tactical skill development play a role at this level as well as encouragement of 3rd party and home training.

Regardless of this coach’s experience and/or successes, they are open to learning and coach development opportunities. Players and parents are usually enjoying their hockey experience with level 3 practice coaches.

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 4

Practices are not pre-planned, are unorganized and ice time is not managed efficiently. Players get very few repetitions during drills as a result of long lines, not running stations, poor drill selection, and long set up times. There is very little discipline, players play with pucks, goof off, and/or need drills demonstrated multiple times because they are not engaged. Worst of all, players are not being educated on proper technique during drills. These practices are not fun for the players or the parents and the win loss record is never appealing for level 1 practice coahes. In addition to the obvious negatives stated above, players and parents are not enjoying their youth hockey experience and consequently may not continue with the game.

This ultimately hurts the organization. Level 1 practice coaches have a big impact on more than just the skill level of the players. Level 1 practice coaches are often new to the game and volunteer to “help”. In many cases, the organization simply doesn’t have a choice and appoints

drill the correctly, they are educated on why they are doing the drill and how it relates to game situations and/or development. Players are pushed outside of their comfort zones and are expected to perform with maximum intensity. In addition to organized off-ice training, level 4 practice coaches include multiple team building events. Level 4 practice coaches understand that knowing both theoretical and practical aspects of hockey skills training is essential for successful hockey game performance. They emphasize building a deep skill and knowledge base to create exciting and dynamic hockey players who can in turn optimize performance potential and can apply learned skills in game situations.

ALL of the components found with level 3 practice coaches are found with level 4 practice coaches but, everything is tied together, everything means something, and the dial is turned up. A season development plan was put in place before the players stepped foot on the ice. Core hockey skills are the foundation of a level 4 practice team early in the season and performance skating is part of almost every practice throughout the season. Level 4 practice coaches clearly define and maximize their assistant’s roles. The players on the team are well aware of the assistant’s roles and responsibilities, respect them, and utilize them. In most cases, level 4 practice coaches email practice plans to their assistants well before practice time so all staff members are on the same page prior to stepping on the ice. The staff makes sure drills are challenging and purpose driven. They are high tempo and offer the players a high rep count. In addition to the high rep count, proper technique is a major focus. Players are not just taught how to do a

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Level 4 practice coaches take game notes and/or watch game film in an effort to find ways to improve the team and prepare for PRACTICE. Level 2 and 3 practice coaches do breakout drills (as an example) but a level 4 practice coach has identified which part(s) of his team’s breakout need attention and has prepared drills designed to focus on those areas. Level 4 practice coaches provide continued development to their players via manuals, videos, chalk talk sessions, game film review sessions and hockey homework etc. Level 4 practice coaches understand a youth hockey player trains for the purpose to be great in games. He does not train for the sole purpose of training. Level 4 practice coaches have the understanding that if you stop getting better you will soon stop being good (themselves and their players). They continue to educate themselves about the game and continually look for better ways to develop their players. Level 4 practice coaches are hungry for information and usually have or seek out a mentor. They ask a lot of questions and discuss hockey with other experienced coaches as often as they can.

Most importantly, they truly understand it’s not about what you did, it’s about what you are doing that’s important.

If you demand the best from your players, they deserve your best in return. High standards rub off!

Rob Sedia is a Partner/Professional Instructor with the NewEdge Hockey Training Company and will be writing a monthly column for WNY Hockey Report.

If you would like to comment on this article, ask questions, provide feedback, or share your thoughts, please send an email to: rob@newedgehockey.com

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Rochester Youth Hockey News

Section VI Preview

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Rochester Youth Keeps It Fun Report by Coach Colucci “If judging by the excitement of the Squirt players that participated in the inaugural 3 on 3 cross ice hockey offered by RYH is any measure of success, I would say that we are on the right track. Watching the three game areas run simultaneously with 18 skaters plus goalies was enough to make all the planning and time spent organizing the event more than worth while.”

Two minute shifts marked the time clock buzzing to signal the next wave of skaters. Doors opened and players scrambled over the boards to race to their small area game destination. Managing the bench was more akin to herding cats as every player was watching the clock tick down to get back on the ice. The skaters adopted a “the loudest and most excited gets the next shift mentality”. Dream teams were formed on the fly and of course they all recapped how they went “Bar Down!” when they got back to the bench!

This marked the first opportunity for Rochester Youth to experiment with the cross ice. Initial set up took a little more time than anticipated but with a great group of coach and parent volunteers we managed to set up as the players were bursting with energy to get the games underway.

Following the Squirts were the Peewee and Bantam groups. The players were bigger with each age group to follow but the kid in all of them was what shone through.

AAA, AA, House, Major and Minor all mixing it up for the fun of playing hockey!!

Rochester Youth plans to hold the 3 on 3 pick-up sessions twice a month throughout the season to develop small game skill at all levels.

New Bus Design Coming to a Rink Near You Maksymum Hockey and the Rochester Junior Americans unveiled a new design for the team bus on October 1st, 2013.

Featuring the new Junior Americans logo, photos of current junior players Kevin Zugec and Tanner Woodruff, as well as the skyline of Rochester, the bus design showcases both the team and the city it calls home.

The bus also features youth hockey players from Rochester Youth Hockey, along with the slogan “Start young, dream big.”

“The goal with this new design was to not only showcase our junior program, but also to show the link between

Be on the lookout for the newly redesigned Maksymum Hockey and Rochester Junior Americans team bus! junior hockey and youth hockey,”said Maksymum Hockey and Junior Americans owner Jeff Kolcon. “We want kids playing youth hockey to follow their dreams and hopefully one day ride in that bus as a junior hockey player.”

Nearly three years in the making, the design was completed with the help of sponsors and partners of the junior team, including Rochester Youth Hockey, Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex, and Travel Team USA. The design was created and installed by ASC Graphics of Rochester, NY.

Glenn makes the jump from West Seneca East to Ridley

By Matthew Ondesko “Since ninth grade, I have been looking for a prep school to go to. I knew I was going to have to repeat my junior year, but I was more than fine with that. I loved playing on the boys’ team, but I felt I would grow more on the Ridley tigers, academically and sports wise.”

– Sydney Glenn Sydney Glenn knows a little something about taking on a challenge. After all, she played last season for the West Seneca East High School boys’ hockey team in the Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation.

She did pretty well holding her own against the ‘boys.’

“The best thing WSE hockey did was make me grow a thicker skin,” said Glenn. “I realized that not everyone is going to like you, and support you. But, I am not there to make others happy. I am there for my team and vise versa.

But, instead of playing her senior with West Seneca East again, she decided to try and do something different.

Glenn packed her things and moved to Canada to play for Ridley. Ridley plays some of the top schools around and Glenn gets to face some of the best girls competition in Canada.

She said the decision to pack up and move wasn’t an easy one, but one that she had to make if she wanted to move on with her hockey career.

“Well at first it was kind of tough especially saying good bye to family and close friends,” explained Glenn.

“Saying goodbye is never easy. However since the first day I got there everyone, and I mean everyone, takes on the personal job of making people feel welcome. The short weeks I’ve been there I have loved it more than words can begin to describe. It’s just such an amazing community, and I rarely catch myself thinking about WSE.” What she was thinking about is making it to the next level. While playing goal for an all boys team had it’s advantages, scouts like to see what you can do against the same competition.

Her move to Canada gives her the opportunity to be

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seen by college scouts.

“I’m hoping that when we go to big tournaments scouts will notice me, and my team of course,” Glenn said. “Canada is full of scouts and one can only hope they are one of the lucky ones to fulfill the dream and play college hockey.”

Moving to Canada hasn’t come without some transition. Like anybody who moves on to play juniors or play at new school, there is the transition period that goes with a persons surrounding and academics.

And this is no different. But, Glenn is taking it in stride and she says everybody has been helping her adjust.

“The hardest part so far is not being able to communicate with my family as much as I would like,” she said. “They have always been my back bone and I would not be here today without them. School has been much more strict and everyone is on a tight schedule, which I absolutely love. There is a strong sense of structure. The whole school gets along with each other so well, and I am more than honored to a part of such an all round great school.

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Men’s Club Hockey Report

27

October Men’s Club Hockey Report

by Lars Lewis lars@wnyhockeyreport.com For some schools, it has been a month since the beginning of the 2013-2014 collegiate club season, for others they are just getting started on a year that shows a lot of promise for multiple programs in the ACHA, the UNYCHL (Upstate New York Club Hockey League) and the newly formed CIHA (College Ice Hockey Association).

The UNYCHL has two local clubs joining the conference this season as the University at Buffalo Bulls and Rochester University/Nazareth look to make an impact in the West division where the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles currently hold the division title.

DIVISION I Niagara Purple Eagles (NECHL, ACHA) Following their conference title last season in the NECHL, the Purple Eagles have started rather sluggish so far in the early goings. Niagara opened the season on the road, losing twice to Robert Morris University 11-1 in the first contest on September 27 and 6-2 the following day.

But the Eagles responded by thumping Cortland 6-1 back on October 4 in their home opener at Dwyer Arena. Sophomore Jarred Mitrano scored a hat trick in the victory.

Niagara took part in the 11th Annual ACHA Showcase in Mentor, Ohio and went 2-1 over the weekend, defeating both Rochester College and Wayne State University 3-0 and 2-1, but losing last Sunday 4-3 to Ohio University.

Sophomore forward Patrick Gregory, coming off a tremendous freshman season (18G 10A 28PTS) currently leads the team in goals (5) and in points (5).

Freshman forward Andrew Mitch leads the team in assists with four.

The Purple Eagles return home this Friday for a date with the Oswego State Lakers at Dwyer Arena.

For the latest in Niagara club, visit www. nuachahockey.com.

U.B Bulls (NECHL, ACHA) Looking to ride momentum from last year’s Memorial Cup victory over Niagara, the Bulls opened their season to the tune of a 7-0 shutout over Cortland at their home opener at Northtown Center on Sept. 20. Two days later, U.B bested Canisius 4-3 at Nichols School and looked to be picking up where they left off last season.

U.B however was unable to get by Stony Brook on the road, losing 3-2 and 9-3 on Sept. 28 and 29. The Bulls continued their road swing on October 4 and 5, paying a visit to Duquesne and earning a split against the Dukes. The Bulls winning 3-2 the first game and lost 3-2 the following night.

The Bulls also took part in the ACHA showcase, defeating the University of Colorado 7-0 back on Friday

Oct. 11. The Bulls also played Towson and Wayne State over that weekend with the results available online at www.ubicehockey.com.

U.B returns to Northtown Center this Friday the 18 when they face Binghamton and then have Oswego at home the following night.

Canisius Golden Griffins (ACHA, NECHL) The Griffs currently stand at 7-4 on the year, including impressive 11-0 and 9-1 victories over SUNY Binghamton and a 4-3 double overtime win over the Lakers of Oswego back on October 4.

Sophomore Jess Hackett leads the club in goals (10) and in points (17). Hackett has scored seven goals in his last six games, including the double OT winner against Oswego.

The Griffs continued to roll after the dramatic win over Oswego with a 5-3 win over R.I.T on Oct. 11. Dimitrious Gogos scored the eventual winner at 6:02 of the third period to put Canisius up 4-3 while Dennis Lenhard scored an insurance goal to make it 5-2 at 10:47 of the third.

Freshman goaltender Dennis Elsenbeck had 18 saves on 21 shots for the win. Elsenbeck this season has a 1.87 GAA and a .924 SV% in three games of work.

Something rather unprecedented is Canisius’ use of four goaltenders this season. Sophomore Marc Mallare has seen the most action, playing in seven games sporting a 4-3 record with a 3.35 GAA and a .904 SV%.

Following their Oct. 13 game against Villanova, the Golden Griffins will play their next four games on the road, facing Ohio University twice (10/18 10/19), SUNY Cortland (10/25) and Syracuse University (10/26).

R.I.T The Tigers were off to a shaky start to begin the season, losing their first two contests to Slippery Rock University 5-2 and the Panthers of Pittsburgh 3-1 back on September 20 and 21.

R.I.T however has steadied the ship since then, going 2-2 over their last four games. The Tigers defeated both Penn State Erie and Binghamton University 8-2 and 4-3, but lost to West Virginia and Canisius to finish at 2-4 up to now.

Senior forward Dirk Thur leads the team with 11PTS (6G 5A), looking to up last year’s total of 38 (13G 25A) in 27 games.

One player to look out for this season is freshman forward Alex Nyzio of Cranston, Rhode Island. Nyzio in five games has 11PTS (5G 6A), second on the team in both goals and points and tied for first in assists with Thur.

Nyzio scored a goal and an assist in their 5-3 defeat against Canisius on Oct. 11.

D’Youville College (CIHA, UNYCHL) The Spartans opened up UNYCHL play at home on Friday October 11 and were defeated 11-4 against Brockport, yielding seven goals in the second period.

D’Youville will travel to Northtown Center to play

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Division III U.B Saturday October 19. The Spartans will play three more games in November, one against Brockport on the 9, at home against St. John Fisher on the 10 and Medaille at home on the 19 before going on holiday break.

Erie Community College (Division III ACHA) The Kats, according to www.achahockey.org, will start their season on Halloween night at 7 PM against division I Canisius at the Dann Memorial Rink at Nichols School. ECC’s next game would be on November 17 on the road against Fredonia State.

Game action: Brockport vs Medaille

Medaille College (Division III UNYCHL, CIHA) The Mavericks in only three games became the purest form of Jeckyll and Hyde. After losing 8-0 in their home opener to last year’s West Division champion Brockport, they followed it up by hammering Hilbert College 11-0 in a non-divisional contest back on October 6.

Medaille followed that performance up with a staggering 16-1 win over Pitt Bradford.

Over the first three games of the season, Medaille has outscored opponents 27-9.

Medaille resumes conference play on October 17 when they take on St. John Fisher at Depew Ice Rink at 3:30 PM. For the latest updates check out Medaille Club Hockey on Facebook.

Fredonia State (Division III ACHA) After dropping their opener against Penn State Behrend, the Blue Devils won three straight, including a victory over the team that eliminated them in the postseason Robert Morris last season, defeating the Colonials 5-4 back on Sept. 29.

In a thrilling game against St. Bonaventure at Steele Hall, the Blue Devils’ Tyler McTigue scored a hat trick and the game winner over the Bonnies 7-6 in overtime.

But the Blue Devils win streak came to an abrupt halt, losing 6-3 to the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown.

(Continued on page 28)

Nice Rink... Getting Started

So! Ya wanna have your NiceRink Over the next few months we’ll cover everything you need to know about setting up and maintaining your NiceRink.

This month.. getting started.

Determining the best site for your ice rink There are just a few items of importance to consider when choosing the best site for your rink. To start, you want to locate your rink near an easily accessible water source. This will make it much easier when it’s time to flood and resurface your rink. Second to water, would be the distance away from the house. You want the rink to be close enough to enjoy having it in your backyard and not having to trudge across the field, although you want it far enough away from stray pucks in the case of any hockey being played. The rink should run parallel to the house if possible, to avoid pucks being shot directly at the house. Next would be the pitch or levelness of your sight. The pitch may be more important if you (A) want a nice clean looking rink or (B) don’t want to end up filling your rink with 30,000 gallons of water. A site that has a pitch of 6” or less is best, as it will take less effort to install the side boards, will use less water and take less time to get your base ice going. The last major point would be the size of your rink. The open space you have available will be the single biggest determining factor of how big you can make your rink. Budget and appearance will be the next. Let’s do a quick recap and go over the four major factors and go into more detail on each factor separately.

Access to water is important, not when setting up because it’s not –5 degrees out and your hose won’t freeze up. Later in the season it will be to your advantage to have the rink close by, as the farther away the water is, the farther you’ll have to haul your hose.

When it’s 10 degrees outside, you’ll be glad you don’t have to haul out 300’ of hose every time you want to resurface. It’s nice to be able to set your hose outside the house, hook it up and resurface. Two good items to have available are either a good metal hose reel or large plastic bucket (muck bucket or garbage can).

When your done resurfacing you’ll need to bring your hose back inside so it doesn’t freeze solid. When the hose is brought inside, it will have some water left in it. If you have the hose reel, most of the water will be dispersed while winding it up, or if you have the hose bucket, the water that may drain out will be nicely contained within your container leaving no mess.

Convenience of use is why you are, or are not considering building your own ice rink in the first place, so make it as convenient as possible. Out the door and on the ice is best, but you have to consider windows, doors opening and viewing the rink from inside. My rink is about 20’ from the house, which makes it great for viewing from the whole back of the house. We can see everywhere on the rink from any facing window, which is nice when you can just let the children out to skate and easily watch the enjoyment while warmly conversing with friends and neighbors. It’s also nice to walk out, set the kids on the rink and hop back inside.

Then if the kids get cold, hop out and back in again.

Also you won’t have to shovel a very long path to the rink, although the path gets well worn out without any shoveling anyway.

Pitch of the rink site may be more important to some than others as previously mentioned. If you have a nice level site to work with, all the better. When your site is level the sides will be very easy to put up, as opposed to a little more effort when the site is not level. A NiceRink can easily be built on ground that is not level as well. That’s why we created the NiceRink system of building a rink. Ninety Nine percent of yards

will not be flat, as a yard that is perfectly flat does not have proper drainage away from the house and shouldn’t have water added onto it because it may cause flooding problems in the spring. My yard had an 18” pitch, which is quite a bit, but we have clients that have built rinks with 30” of pitch with no problems. You just have to make your sideboards higher and stronger to support the weight of the water on the deep end.

We’ll go over that later on in the instructions. My rink was 55’ x 85’, and with the 18” of pitch it used to take myself and a friend about 3-4 hours to complete the old way of stake & sideboard construction and about 30-40 minutes to lay out the liner. With the NiceRink Brackets and NiceRink Thermoformed Plastic Boards and 14” of water/ice, it only takes about 1.5 –2 hours to set up the boards! That’s easily less than 50% of the time it would take to spray a rink the old fashioned way to completion and get the ice surface you’ll get from a single, time saving flood. The nice thing about filling a NiceRink liner to get a base, is that your ice surface will always be level to start with, as water will always seek its own level. No more skating up, down and over hills!

Size of the rink should be determined by several factors. The first factor is your available space. If you have the space and budget, go big. You’ll enjoy your rink much more when you have more room, especially when you have skating parties (which I can assure you, you will). Everybody will have plenty of room to skate around without bumping into each other. If you’re not sure if you’ll use your rink enough to make a big rink worth your while, start smaller. You can always decide to go bigger in a year or two, and continue to use the boards and equipment that have already been purchased. Besides space and budget, the people that will be using the rink will determine the size as well.

When your rink is just for children, you can go smaller and be very satisfied, as they don’t need a huge rink to make it feel huge to them. On the other hand, if you’re an experienced skater yourself, you’ll be able to cover a 30’ span rather easily with one stride, which doesn’t end up being really fun if you’re an avid adult skater.

The choice is entirely up to you, the “rink manager”, but I can tell you I’ve heard time after time, “I sure wish we would’ve made it bigger!”

Also keep in mind when deciding size, that plywood and our NEW plastic boards come in 8’ and 4’ sections respectively. This means rinks with widths and lengths divisible by eight or four are the easiest to put up and will have less wasted material.

Ordering the NiceRink liner is a very simple affair.

After determining what RINK SIZE you’d like, add 5’ to the length and 5’ to the width to get your ice rink liner size. Examples: 35’ x 45’ rink requires a 40’ x 50’ liner, a 55’ x 95’ rink requires and 60’ x 100’ liner. This will give you 2.5’ of liner around the entire perimeter of your rink to go up the inside edge of the boards to contain the water/ice. As mentioned in our NiceRink pricing, the sizes of liner available are dependent upon which liner type you select. NiceRink #1 material is available in widths of; 20’, 30’, 35’, 40’, 50’, 60’, 70’ stock and then starting at 72’ and every 6’ thereafter by special order.

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Next month... setting up side boards.

WNYHockeyReport.com

28

Men’s Club Hockey (Continued from page 27)

Fredonia last weekend traveled to Buffalo to play Division III U.B and Medaille, with the Blue Devils losing to the Bulls 3-2 on Oct. 11.

The Blue Devils return home October 18 and 19 where U.B and D’Youville pay a visit to Steele Arena.

Brockport (Division III UNYCHL, CIHA) The defending UNYCHL Western Division champions were off to a roaring start, rocking Medaille 8-0 and defeating St. John Fisher 4-2 to begin UNYCHL West division play 2-0.

The Golden Eagles last weekend faced the Spartans of D’Youville and were victorious 11-4 on the road at Riverside Ice Rink.

Brockport (3-0) have outscored opponents 23-6 so far this season.

Senior forward Eric Perlowitz and sophomore defenseman Tommy Barrese going into the D’Youville game each led the team with four points.

Brockport will play Geneseo on the 18 on the road and U.B on the 26 at home to finish off October.

St. John Fisher (Division III UNYCHL, CIHA) The Cardinals dropped their first game to Brockport 4-2 and have two more contests the rest of the month with Lemoyne on October 20 at Onondaga Nation Arena and on the 26 against Medaille at Depew Ice Rink.

The meat of their schedule will be in the month of November where the Cardinals will play eight games every Friday and Saturday of the month, with the exception of a Sunday November 10 tilt against D’Youville at Riverside Ice Rink at 8:00 PM.

Game action: UB Dill vs St. John Fisher.

Rochester U/Nazareth (UNYCHL, CIHA) One of the newest members of the UNYCHL will begin conference play on Saturday November 23 against St. John Fisher at the Bill Gray’s Ice Plex at 8:30 PM. According to the UNYCHL website, the club will play one game in December, two in January and one in February.

• December 7 @ U.B (10:00 P.M) Northtown Center • January 26 vs. Medaille (Time TBA) Genesee Valley Park • January 31 @ U.B (Time TBA) Cazenovia Park Rink • February 7 @ Medaille (9:00 PM) Northtown Center

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Adult Hockey Preview Adult Hockey Preview (Continued from page 6)

“Once every team completes their 11 games, I break the league down into two divisions based on standings – the top six teams go into one division and the bottom six teams go into another,” Glowinski continued. “Teams will then play out their remaining regular season games and playoffs within their divisions. This makes for more competitive games in the second half of the year and in the playoffs.”

The cost is $2,400 per team.

The only outdoor adult league in Western New York, the OTHLEA operates out of East Aurora where the rink is composed of the boards and glass used at from the 2008 Winter Classic at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

OTHLEA is made up of 20 sponsored teams who play a 16-game regular season schedule and four playoff games (or match play for the consolation prize of team pride.) The cost to play is $385 per participant, per season. The price includes all ref and scorekeeper fees and a jersey.

Individual players or groups of players of all skill level can join. The league operates on team parity, with an equal number of A, B and C level players.

Players are preferred to be over 30 years of age to be eligible to participate, but under 30 is okay.

The league holds an A-Line All-Star Game, C-Line All-Star Game along with the Molson IceDome 4-on-4 Tournament. (The IceDome Tournament is not included in league fees, plays 3-on-3 with a goalie and is more of a party than a hockey tourney.)

For more information, visit www.othlea.com. For more information on the IceDome 4-on-4 tournament, visit www.molsonicedome4on4.com.

Performax League

32

Scottsville Ice Arena

James Hoffman – Adult League Coordinator 585-259-5293 – hockeyrepairs@frontiernet.net The Scottsville Adult League runs for 16 weeks, beginning in August and ending in December. There is one league game scheduled a week.

The SAHL is divided into two divisions based on player skill level. There are eight teams in the league and the cost is $240 per skater. The top four teams make the playoffs.

The Iceplex Adult Hockey League Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex Chris Woodworth chris@billgraysiceplex.com The IAHL is an 18-and-up league that is held in the summer, fall and winter. Inner division play is featured and the top four teams make the playoffs, with standard USA Hockey rules applying to the league.

Recently, the IAHL debuted a news website (www. theiahl.com) that features schedules, stats and more. For more information, visit www.theiahl.com.

The Iceplex Adult Hockey League

Time Warner Winter Classic Rink IC – 716-830-0182 – icwoods@othlea.com or “The Commish” - 716-860-9835 commissioner@othlea.com

Northtowns Center Frank Albert – www.performaxhockey.com The Performax League plays a schedule that lasts for 20 weeks. It begins in September and concludes in the early spring.

The cost is $4,950 per team with an initial deposit of $250 and a $43 referee fee paid directly to the refs each game.

The league consists of eight skill divisions which are aligned after the fourth game of the season. The playoffs are made up of best-of-three series.

For more information, visit www.performaxhockey.com

Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex Chris Woodworth – chris@billgraysiceplex.com The IAHL is an 18-and-up league that is held in the summer, fall and winter. Inner division play is featured and the top four teams make the playoffs, with standard USA Hockey rules applying to the league.

Recently, the IAHL debuted a news website (www. theiahl.com) that features schedules, stats and more. For more information, visit www.theiahl.com.

Have adult hockey information to share? Please email Anthony Fiorello at anthony@wnyhockeyreport.com.

St. Francis Hockey

Otremba, and I see it as one program. This program runs year round.

playing hockey after high school.

So what is the bottom line for all of this development of hockey players?

“Our goal is to have these players play for St. Francis for four years, graduate and then play junior hockey,” responded Diebold. “If they want to play hockey at a higher level, they have to play junior hockey before going on to play college hockey.

“We get these players noticed so that they have a chance to play at a higher level of the game. But it is also about the schooling as well.

“We stress the importance of education at St. Francis.

We have found that when our players go on to the junior level (which includes the NAHL, USHL and EJHL), all those teams want to see is their academic transcripts.

“The junior teams know what our players can do hockey-wise. But it will be the academics that get them into a college or university, no matter if it is at the DI or DIII level.”

Among the St. Francis Alumni who have come through the Red Raiders Hockey Program and are now playing college hockey today include Scott Diebold (RPI), Michael Benedict (Niagara University), Pal Sullivan (Canisius College), Kevin Ryan (Niagara University) and Vincent Scarsella (Canisius College).

Then there is Anthony Day. “Anthony played for Yale University last season when they won the National Championship,” said Diebold.

“He came back this summer to visit and brought the National Championship trophy with him.

“Everybody got a big thrill out of that. It was a great moment for Anthony and for St. Francis.”

What type of players is St. Francis looking for?

“We will welcome any student/athlete who is willing to make a commitment for St. Francis hockey for four years,” concluded Diebold. “We look locally and we’re looking in Southern Ontario.

“We will welcome any student/athlete from any place in the country. If they want to commit to St. Francis hockey for four years, I can’t ask for anything more than that.

“I will welcome them with open arms.”

Old Tyme Hockey League East Aurora

(Continued from page 17)

Since their beginnings, St. Francis hockey has won six championships against its Catholic School rivals in the former Monsignor Martin League. They won six championships as part of the Western New York Federation League.

Then in 2000 the Red Raiders joined the Mid-West Prep Hockey League as a founding member. The league now has 10 teams in two divisions and features some of the best high school prep programs in North America.

St. Francis hockey has had their share of success there as well, winning the league championship in 2002 and 2006 and finishing second twice.

They would like that success to continue. That’s why the Red Raiders Hockey Program was formed.

“When Nik began the program four years ago, he began with three teams at the midget level including 18U, 16UAAA and 16UAA,” continued Diebold. “In the last four years Red Raiders hockey has continued to grow and is now offering 15UAAA and 15UAA teams for incoming freshmen.

“We are tournament bound status with our Red Raider Midget teams. We compete for playdowns and States at every level.”

“The Red Raiders midgets play in independent schedule competing with top midget programs both locally and nationally. The Midget schedule also allows for the student athlete to showcase his talents in front of numerous college and junior coaches at the tournaments they attend, particularly in Boston, Chicago and Detroit, to name a few.

Now that Diebold has taken over, where does he see St. Francis hockey going?

“Nik Fattey took us to this level of play. Nik has now moved on.

“Now it’s my turn to continue to build on this. My goal now is to take the Red Raider program and the St. Francis High School program and merge them into one.

“It’s a place for our players to develop we’ve had a lot of players already come through the four-year program already.

“We’re looking for more. Our athletic director, Steve

The 15U AAA Rumble in the Rink Champions 2013.

“You have to be a St. Francis student to be involved in the Red Raider hockey teams and the school teams.

“And we actually have a St. Francis Hockey League (SFHL) during the spring of the year. It’s a place to introduce sixth and seventh graders to St. Francis Hockey.

“We work on the skill part of their game for part of the program. Then we play games for the other half of the program.

“We had six teams this year at Leisure Rinks with over 80 kids participating. Our St. Francis coaches run it. They have fun and at the same time they are introduced to St. Francis hockey.

“We also have a program for eighth graders during the spring. “ Once a player is in the Red Raiders four-year program, coaches determine, through evaluations and player assessments, proper team placement. Coaches develop their player’s skills through practice and games as they advance through the Red Raiders fall Season and into the St. Francis High School season.

Coaches work with players and their parents to determine what course is best for them to continue

WNYHockeyReport.com

Women’s Hockey

33

(Continued from page 15) here so we’ve always had great support.”

‘While we can’t go as far as we want championship wise, the girls will get that experience next year,” she continued.

The RIT DI team is not eligible for the Frozen Four until 2014-15, waiting out the two-year probationary period required by the NCAA.

RIT Captains and assistant captains: (l to r) Melissa Bromley, Lindsay Grigg, Celeste Brown and Morgan Scoyne Bromley sees the youth of this year’s team as an advantage. The 14 coming back have a lot of chemistry and the freshman are picking it up very quickly.

“We’ll surprise teams,” she said.

“This is amazing,” said Grigg, who won the national championship in her freshman year.

“My second year we play Division I and in my senior year I’ll play in the new arena, all four years are amazing,” said Grigg.

“Each year has its own excitement with this year playing at Frontier Field in an outdoor game,” She has played pick up hockey outdoors but not in an actual game with fans watching and cheering.

“It will be unforgettable,” said Grigg who added – “This year will be awesome.”

College Notes: Niagara opened up October 5 against Oswego and lost 5-1. They play Syracuse November 9, Geneseo Nov. 15 at Dwyer Arena.

UB played the University of Rhode Island on October 4 and 5 and lost both games. They play the Buffalo Stars U19 team at Holiday Twin on October 27.

Buffalo State College opens up with an exhibition game Nov. 3 against Brock University at Buffalo. Their season opens November 8 against Chatham. 7 p.m. start at Buffalo State.

RIT opened with a loss to Clarkson on September 28; a win over New Hampshire on Oct. 4 and a loss to Northeastern on Oct. 5. RIT will host Colgate at Bill Gray’s IcePlex on October 18 and then at Ritter Arena on October 19. Brown University will face the Tigers at Ritter on October 25 and 26 before the Tigers go on the road to Lindenwood University.

Around WNY

...The Buffalo Regals 16U (above) beat the Buffalo Bisons in the semi-finals of the Cleveland Fire on Ice Tournament and lost to Team Detroit/Belle Tire in a 3-2 sudden death shootout after two scoreless OT periods. …The Buffalo Regals 14U won the championship, allowing only one goal against during the entire tournament.

WNYHockeyReport.com

…The Buffalo Regals 12U Tier II team (above) earned the number one seed in Cleveland and lost to a Michigan team in the championship round. Full story under Around the Associations. …Due to a schedule conflict, the Chicago Young Americans, the current #2 girls team in the US is coming to play the Regals 16U team on October 19 as part of the Rochester Ignite the Ice Tournament. …The Buffalo Bisons 19U team are in Lake Placid over Columbus Day and come home against Appleby College on October 17 and the Brampton Jr. Canadettes on Oct. 20.They will then be off to the USA Canada Cup Series in Detroit. …The Buffalo Bisons 16U team will also be playing in the Rochester Fire On Ice Tournament and USA Canada Cup Series. …The Bisons 12U team will play at the Fire On Ice Tournament and then travel to North Halton the end of October. …The Bisons 10U team will be playing in Rochester in a tournament on October 19 and 20. ...Rochester’s Mikaela Thompson made 23 saves to shutout the University of Montreal 7-0. Her best period came in the second when she made nine saves, including four while the Carabins skated on the power play.

Send all your WNY Girl’s hockey news to Janet@ wnyhockeyreport.com or Janet@nyhockeyonline.com

WNYHockeyReport_Jul2013.pdf

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