October 6, 2011

More Division I

Central Conference

SUNY Buffalo Wings

It’s hard to imagine a season without Buffalo competing for a Division I regional championship and this year was no different. For the fifth consecutive year, the Wings found themselves in the ECRHA’s DI final. The Wings in 2010-2011 were unable to repeat their reign as champions, as they fell to Rowan after posting an 11-5-2 record in the regular season, which was good enough to place them 5^th overall. The team also had a brief stay at the 2011 National Championships in Middleton, WI where they struggled with the loss of key players and posted a 0-3-1 record over 4 games. As the new season rolls in the Wings will lose the services of marquee players Matt McNeil (29g-25a-54pts) and two-time all-star goaltender Alexx Christie (11-2-2, 3.07gaa, .886 sv%). While the SUNY Buffalo team still is sorting out its rosters, president and veteran player Bryan Feiler had this to say about the prospects of his 2011-12 squad replacing the void in scoring and goaltending left by leading scorer McNeil and the stalwart net-minder in Christie:

“We have added players with travel ice hockey background to fill in the scoring hole. Sophomore Jon D’Amico took over at regionals after Alexx Christie broke his leg in the round robin. He made 40 saves against West Chester in the Regional semi finals. He turned a D2 baseball scholarship to play for us. D’Amico does not have as much talent as Christie but he’s the best team player I’ve been around. He blames himself if he lets up goals, even when it isn’t his fault, but he never lets it affect his play. Rather, he plays harder and often better.”

With that said, Feiler believes that both the biggest struggle and the biggest promise lays with the scoring void left by McNeil and filled by the plethora of new players. Unlike past years, Feiler also believes that the makeup of this team will have to be far more “blue collar” than the thoroughly talented teams of Wings past to compensate. Feiler also commented that in order to succeed the Wings will have to “play harder and smarter than any team in UB history.” Amidst all the excitement of the 11-12 season the Wings are looking forward to playing in Long Island for the first time in a long time as many of the Buffalo players hail from the area and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead as they expect to compete for another regional and national championship while trying to place in the division’s top third.

SUNY Buffalo Fun Fact. Buffalo started some traditions last year that will hopefully stick. These include: a team dance competition, a trip to Pat’s Steaks in Philly during the first weekend, and a year end awards night where they give out all the NHL awards to players on the team.

Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions used a big roster boost from the 09-10 National Championship B division roster in order to turn their team around from a 3-15-0 bottom dweller into a 15-5-0 powerhouse, who made very short work of teams in must win games. This was likely due to the addition of B players Josh Rifkin (12g 10a 22pts) Adam Bogert (2g 13a 15pts) and very much so to the stellar goaltending of Mitchell Reinhold (13-4-0 3.00 gaa, .872 sv%). The home grown and developed trio of Bogert, Rifkin and Reinhold accompanied by DI returnee and standout Dustin Roux (27g 17a 44pts) were able to get PSU their first Nationals bid since 08-09 and their first 15 win season in history.

Temple University Owls

Temple in its first year after moving into Division I impressively finished 10^th but lost out on a chance to compete at regionals as they lost out on tie breakers to Brockport. Temple (whose last nationals bid was in 2007-2008) looks to improve on last year as they will return leading scorer Scott Kalbfleisch (19g 11a 30pts), who nearly doubled his first year totals with the Owls.

Also returning for a second tour with the Temple squad will be defensemen Mike Peterson (8g 8a 16pts in 09-10) and Keith Goodman (3g 11a 14pts in 10-11). The biggest returning factor on the back line for Temple will be Goaltender John Mehler(5-8-4, 4.47 gaa, 823 sv%), a former B all-star, Mehler will look to keep the Owls in games late. Temple has had major issues putting the puck in the net, as the Owls have struggled to produce goals over the past four years since the trio of Adam Lyons, Lou Ditri and Steve Siliani left.

The Owls will look to make regionals hopefully on the back of some new blood and an emphasis on timely scoring and special teams as the team attempts to get itself a nationals bid once again with all eyes set on the Columbus Day preseason event.

Temple Fun Fact: Through hard work and good organization the club has managed to increase its school funding 50% over the last three years. The club has also been a go to club for Campus Recreation to show other how to do things the right way.

Towson University Tigers

Overall, it was a rough year for the Towson Tigers, who garnished a 5-11-4 record, which placed the Tigers out of playoff contention and in 13^th overall in the ECRHA’s Division 1. This result was shocking to say the least, as this was the first time Towson managed to not qualify for regionals for the first time in history.

It certainly will be a year of change for the Tigers as the team lost a plethora of key players for the upcoming year, such as leading goal scorer and DI two-time All-Star Mike Inge (22g 18a 40pts). Also missing from this season’s roster, key contributor Ryan Cowdell (7g 5a 12pts in 7 games), along with defenseman Brett Boss (3g 9a 12 pts) and three year starting goaltender Trevor Nau (5-11-4, 5.16 gaa .807 sv%).

However, amidst the turnover, the Tigers will return numerous players such as team captains Brian Wodzisz (14g 13a 27pts) and A.J. Nisbet (8g 7a 15pts). Offensive forces Mike Seyglinski (13g 6a 19pts in 9 games) and Drew Fitzhugh (19g 11a 30pts) will also be returning for the Tigers as well. Towson has three new additions to the 11-12 roster including Alex Bidas, former Tiger Michael Wintermyer, and new starting goalie Kyle Fensterer. When asked about the team’s overall goals, captain A.J. Nisbet had this to say:

“This year we look to return to regionals and qualify for nationals. The Towson Roller Hockey Club is really looking forward to preseason to get things started. Both teams had an early ending season last year, and we are looking to redeem ourselves with hard work and discipline.”

Fun Fact: Every year at the end of the season, The Towson Roller Hockey Club faces off against the Towson Field Hockey Club in a game of field hockey on our sports club field in the middle of campus. The game usually draws a decent size crowd as the teams participate on a full field, complete with nets, and officials. Along with the fans, a lot of the Sports Clubs supervisors have come out to support both clubs. While we are 0-3 in our annual field hockey game against the field hockey team, The Inline tigers were able to take them into overtime last season until the field hockey team was able to score after 30 minutes of overtime. While the game is all for fun, the annual game has proved to build a strong friendship between the two clubs as both support each other at games and different club fundraising events.

U.S. Military Academy at West Point Black Knights

The 2010-11 Black Knights mustered a 8-9-3 record, however they were unable to advance past the first round of regionals, falling to Brockport.

The good news for West Point is that they only lost two seniors from last season (Goaltender Matt Condon and Defenseman Tommy Gomez). However, they are getting back their leading goal scorer from first semester whom spent a semester at the Air Force Academy; also during the off season the Black Knights managed to pick up 3 new players that are looking to fill in the roles of the leaving players and bring West Point to that elusive next level.

If West Point is looking to challenge and win the division this year, it will be because of a stern focus on playing their game, a hard nosed physical style of play and making their opponents adapt to the West Point style of play. Therein also presents West Point’s biggest challenge. Staying out of the box will be an issue for the Black Knights, as was the case in past years. Being a bigger, stronger, hyper-physical team makes it tough to stay out of the box in the ECRHA. The amount of time West Point spends in the box will be a deciding factor in numerous games as they look to charge full steam ahead towards regionals and nationals.

When asked about the squad, Matthew Riopelle had this to say about his team:

“Each person on the team has committed to serving the nation at a time of war. With seven seniors on the team, this time next year they will be commissioned officers in the United States Army. They will serve on active duty for a minimum of five years after graduation. Currently there are a number of Army Roller Hockey alumni serving in Iraq and Afghanistan that set the example for those of us to follow. We are very proud to have a team full of young men willing to answer their nation’s call.”