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Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

ADK11 said:
..and not to steal rdf's thunder, but he has the scoop on the volunteer assistant coach to replace Joel Beal. Looks like a another good addition.
http://unionhockeynews.blogspot.com/2013/08/ronan-named-mens-volunteer-assistant.html
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I couldn't agree with you more. I've already heard excellent things about John Ronan. I think it speaks volumes about our program and coaching staff, that we can attract such a qualified staffer on a volunteer basis. I know that Joel Beal was thought of as much more than a "volunteer" in terms of his contributions to the program and hopefully John will be cut from the same cloth.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

Wholin1 said:
This kid looks like a potential blue chipper. Great work by Jason Tapp and Joe Dumais. I can tell you that no one works harder than these two young men in bringing great student athletes to the Union program.
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Phillips Andover also knows Lighty as D1 lacrosse talent as well. He led prep lacrosse team in goals and scoring last two years. Don't think he has any interest in pursuing.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

rdf8585 said:
You would think so, but that's not the case. I asked Bennett about it in March.

I wrote this within a piece in March:

Kinkaid isn't the only other recent Union player to have gone on to the pro ranks. Forward Kelly Zajac and defenseman Nolan Julseth-White are currently on American Hockey League rosters (Albany and Providence, respectively) while forward Jeremy Welsh is with Carolina in the National Hockey League.

That has to look impressive to potential recruits, right?

"I'd like to think it does help, but we've heard a lot of 'no' through our recruiting battles this year," Bennett said. "To say it has pushed over the edge in recruiting, I can't say that it has."
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I think the Connor Light commitment proves Coach Bennett wrong. "Being back-to-back ECAC champions proves what Union is capable of and I just felt very comfortable with head coach Rick Bennett and his staff. [Union] is clearly a program that can develop players and push them to the next level, so I'm excited to have the opportunity to play for a proven program." -Connor Light. Hopefully this trend continues and we get some future blue-chippers in Schenectady.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

UnionFan4Life said:
I think the Connor Light commitment proves Coach Bennett wrong. "Being back-to-back ECAC champions proves what Union is capable of and I just felt very comfortable with head coach Rick Bennett and his staff. [Union] is clearly a program that can develop players and push them to the next level, so I'm excited to have the opportunity to play for a proven program." -Connor Light. Hopefully this trend continues and we get some future blue-chippers in Schenectady.
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I agree that this is a great sign, but shouldn't get too carried away quite yet. Light was not picked in the NHL draft and apparently neither of the schools with the word "Boston" in their name went after him, which is probably a battle that Union would have lost. His skill level and size are definitely very intriguing, but he is not a blue-chipper (yet) and his own self-assessment of being "raw" and needing more seasoning is spot on. But am very happy to see U win a recruiting battle over Yale & Cornell. He is also very much the typical Union/Bennett recruit; someone with a good skill package that needs help developing to their full potential. It's a good formula, because these type of kids usually stay 3-4 years instead of bolting after 1-2 like the high NHL draft picks that the "big programs" get.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

ADK11 said:
He is also very much the typical Union/Bennett recruit; someone with a good skill package that needs help developing to their full potential. It's a good formula, because these type of kids usually stay 3-4 years instead of bolting after 1-2 like the high NHL draft picks that the "big programs" get.
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You are a very wise man. Union staff has been superb at identifying the "raw talent" that can develop and play Union hockey. Jeremy Welsh is perhaps the best case in point. Jeremy has credited Rick Bennett in finding, recruiting and believing in him. Rick, according to Jeremy, had to go to bat for him and convince Nate Leaman that he was a talent in the making. We all know how that turned out.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

Wholin1 said:
You are a very wise man. Union staff has been superb at identifying the "raw talent" that can develop and play Union hockey. Jeremy Welsh is perhaps the best case in point. Jeremy has credited Rick Bennett in finding, recruiting and believing in him. Rick, according to Jeremy, had to go to bat for him and convince Nate Leaman that he was a talent in the making. We all know how that turned out.
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That is the essence of successful recruiting in the ECAC....finding the players the other leagues miss or ignore for whatever reason...and who can pull their weight in the class room.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

For anyone wondering, Union sent out this tweet today:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Ticket brochures have been mailed out for 2013-14 season, online sales to begin in next few weeks.</p>— Union College Hockey (@UnionHockey) <a href="https://twitter.com/UnionHockey/statuses/365571234227949568">August 8, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

U Conn Classic 2014. Union vs PC.
Think the teams will be ready for that one
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

Wholin1 said:
Wow, not exactly a quiet summer in Schenectady. Rick Bennett and staff have been very busy. No sitting on their hands with this group.
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You're not kidding. There's been a lot going on the past couple weeks -- Jooris, two future commits, volunteer assistant, announcement of 2013-2014 recruiting class, Pontarelli. It almost reminds me of what it was like during the season. It can't get here soon enough.

The more I hear about this class, the more I like it. It's very deep and very good.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

ADK11 said:
I wonder if the coaches will look at having Pontarelli come a year early. I find it interesting that a new (good) recruit from Cornwall is announced shortly after Jooris leaves, and you have to wonder how much Pontarelli will have to gain by another year in the CCHL. Jooris leaving definitely puts Vecchione in the mix for top 6, so could have Pontarelli learning the ropes on the 3rd line. Another skilled stick would give more depth to the PP too. This is all conjecture on my part, but I notice that Pontarelli tweets with the Spink brothers at Colgate so he should have a pretty good perspective on what it takes to make the jump to NCAA.
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Question answered.. this makes a lot of sense and is a good move in my book.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

When Josh Jooris gave up his senior year of eligibility and signed with the Calgary Flames on July 30, it wasn't long after that Cornwall Colts star forward Michael Pontarelli received a call from Schenectady.

Read more @ http://bit.ly/13o2B6f
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

Great news on a couple of levels. I was going to be holding by breath over the next year if MP played another year in juniors with the anxiety of whether we would actually see him on the Messa ice. Secondly, I think he'll be a great addition and exciting player to watch. By the same token, we all need to give him time, probably the better part of his first season to acclimate and adjust to the college game. No matter what way you look at it in my book, a tremendous addition. BTW, I think that Rick Bennett and his staff need to be commended in pulling this off. Logistically, it's not an automatic procedure and requires NCAA compliance and college admission issues to be completed and it's not a walk in the park.
 
Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

Dutchfan said:
As usual, I enjoyed your write-up Ryan! I'm looking forward to seeing more profiles like this one for future commitments.

I like everything I have seen about Connor so far. He looks to have all of the physical tools needed to be an elite defender in the ECAC, and I have no doubt he can reach that level of play with a little refining in his game during his year in the USHL. He can really move for a big kid, and his skating and agility is off the charts for someone his size. It's also comforting to see that the coaching staff is winning recruiting battles against the other upper echelon ECAC schools, especially over our rivals over in Troy. :p
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Just seeing this now. I appreciate the nice comments and might look doing something like this again. It was well-received from what I can tell.
 
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Re: Union Hockey Official off Season Thread: Can U Three Peat?

Wicked Slappaahs said:
Standard -Freeholder article on Pontarelli departing Cornwall.

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2013/08/09/cornwall-colts-star-leaving-team-for-college
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Wish the blog got credit for those Pontarelli quotes, which were kind of moved around in that piece. I wasn't able to reach Colts coach MacInnis, who did not respond for comment last night.

I agree with Wholin1 that Pontarelli can't be expected to come in and be a major player right off the bat, but the talent is there for it to eventually happen. His offensive abilities are special.

This is a much stronger incoming class than last year. I don't think it's even close. How everyone develops, time will tell, but from everything I've heard there's a lot of reason for optimism.
 
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