Utica College Pioneers 2012-13 Season

Bennycheck · Jan 30, 2013

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Birdwatcher said:
But other area schools do have teams: New Hartford, Whitesboro, Cazenovia, Clinton and Rome Free Academy.

And they all have won at least 1 state championship (Clinton 4, N.H. 3, etc.) It's a real shame what NYS has done to high school hockey. Proctor is only one of many schools who were forced to give up the sport. It will be a few years before the effects of their short sighted ideas hit the college and pro game, but it will. The numbers are down in all youth programs across the state and even into Canada. All of hockey needs a feeder program and that starts at the youth level. Many kids see their first game at the high school level and get interested in the sport and go on to learn to play. I sure hope I'm wrong, but I think hockey in genral is headed in the wrong direction. OK, back to UC this year.

Fishman'81 · Jan 31, 2013

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Bennycheck said:
+1. I enjoy going to the NYS championships each year to see where the future College (D1 and DIII) are coming from. There have also been a few NHL players too. In fact, there are 2 player on UC right now that came from CNY hockey. One thing we shouldn't over look is the NCAA likes money and I think the they may make an exception (maybe not) as 4,000 tickets sold with a big chunck going to them may be too much to pass up. Time will tell.

It's definitely a fun event; I chat-up parents from all over the state, and it's refreshing (if somewhat startling) to hear how happy all those folks are to be in Utica, FCS!

The quality of the hockey isn't great, though, and in an average year you won't see a single player that will get so much as a sniff of D-1. A few D-3 level talents might be around, but they are few and far-between, too... All the better players have long-since departed HS for prep schools or the juniors.

You made a very good point about counting chickens, though...

Utica hasn't won anything yet, and their upcoming ECAW schedule is typically brutal. I wouldn't be shocked if they dropped two at home to Hobart and another two on the road at M'ville... And while I don't expect that to happen, it's well within the realm of possibility, and UC would likely be done-in as a result.

Being as objective as I can, I do believe that UC's resume is the most impressive in the East thus far, but there's lots of key games left to play. I'm not nearly as concerned about the availability of The Aud as I am the necessity for it to be available.

sshablak · Jan 31, 2013

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Very articulate post fishman !

Bennycheck · Jan 31, 2013

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Fishman'81 said:
It's definitely a fun event; I chat-up parents from all over the state, and it's refreshing (if somewhat startling) to hear how happy all those folks are to be in Utica, FCS!

The quality of the hockey isn't great, though, and in an average year you won't see a single player that will get so much as a sniff of D-1. A few D-3 level talents might be around, but they are few and far-between, too... All the better players have long-since departed HS for prep schools or the juniors.

You made a very good point about counting chickens, though...

Utica hasn't won anything yet, and their upcoming ECAW schedule is typically brutal. I wouldn't be shocked if they dropped two at home to Hobart and another two on the road at M'ville... And while I don't expect that to happen, it's well within the realm of possibility, and UC would likely be done-in as a result.

Being as objective as I can, I do believe that UC's resume is the most impressive in the East thus far, but there's lots of key games left to play. I'm not nearly as concerned about the availability of The Aud as I am the necessity for it to be available.

The days of players going right from NYS high school hockey to college are, sadly, long gone. You have to go to the next level before a college will even look at you. That being said, all of the players that have gone on to play at a higher level, even NHL, have played some high school hockey in their home towns. And most all of them have learned their basics from a youth program in or around their home town. Ask a player which he remembers more, winning a state championship or playing before maybe 200 parents and students at prep school. While the best players have to move up to gain the skills needed, high school players do very well and many of them become team leaders when they do move up. Look at the captains of the Kings, Rangers, and Canadians. All played at least some NYS high school hockey in their home towns. An interesting question was asked (trivia) between periods of a Rangers game a few years ago. Which state in the US has the most players in the NHL? While I thought for sure it would be MN or Mass, it was New York. That may have changed by now, but I found it interesting. There's more to team sports than just skill IMHO. NOW back to UC hockey.

norm1909 · Jan 31, 2013

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sshablak said:
Very articulate post fishman !

True, in fact I am so inspired, I am going to the Weathervane Sunday.

PSUChamps2001 · Jan 31, 2013

Bennycheck said:
Which state in the US has the most players in the NHL? While I thought for sure it would be MN or Mass, it was New York.

I don't know where you got your information from but its waayyyy off

MINN-227
MASS-171
MICH-133
NY-95
ILL-48
PENN-28
CONN-28
WIsc-25

Current
MINN-32
NY-21
Mi-17
Ma-11

joecct · Jan 31, 2013