Former Plattsburgh Assistant Named Devils Head Coach (Again)

The New Jersey Devils named Jacques LeMaire as their new head coach Monday. This will mark the Hall of Famer's second stint with the club that he led to the 1995 Stanley Cup Championship. LeMaire got his first coaching job in the United States as an assistant to former Oswego State coach Herb Hammond at Plattsburgh. Hammond discussed LeMaire's time with the Cardinals when I interviewed him in February.

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Oswego State Lax Coach Completes Utica Marathon

Oswego State men's lacrosse coach Dan Witmer finished the 2009 Boilermaker 15k road race in a time of 1:30.01 on Sunday in Utica. More than 10,000 runners crossed the finish line in the 32nd edition of the annual marathon. Witmer's time placed him in the top 7,000.

The Boilermaker 15k road race is the nations largest race of its kind. The marathon began in 1978 with just over 300 participants. It now attracts runners from all over the world.

Crunch Bid Farewell to AHL Western Conference, Announcer

The Syracuse Crunch have been moved to the East Division in the Eastern Conference as part of the American Hockey League's realignment for the 2009-10 season. The new arrangement puts nearly all of the Empire State's franchises in the same division. Rochester will remain in the North Division of the Western Conference, their home for the past six seasons.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division_________________________East Division









Western Conference
North Division___________________________West Division








The Crunch also announced today that play-by-play announcer Bob McElligott has been hired by NHL parent club Columbus. He will serve as host of the pre and post-game shows for the Blue Jacketgs in addition to his in-game duties. McElligott called Crunch games for the past 10 seasons on both television and radio.

H/T Gladdy!

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Auburn's Jeremy Morin Drafted By NHL's Thrashers

With the 45th pick of the 2009 NHL Draft, the Atlanta Thrashers selected Auburn native Jeremy Morin. The high-scoring forward spent the past two seasons with the U.S. National Team Developmental Program. He scored a goal in the team's overtime victory at Oswego State on Oct. 17 after Lakers coach Ed Gosek had praised him as, "likely a first-round NHL draft pick some day."

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Morin will spend the 2009-10 season playing for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League. One of Morin's Team USA teammates, Ryan Bourque, was drafted by the New York Rangers in the third round. Bourque scored the game-winning overtime goal in that Oct. 17 game at Oswego State (which was also the worst goal call - or no call - in my two seasons as VOTL). Bourque is the son of NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque.

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Judgment Week for WNYOsports in USCHO Tourney

The USCHO.com Tournament of Posters, an idea conceived by Matthew Webb years ago but then re-conceived more recently by Pioneers#1, has closed the polls on the tournament's first nine games. Oswego native jabber811 and Oswego State fan 93GreatLaker have advanced to the round of 32.

The polls have now opened on the second wave of first-round match-ups, a wave that includes yours truly. I am paired against 13-seed Mainehockeyman, a relative newcomer who joined the USCHO.com fan forums on April 18, 2007. Mainehockeyman has been responsible for the creation of a number of classic fan forum threads including: Will D3 ever go to a 16 team playoff?, Adrian's Out-Of-Conference Schedule, and What happened to Lake Forest?

I joined the forums on June 7, 2007, nearly two months after Mainehockeyman. Since then, I have cranked out a respectable 0.59 posts per day, enough to stay relevant without being a nerd. Here is the updated bracket:
UPDATE: Mainehockeyman and I were deadlocked at 5-5 prior to the publication of this post. It is now 15-6 in favor of VOTL. Let's crush that bastard! Go vote!