Magagna Gets The "C"

The Oswego State Lakers have selected Peter Magagna as the men's ice hockey team captain for the 2008-09 season. More to come...

Also, here are some dates from the tentatvive 2008-09 season schedule:

Oct. 18 @ Elmira

Nov. 1 Elmira

Nov. 7 @ Fredonia 7 p.m.
Nov. 8 @ Buffalo State 7 p.m.

Nov. 28 @ St. Norbert 7 p.m.
Nov. 29 @ St. Scholastica 3:30 p.m.

Dec. 5 @ Plattsburgh 7 p.m.
Dec. 6 @ Potsdam 7 p.m.

Jan. 30 Fredonia 7 p.m.
Jan. 31 Buffalo State 7 p.m.

Feb. 20 Plattsburgh 7 p.m.
Feb. 21 Potsdam 7 p.m.

Ryan Maloney

WNYO Sports Exclusive: 2008-09 Hockey Recruits

WNYO has just learned the names of several Oswego State Lakers men's hockey recruits. Here is part one of this six-post series.

Paul Beckwith - Starting goaltender for Canada's #1 ranked junior team, the Pembroke Lumber Kings. Beckwith earned a shutout on Apr. 15 in Game 5 of the CJHL championship to help the Kings clinch their second-straight Bogart Cup.

BIO: After leading the Cleveland Junior Lumberjacks to the National Championships in 2006, he once again proved himself as a "big game" goalie as he was nearly unbeatable during the Kings 2007 championship run which saw him get recognized as the MVP of the CJHL playoffs.

YEAR	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	GAA	SV%
2007/2008	Pembroke	44	29	9	2	6	100	2.40	0.911

BIO & STATS COURTESY OF PEMBROKE LUMBER KINGS WEBSITE

Ryan Maloney

Hockey Recruits: Eric Selleck

Eric Selleck - Forward for the Pembroke Lumber Kings. Selleck assisted on the game-winning goal in the Kings' Game 5 CJHL Championship victory. He may be called upon to fill the role vacated by the graduating C.J. Thompson as a "power" forward.

BIO: Eric returns to the Kings after scoring 23 goals last season and developing into one of the top power forwards in the CJHL with a reputation as a tough and competitive player. He was named the Lumber Kings rookie of the year for the 2005-2006 season.

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG
2007/2008	Pembroke	49	43	38	81	120	14	14	1	0	6

BIO & STATS COURTESY OF PEMBROKE LUMBER KINGS WEBSITE

Hockey Recruits: Andrew Mather

Andrew Mather - Forward with the Nepean Raiders who has the near-identical listed build of Derrell Levy (Levy listed as 5-10, 187 lbs while Mather listed as 5-10, 185 lbs). Currently plays center and could be a valuable addition to a Laker power play group that struggled in 2007-08 (18.7 % success rate), although Nepean wasn't any better (18.4 %).

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG
2007/2008	Nepean	57	28	43	71	64	10	14	2	2	4

STATS COURTESY OF NEPEAN WARRIORS WEBSITE

Hockey Recruits: Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson - Captain defensemen for the Wellington Dukes. Anderson was an OHPHL All-Star this season and will join a strong Laker defensive unit that returns all of its members from the 2007-08 season. That means Anderson will have his work cut out from him if he is going to earn ice time as a freshman.

Bio: Steady, mobile and tough, Jared makes a great first pass and is a gifted skater.

Season	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		+/-	PPG	SHG	GW
2007 (R)	31	2	11	13	57		0	0	0	0

Hockey Recruits: Hank Van Boxmeer

Hank Van Boxmeer - Defensemen for the Salmon Arm River Backs. At 6-1, 195 he will be one of the bigger bodies on the Lakers for the 2008-09 season. He also appears to be rocking a sweet retro 'stache.

GP: 41 G:1 A: 12 Pts: 13 PIM: 76

Hockey Recruits: Cory Callen

Cory Callen - At 5-10, 165 pounds this New Jersey native may need to pack on some pounds before he sees serious ice time for Oswego. By comparison, he is about three inches taller than Laker midget forward Brendan McLaughlin, but weighs the same.

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	PPG	PPA	GWG
2007/2008	Jersey Hitmen	44	16	29	45	99	3	7	2

THE LAKE SHOW ON-AIR TODAY

Today marks the return of "The Lake Show with Ryan Maloney" at 4 p.m. Brendan McLaughlin and Kyle McCutcheon are the in-studio guests. They'll be discussing the 2007-08 Laker hockey season, previewing next year's team, and ewill be asked to explain why there are a number of photographs of them posing in a high school-prom stance online.

Our webcast and phone lines are still down, so the only way to listen is on the radio at 88.9 FM in Oswego. The only way to be heard is to send the guys an instant message. The screen name is WNYOsports using AOL Instant Messenger.

Top-Seed Wolverines End Clarkson's Season

The Michigan Wolverines shut Clarkson out 2-0 Saturday night in the East Regional final in Albany. Michigan will now travel to Denver to play in their first Frozen Four since 2003. The Wolverines will face the winner of Notre Dame and defending national champion Michigan State on Apr. 10. Meanwhile, former Oswego State coach George Roll and the Golden Knights will return to Potsdam. The Knights have not made the national semifinals since 1991.

Clarkson Advances to Regional Final

The Clarkson Golden Knights defeated St. Cloud State 2-1 Friday in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal in Albany. The win marked Clarkson's first NCAA tournament victory in 11 years. Coach George Roll and the Knights will face top-seed Michigan tonight at 7 p.m. The Wolverines advanced to the regional final with a 5-1 thrashing of Niagara. Hobey Baker favorite Kevin Porter tallied a carer-high four goals in the victory.

Clarkson Gets At-Large Bid

Former Oswego State head coach George Roll and his Clarkson Golden Knights have received an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.  The Knights are the third seed in the East region and will open against St. Cloud State Friday.  Michigan is the number one seed in the East.  New Hamshire, North Dakota, and Miami (OH) are the other top seeds in the field of 16.

The bracket was unveiled Sunday morning and contained a surprising entrant.  The Wisconsin Badgers received a bid despite finishing below .500 (11-12-5), winning one out of their last five games, placing sixth in their conferencing, and getting swept in the WCHA quarterfinals.  News of Wisconsin's selection even made the front page of ESPN.com (for about ten minutes).

Minnesota State, Mankato was not invited to the dance despite forcing three overtimes against tourney-bound Minnesota in the WCHA playoffs (winning one).  The Mavericks also went 2-1-1 in four regular-season meetings with Wisconsin.

Jones Shuts Out Plattsburgh

St. Norbert beat Plattsburgh 2-0 in today's NCAA title game in Lake Placid. Senior goaltender Kyle Jones became the first player to earn two shutouts in a single Frozen Four. The win gives St. Norbert their first NCAA ice hockey championship. Green Knight coach Tim Coghlin is the first person to win a D-III championship as a player and a coach. He captained Wisconsin-Stevens Point to the 1989 title and was an assistant under Joe Baldarotta for their 1993 championship. Baldarotta is now the head coach at SUNY Cortland.

ESPN.com Report

Plattsburgh & St. Norbert Scoreless After One

The Plattsburgh Cardinals and St. Norbert Green Knights are scoreless after 20 minutes of play in Lake Placid. Brian Hince has stopped 14 shots for the Cards while Kyle Jones has 10 saves for the Knights. The game is being broadcast on CSTV and webcast on CSTV.com.

Plattsburgh Advances To Easter Showdown With St. Norbert

Plattsburgh beat Elmira 6-3 tonight in Lake Placid to earn a spot in tomorrow's championship game against St. Norbert.

Ellis Named to All-America Team

Oswego State forward Ryan Ellis was named to the RBK All-America second team yesterday by the American Hockey Coaches Association. Ellis was the only player selected from the SUNYAC. He is the 18th player in Oswego State history to earn All-American honors. Ellis was the SUNYAC Player of the Year for 2007-08. He is a three-time All-SUNYAC selection and a former SUNYAC Rookie of the Year.

2008 RBK HOCKEY ALL-AMERICAN TEAM

Dylan Clarke Gives Plattsburgh 3-2 Lead

Plattsburgh's Dylan Clarke just put home a rebound for his 10th power play goal of the season to put the Cards up 3-2 over Elmira in the second. Elmira had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but the Cards evened it at 2-2 after a Bob Emery timeout.

St. Norbert Wins Lake Placid Opener

Senior goaltender Kyle Jones recorded his 24th career shutout and ninth of the season as St. Norbert beat Norwich 3-0 in the NCAA semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y.  The Green Knights advance to tomorrow's final where they await the winner of Elmira and Plattsburgh.  The Soaring Eagles and Cardinals square off at 6 p.m.

Clarkson Ousted in OT

The Clarkson Golden Knights were eliminated in the ECAC quarterfinals Sunday by the Colgate Red Raiders. The Knights were the top-seed and defending tournament champions. They will now have to rely on an at-large bid to get into the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Colgate advances to face #2 Princeton in Albany on Friday.

On the D-III front, the Frozen Four is set. Plattsburgh and Elmira are both making the trip to Lake Placid to face each other in the semifinals. The other semifinal pits St. Norbert against Norwich. Those games take place Saturday with the winners playing Sunday.

The Lakers Are Done, But Clarkson Rolls On

Oswego State may have played their final hockey game this season, but a former Laker head coach still has his club in the thick of the division I playoff race. Clarkson's George Roll has led the Golden Knights to a 20-10-4 record in his fifth season at the helm. This year, the Knights won the Cleary Cup, awarded to the regular season champion of the ECAC, for the first time since 2001 with a 15-4-3 conference mark. Roll also earned his 200th career victory on Nov. 10 when the Knights beat Princeton 6-2. Clarkson was an impressive 14-1-1 on their home ice at the Cheel Arena this season (WNYO Sports was there for the lone loss).

WATCH/LISTEN TO THE KNIGHTS

The Golden Knights earned a bye into the ECAC quarterfinals as the top seed. They will host eighth-seeded Colgate, who eliminated Clarkson arch-rival St. Lawrence in the opening round. The best-of-three series begins Friday night at 7 p.m. You can hear Cool 95.3 FM's Bob Ahlfeld call the game on the web by clicking here. The student broadcast from WTSC 91.1 FM The Source can be heard here. You can even pony up eight American dollars and watch WCKN-TV's video feed combined with Ahlfeld's play-by-play over at B2Networks. Live stats will also be available here.

SERIES INFO

Clarkson and Colgate went toe-to-toe for 130 minutes this season. They combined for two goals as they skated to two ties. Inside College Hockey illustrates Clarkson's offensive struggles against Colgate in their latest power rankings, "The Golden Knights would like to watch tape of the goals they've scored against Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich in the last four years. The problem is, that tape would only last about 55 seconds."

Senior forward Steve Zalewski was the only Knight to score on Dekanich this season. He is the younger brother of Oswego State defenseman Rich Zalewski. Overall, Clarkson is 4-2-5 vs. Colgate under George Roll, including an ECAC semifinal victory in 2004. Colgate is just two seasons removed from their own ECAC regular season crown.

GEORGE ROLL

Clarkson coach George Roll took his first head coaching job with the Oswego State Lakers in 1997. He inherited a club that had finished a game over .500 the year before. In his first season, the Lakers achieved their best record in nearly a decade, finishing 17-13-2. Roll was named SUYAC Coach of the Year by his peers. Five years later, the Lakers won their first SUNYAC title in 12 years and earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Roll was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year again, becoming the first Laker coach to earn the honor twice.

Oswego State would advance to the 2003 National Championship to play Norwich after beating Wentworth and Middlebury. The Lakers led 1-0 in the third period on the Cadets' ice, but Norwich netted two goals before the final buzzer to take home the title. Oswego's impressive run earned Roll the head spot at Clarkson, where he had previously served as an assistant. Roll's success has continued there, leading the Golden Knights to the 2007 ECAC Tournament Championship and the 2008 ECAC Cleary Cup. This season, the Knights are in good position to earn consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years.

Ryan Maloney

Snubbed?

Oswego State was not selected as a Pool C entrant into the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The selection committee opted for a 7-3 East-West split and awarded Wisconsin-Stout (18-8-3) an at-large bid. Also omitted from the field of ten are Adrian (26-3-0) and Middlebury (18-7-2). This year's NCAA tournament will be the first since 1994 not to feature the Middlebury Panthers.

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