Reaction to "Big Game Cory Schneider" video has been spirited

All Comments (8)

• schneidman12
  F*** YOU!!!!!!!!!

  
  
• KRug47
  GIINGGGYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

  
  
• Mheadduffman
  Did Cory bang your wife or something?

  
  
• ryanm1387
  Cory just signed a contract with the Vancouver Canucks and will be playing behind one of the best goalies in the league. He'll also be making 900k a year for the next two seasons...
  What are you doing with your life?

  
  
• ExtremeJoey
  You are a douchebag

  
  
• StorkKhan
  SCHNEIDER IS A BEAST!!!!!!!

  
  
• BiggishBradford
  f*** u man ur just some fat 40 year old pissed off virgin u pussy.......Cory Schneider is the man!

Syracuse Crunch will return to SUNY Oswego Sept. 29

The Syracuse Crunch released their pre-season schedule on Friday, revealing that the franchise will return to the campus of SUNY Oswego on Sept. 29 to play at the Campus Center Ice Arena for the fourth consecutive season.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will make their first journey to the shores of Lake Ontario to serve as Syracuse's opponent.  Face-off is slated for 7 p.m.

A sponsor for the game was not mentioned, though Oswego-based Shapiro Motors has supported the three previous Port City games.

The Voicemail Vault

I received a lot of drunk/interesting/weird voicemails during my time as the "Voice of the Lakers."  Some were from the players, some were from faculty, some were from girlfriends, all were saved.

Here is the cream of the crop:

Oswego State student Gary Ayd survives apparent assassination attempt

Fans of "The Gary Ayd Show" on SUNY Oswego's student-run radio station WNYO can breathe easy; the plot to murder the show's host has failed.

Ayd has been working for the Hudson Valley Renegades baseball team of the New York Penn League this summer. He helps produce the team's radio broadcasts in addition to conducting player interviews.

Thankfully, he was not present in the team's press box after a July 9 game against the Auburn Doubledays when this happened:



The Poughkeepsie Journal reported on July 14 that a faulty mortar shell was to blame for the mishap.

Strasburg dominates AAA debut, brings old fans back to Chiefs

No one can ever ask Stephen Strasburg which Hollywood actor he would choose to portray him in a movie.  Robert Redford took that gig four years before the stud Nationals prospect was born.

Strasburg is Roy Hobbs: a tall, slender, blond-haired northpaw who can bring the heat and swing the lumber.

He may not have a "wonderboy" inscription on his bat, but he did have two RBI's in it on Friday.  One of which came from a suicide squeeze play--senior circuit baseball at its finest--the other from a line drive through the middle of the diamond in a 7-0 Syracuse Chiefs victory over the Gwinnet Braves at Alliance Bank Stadium.

And then there was the pitching.  The most impressive number in Strasburg's line might just be the goose egg that represents the number of times the ball left the infield on the fly off a Gwinnett bat.

Strasburg starts Syracuse stint tonight

The Salt City is buzzing with anticipation for the Syracuse Chiefs debut of stud pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg.

The Gwinnet Braves will serve as the first AAA-level lineup to get a look at the right-handed flame thrower whom Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan dubbed "Jesus" earlier this year in sprint training.

Ernie Harwell dies after battle with cancer

"For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

The man whose voice welcomed baseball fans to every new season with a reading from Song of Solomon has passed.

Longtime Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell succumbed to cancer this afternoon at the age of 92. He had publicly announced in September that a tumor in his bile duct was inoperable.

The 3rd Annual Kentucky Derby Preview with Gladdy and VOTL

Will we see another longshot upset?  What sort of condition will the track be in on race day?  Is Barbaro still dead?

Ryan Maloney and InsideCollegeHockey.com senior writer Joe Gladziszewski answer all that and more on the third annual Kentucky Derby preview podcast.

Click here to listen

Source: Oswego State's Eric Selleck signs pro deal

Oswego State forward Eric Selleck has signed a contract with the NHL's Florida Panthers, a source close to the team told TheVOTL.com today.  Selleck, the 2010 runner-up for the Sid Watson Award, departs SUNY Oswego after just two seasons in the green and gold.

Videos: Neil Musselwhite at the Frozen Four Skills Challenge

AmericaJR.com has posted some videos from the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge. Former Oswego State forward Neil Musselwhite can be seen in the clips wearing a blue sweater with the number 11 on it.  You can see the videos after the jump.

Neil Musselwhite dazzles at Frozen Four skills competition in Detroit

It may have taken them a little longer than I would have liked, but the Oswego State Athletic Department has posted a write-up on men's hockey player Neil Musselwhite's performance at the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge.

Oswego State senior men’s hockey player Neil Musselwhite closed out his collegiate career by winning the Fastest Skater competition at the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge on Friday night at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.

Musselwhite, the only Division III men’s hockey player at the competition, edged Minnesota State-Mankato’s Zach Harrison by two-tenths of a second in the final with a new event record time of 14.3 seconds after advancing to the final by winning his respective heat. However, the East squad fell to the West squad by the score of 10-6. 

Steve Donahue bolts Cornell to take Boston College job

It was hard to imagine Steve Donahue leaving Cornell on his own terms a few short years ago. The Big Red men's basketball program had losing seasons in each of the coach's first six campaigns, from 2000-01 on through 2005-06, as Pennsylvania and Princeton continued their storied dominance of the Ivy League's hardwood. But athletic director Andy Noel remained patient as Donahue slowly built the program into the class of the conference. Now, after three straight Ivy League crowns, Donahue is shipping up to Boston.

Wes Johnson named first-team All-American

The Associated Press named Syracuse men's basketball star Wes Johnson to their 2010 All-America first team today. Johnson is the first Orange player since Hakim Warrick in 2005 to receive such an honor.  He had already been named to the US Basketball Writers Association first team and was named second team by Sporting News.

Costly gaffes doom Lakers

Last week, Syracuse Post-Standard assistant sports editor Jason Murray sent me on assignment to cover the Oswego State men's hockey team's appearance in the Division III Frozen Four.  It turned out to be a very short assignment. For whatever reason, my article appeared in the paper, but not online at Syracuse.com. Therefore, I have decided to post it here for those that did not get a chance to see it.

Bowdoin v. Oswego State to be streamed online

I am in Oswego for the NCAA quarterfinals. Log onto Oswego.edu/Athletics to watch!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Syracuse (Finally) Joins Big East Tourney At High Noon

Conference rivals Georgetown and Syracuse will tangle for a third time this season when the 2010 Big East tournament resumes today at noon.

It should be interesting to see how the Orange come out for this one, having sat the first two days of action while Georgetown played a little less than 24 hours ago. Naturally, Syracuse coach (and 2010 Oppenheimer Funds Big East Coach of the Year) Jim Boeheim hates this.

"I think it's awful," said Boeheim, whose club earned the top seed this season and will not play until noon Thursday. "Conventional wisdom says the double-bye teams should fare better, but two of the four lost last year. If that doesn't say something, I don't know what does."

But he can't hate the fact that newly-minted conference player of the year Wes Johnson was able to rest an accumulation of injuries for a few extra days. The junior wing man will try to help the Orange avoid their first losing streak of the season today. Syracuse responded to their two previous losses with winning streaks of 11 and four, respectively.  Today's game will be carried by ESPN and ESPN360.com.

Oswego State's Musselwhite Selected For Frozen Four Skills Competition

It has been said that Oswego State senior Neil Musselwhite has "NHL speed." He'll get the chance to show that he at least has Division I speed when he participates in the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge on Apr. 9 at Ford Field in Detroit.

The NCAA announced the field for the annual competition today, Musselwhite was the only men's Division III player to earn an invite. He will vie for the title of fastest skater as part of the East squad.

Musselwhite

Tickets for the event are $10 and are on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800/745-3000. The Frozen Four Skills Challenge will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern, and will be preceded by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award at 7 p.m. and the Hockey Humanitarian Award at 6:30 p.m.

NCAA D3 Hockey Tournament Preview: Adrian at St. Norbert

8 p.m. - Cornerstone Community Center

It's put up or shut up time for the Adrian men's ice hockey program.  An unstoppable force in the MCHA since their arrival three seasons ago (67-1 conference record), the Bulldogs finally get their shot in the NCAA tournament after the association granted the conference an automatic bid before the 2009-10 season.

Adrian won their third straight conference tournament, but also suffered their first-ever three-game losing streak to start the calendar year (two losses at Hamline followed by a loss at Oswego State).  Those were the only three out-of-conference road games played by Ron Fogarty's club this season, so they'll be looking to score their first non-MCHA win away from Arrington Ice Arena since Jan. 4, 2009.

St. Norbert is on a 10-game unbeaten streak and coming off of their third NCHA championship in the past four seasons.  Junior goaltender B.J. O'Brien has been Jyle Jones-esque this season, losing just twice in his 26 appearances while stopping more than 92 percent of the shots he saw and letting in little more than a goal-and-a-half per game.  He has allowed just a single goal in seven of his last eight games; the only game preventing that from being a streak of eight was a Feb. 13 shutout of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Prediction: St. Norbert 3-2 in OT
UPDATE: Final, St. Norbert 4-3

NCAA D3 Hockey Tournament Preview: St. Thomas at Gustavus Adolphus

8 p.m. - Don Roberts Ice Rink

St. Thomas sent shock waves through the Division III hockey troposphere when they upset Hamline and Gustavus Adolphus--both on the road and in overtime--to win the MIAC tournament and earn a Pool A bid into the NCAA tournament.

The Tommies' victory last Wednesday was their firt of the season against the Gusties, a club that had outscored St. Thomas 11-1 in their two December meetings.  Despite their 13-10-4 record, coach Terry Skrypek's team is among the hottest in the nation going into tonight's game, having won seven of eight.  The Tommies are hoping that senior netminder Joe Schraeder (79 saves in the last two games) can continue his stellar play and tally his second victory over Gustavus in as many weeks.

Gustavus Adolphus was embarrassed in front of their home crowd seven nights ago and will have revenge on their mind tonight.  The Golden Gusties' offense may have been suffering from a hangover after it took them nearly 139 minutes to top Augsburg in the MIAC semis on Feb. 27.

They should be well-rested tonight as they look to get their high-powered offense (5.93 goals per game) going early.  Right winger David Martinson (29 g, 20 a) was shut out in the previous meeting.  Don't look for that to happen again.

Prediction: 6-3 Gustavus
UPDATE: Final, Gustavus 3-1

NCAA D3 Hockey Tournament Preview: Curry at Elmira

7 p.m. - Murray Athletic Center

Five losses over the last seven games of a season will normally kill a team's chances at making the 11-team NCAA tournament field, but not if you're Aaron Saul and the Elmira College men's hockey program. The first-year coach watched his Soaring Eagles drop an overtime heartbreaker to Manhattanville in the ECAC West championship game on Saturday, then found out less than 24 hours later that his team had been selected over the Valiants (20-6-1) as the recipient of the Pool B bid into the dance. This marks the first time in 26 seasons that the winner of the ECAC West tournament will not participate in the NCAA tournament.

Despite the slow finish, you have to be impressed by Elmira's résumé.  The Eagles own a home victory over SUNYAC champion Oswego State and battled to a 1-1 tie with highly-ranked Plattsburgh in January.  They also responded well to a shocking early-season loss to Morrisville, going 15-1-1 in their next 17 games (the only loss being to Oswego State and the previously-mentioned tie with Plattsbugh).  They'll rely on a spread scoring attack (six players with at least nine goals) and veteran goaltending from senior Casey Tuttle (13-6-1, 2.50 GAA, 91.2 save %) to try and avoid a second straight play-in round loss.

Curry won the ECAC Northeast and earned an automatic bid to the tourney, winning three straight in their conference bracket after finishing the regular season with a pair of losses. The Colonels faced just two tournament teams in the regular season: they were shutout 4-0 by Norwich on New Year's Day then fell 6-4 at Bowdoin on Jan. 6.  They are a young team that typically spends more minutes in the penalty box than their opposition.  However, they have a quartet of sophomores, led by forward Payden Benning (29 g, 35 a), who are capable of lighting the lamp in a hurry.  Curry is making their first tournament appearance since 2004-05 when they were drilled 6-0 by Middlebury in the quarterfinals.

Prediction: Elmira 5-2
UPDATE: Final, Elmira 4-1

Coming Soon: TheVOTL.com Podcast

For the past four years, I had used Garage Band's Gcast service to host all of the radio work I had done with 88.9 FM WNYO Oswego, SportsRadio 620 WHEN Syracuse, and 570 WSYR Syracuse.  Recently, Garage Band announced they would no longer take uploads from their users, effectively ending its service as a host to current podcasts.

After a few weeks of scrambling around to find a new home for my large catalog of MP3 files, I discovered how to make my Blogger account into a podcast host.  I am hoping to have new episodes uploaded soon, with guest appearances from everyone's favorite fireside chatter.  This would require said chatter to download Skype, but Canadians struggle when it comes to life the internets.  Stay tuned.

Perfect Weekend Puts Syracuse Crunch Back In Calder Cup Playoff Picture

A three-win weekend has the Syracue Crunch thinking playoffs again.  The club posted a 5-2 decision over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday, topped Portland 4-3 the next night, then traveled to Binghamton to score a 4-3 overtime win over the Senators on Sunday.

Syracuse now sits just a point behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for fourth place in the East Division.  However, due to the layout of the Eastern Conference, the fourth-place team in the East Division is not guaranteed a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

The Atlantic Division is stocked with one more teams--eight total--than any of the other three divisions.  Therefore, if the fifth-place team in the Atlantic has more points than the fourth-place team in the East, they get the playoff spot.  Bridgeport currently occupies the fifth spot in the Atlantic and has four more points than Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.


Syracuse has 16 games remaining and will return to the ice Friday night when they host Lowell.

Full NCAA Division III Hockey Bracket Released

The NCAA finally revealed the full layout for the 2010 Division III men's ice hockey tournament.  Oswego State finds themselves in the same half of the bracket as the western schools;  Plattsburgh, Middlebury, Norwich, Elmira, and Curry make up the other half.

The way this year's tournament is set, the potential exists for some great rivalry match-ups.  We're already guaranteed one such showdown in the quarterfinal round when Plattsburgh visits Middlebury on Saturday.  We could also see an Elmira-Norwich game on the same day if the Soaring Eagles can get past Curry on Wednesday.  I'll post previews of all three play-in games throughout the day.

A Headache-Filled Season Ends For Former Oswego Coach George Roll

The Clarkson University men's hockey team failed to escape the first round of the ECAC tournament for the second year in a row, losing 3-2 Sunday evening at the hands of arch-rival St. Lawrence.

The Golden Knights were playing shorthanded the entire season after two defensive recruits were suspended by the school following an off-ice incident.  Additionally, several defensemen fell to injury over the course of the season, forcing head coach George Roll to shift some pivots to the blue line.  The results were poor.

Clarkson went through a long stretch of failures this season, going 1-12-3 from Nov. 21-Feb. 6. The lowest point came in an 11-2 loss at Union on national television on Feb. 5.

Roll, who took the Clarkson job in 2003 after leading Oswego State to the Division III championship game, is just 19-43-11 in the two seasons following the program's last Cleary Cup.  Despite the suspensions and injuries that had depleted his roster, Roll came under fire from some impatient fans earlier this year.

In recent weeks Clarkson coach George Roll has been criticized in an anonymous letter to weekly publication North Country Now, and on the Internet in the Clarkson fan forum, LetsGoTech.com.

With a team currently in last place in the ECAC Hockey standings, coming off of last year's 10-19-7 season, some believe the criticism is justified.

Despite possessing a record of 5-20-3 on Feb. 11, Clarkson played competitively down the stretch and went 4-4-1 over their last nine games.  They never lost by more than a goal during that stretch and came within five minutes and 13 seconds of ending fifth-seeded St. Lawrence's season on their own ice.

"I think the future is bright with the guys returning," said Roll. "I thought our young guys on defense (Andrew Himelson and Nik Pokulok) had really good freshmen years. I thought (forward) Nick Tremblay really started coming along. With the kids coming in, I like our prospects of getting it turned around in a hurry next year. But there is going to be a lot of sting from this one."

For more on Clarkson hockey, read Cap Carey

For more on St. Lawrence hockey, read Dan Cassavaugh

For more on the ECAC tournament, read Joe Gladziszewski

D3 Hockey Selection Sunday: Oswego State Draws Bowdoin in Quarterfinals

Oswego State is one victory away from a trip to the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four in Lake Placid.

The Division III men's ice hockey selection committee gave the SUNYAC champions a bye into the quarterfinals of the 2010 NCAA tournament in the bracket leaked just moments ago.  The Lakers will host NESCAC tournament runner-up Bowdoin on Saturday night at the Campus Center.  The Polar Bears won eight straight games to finish their season before dropping Sunday's NESCAC championship at Middlebury by a score of 3-2.

Only four "western" schools were invited to the dance, three of whom were guaranteed a spot after they won their conference tournament.  All four will have to take the ice in Wednesday night's play-in round.

Wednesday's Play-ins:
MCHA Champion Adrian (24-3-0)
at NCHA Champion St. Norbert (21-3-3)

MIAC Champion St. Thomas (13-10-4)
at Gustavus Adolphus (19-6-2)

ECACNE Champion Curry (19-8-1)
at Elmira (18-8-1)

Saturday's Quarterfinals:
Curry/Elmira winner
at ECACW Champion Norwich (23-1-4)

Bowdoin (19-6-1)
at SUNYAC Champion Oswego (25-2-0)

Plattsburgh (18-5-4)
at NESCAC Champion Middlebury (19-4-4)

West first-round winners
play each other

Oswego State Scratches Seven-Year SUNYAC Itch

ESPN Radio Returns To Syracuse After Brief Absence

The Central New York radio landscape welcomes an unprecedented third sports talk station to the area today as ESPN Radio 97.7 FM begins broadcasting.  The World Wide Leader had been absent from the Syracuse airwaves since breaking ties with Citadel's WSKO 1260 (formerly WNSS) last month.

Galaxy Communications is ESPN's new home in the Salt City, as they had an extra frequency available to accommodate ESPN's wish to bring ESPN Deportes to Syracuse listeners.  On-air personalities like "Mike & Mike in the Morning" and Colin Cowherd can now be heard in FM stereo in Central New York for the first time.

Meanwhile, WSKO is now affiliating themselves with Sporting News Radio.  Local talk show host Brent Axe will remain on the air and his show will now run from 2-6 in the afternoon rather than 3-6.

SportsRadio 620 WHEN remains a FOX Sports Radio affiliate.

Lundqvist Stops 50, Loses

It would appear that this video does not work. I'm okay with that.

Hank Lundqvist made a career-best 50 stops last night in a performance that drew comparisons to Mike Richter's 59-save effort in Vancouver some 19 years ago (a feat which Adam Wodon was immediately reminded of).  But then Wade Redden had to go and ruin it by hooking Jordan Staal in overtime.  Staal scored the game winner on the resulting power play to give Pittsburgh two points and sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Rangers picked up a point in defeat and are now tied for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with Atlanta.  Both teams have 66 points, but the Thrashers have a pair of games in hand.  The blue shirts travel to Washington tomorrow night to face a Capitals club that hasn't lost at home since Dec. 28...

DECEMBER 28TH!

On a positive note, Chris Drury's backhand-from-his-knees goal in the first period made SportCenter's top plays this morning.  It was quite impressive, go ahead and click the play button up top to wat--nevermind.

Former Marrone Assistants Rob Spence and Jaime Elizondo Find Work

Rob Spence (Frank Ordoñez/P-S)

Two of the three assistants fired by Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone in November have recently found jobs, according to FootballScoop.com.

Rob Spence, last year's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Orange, has accepted a position on Temple's staff as wide receivers coach.  The Owls, who were booted from the Big East Conference in 2005 for their lack of competitiveness, won nine games last season under fourth-year coach Al Golden.  Temple appeared in the 2009 EagleBank Bowl in DC, their first postseason appearance since they won 10 games in 1979, but lost to UCLA 30-21.

Spence replaces Kevin Gilbride, a former grad assistant at Syracuse and son of the New York Giants offensive coordinator with the same name.  The younger Gilbride was hired by the Giants last month to be their offensive quality control coach.

Elizondo (Argonauts.ca)

Ironically, Syracuse's former wide receivers coach, Jaime Elizondo, has been hired as the offensive coordinator of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts.  That franchise has gone downhill at an alarming rate, winning just seven games over the past two seasons, breaking a string of six consecutive playoff appearances (2002-2007) in the process.  They are just six seasons removed from their last Grey Cup title.

The third assistant that Marrone fired, Derrick Jackson, caught on with Akron in January.  He will coach the Zips' defensive line, the same responsibility he held for three seasons at Syracuse.

Video: Ryan Callahan Doesn't Need A Post-Olympics Rest

Syracuse Hoops Tops Media, Coaches Polls

The Syracuse men's basketball program sits atop the national polls for the first time since that season when they became the first two seed to lose to a fifteen seed in NCAA tournament history.  That seems to have everyone really excited.

The Orange jumped ahead of Kansas, Kentucky and Purdue after all three schools lost to conference foes last week.  Of those teams, the Jayhawks were the only one to lose to an unranked opponent, yet they still retained six first-place votes.

It would appear that some, including this jackass, think that Kansas' body of work is good enough to keep them ahead of Syracuse.  Thankfully, 59 other writers, 23 coaches and Bobby Knight disagree.

(Click the poll image on the right to enlarge.)

Canada Tops US For Olympic Hockey Gold

This Time...It's For Real

The greatest rivals in all of D3 hockey will meet again next Saturday after Plattsburgh and Oswego both advanced to the SUNYAC final.  The Cards topped Brockport 5-2 tonight while Oswego erased an early three-goal deficit to beat Morrisville 8-5. 

This marks the third straight season in which the SUNYAC title will be decided in a Plattsburgh-Oswego matchup.  The Cardinals have defeated Oswego in each of the last two championship meetings.  However, unlike those two previous title games, the 2010 final will be played in Oswego.  Check back with TheVOTL.com throughout the week for more on this rivalry and the upcoming game.

SUNYAC Semifinal Live Blog

The SUNY Oswego student media groups are warring on the USCHO message board again and that can only mean one thing: it's playoff time.

Oswego State enters the SUNYAC's annual postseason tournament as the top seed in the conference.  Morrisville qualified for the playoffs in their first season of eligibility and enter the Campus Center as an upset-minded six-seed.  They are coming off of a surprising victory in Tuesday night's first round action, a 3-2 overtime decision over third-seeded Fredonia.

Tonight's game is being webcast by both WTOP and WNYO.  Time Warner SportsNet is broadcasting the game on channel 13.  TheVOTL.com has got the live blog scene on lockdown:

UPDATE: We are less thn 10 minutes into the first period and Morrisville has stunned the Lakers by scoring the game's first three goals.  Coach Ed Gosek has just pulled senior Kyle Gunn-Taylor and replaced him in net with sophomore Paul Beckwith.  Gunn-Taylor's line reads: five shots faced, two saves...ouch.  I wonder if Vyacheslav Bykov is watching.

UPDATE: The Mustangs already have two solid scoring chances on Beckwith as the Laker defense looks flat-footed.  Brian Grady has got his boys ready to play tonight, that's for sure.  Keep in mind, it was just last season that the Mustangs came away from the Campus Center with a tie.

UPDATE: Freshman Tyler Leimbrock has just put the Lakers on the board with a rebound off a right-wing wrister from senior Neil Musselwhite.  There are just under seven minutes remaining and it's a 3-1 advantage for Morrisville.  It should be interesting to see how the Mustangs deal with a crowd that is now very much alive.

UPDATE: Musselwhite camped out on the edge of the crease and pots a goal past Caylin Relkoff to cut the Morrisville lead to 3-2.  The replay shows that he barely got a stick on the wraparound feed from Brad Dormiedy, but Relkoff was slow to react and the puck slowly made it past the goal line.  Less than three minutes remaining now and the Lakers are already going on a power play to try and tie things up.

END OF 1ST PERIOD: Morrisville manages to kill of the penalty and retain their one-goal lead going into the dressing room.  The Lakers have outshot the Ponies 15-9 and have reacted positively to the goalie switch midway through the period.  Beckwith faced four shots after relieving Gunn-Taylor, stopping all of them.

2ND PERIOD

Jonathan Cristini with a breakaway goal for the Mustangs and they once again have a two-goal lead early in the second period.  But Leimbrock gets a takeaway right between the circles and blasts his second goal of the night past Relkoff with a slapper.  Morrisville still leads 4-3.

ELSEWHERE: Plattsburgh leads Brockport 2-0 in the second period at the Stafford Ice Arena in the other SUNYAC semifinal.

UPDATE: The hat trick for Leimbrock!  Quite the performance for a freshman in his first collegiate playoff game.  The game is now tied at 4-4 with less than a minute remaining in the second period.  Meanwhile, Plattsburgh leads Brockport 2-1 after two.

3RD PERIOD

UPDATE:  I've fallen a bit behind.  Neil Musselwhite scored on a shorthanded breakaway (yawn) to start the third and Jon Whitelaw just took the puck away from Relkoff and scored on a backhander to give the Lakers their largest lead on the night at 6-4.

UPDATE:  Eric Selleck just scored his first goal of the night off a feed from Justin Fox.  That marks the Lakers' first power play goal tonight.  They lead 7-4.  Plattsburgh beat Brockport 5-2.  Oswego is less than five minutes away from meeting Plattsburgh in the SUNYAC final for the third straight season.

UPDATE:  Tom Longland beats Beckwith to cut the lead to 7-5.

UPDATE: Kevin Huinink lights the lamp on a shothanded empty-netter with a minute left.

Oswego wins 8-5.

Oswego State Men's Hockey Captures Multiple Conference Awards

From Oswego State Athletics:

The State University of New York Athletic Conference released its 2009-10 Post-Season Men’s Ice Hockey awards on Wednesday and Oswego State garnered the majority of the awards.

Sophomore forward Eric Selleck was named the Herb Hammond Most Valuable Player, freshman forward Jon Whitelaw was named Rookie of the Year, and Ed Gosek was selected as the Coach of the Year. Three players received First Team All-Conference recognition including junior forward Chris Laganiere, junior defenseman Stephen Mallaro, and Selleck, while senior forward Neil Musselwhite was named to the Second Team.

In addition, senior defenseman Tyler Lyon and senior goaltender Kyle Gunn-Taylor received honorable mention All-Conference honors.  After finishing the SUNYAC regular season with a record of 15-1-0, the Lakers, who are 23-2-0 overall, earned the top seed in the conference post-season tournament.


Eric Selleck, a native of Spencerville, Ontario, led the league in the majority of offensive categories including points (39), assists (25), goals (14), power play points (14).  He was tied for the league-lead in goals scored at 14.  Last year’s SUNYAC Rookie of the Year was named SUNYAC Player of the Week on November 9 and December 14.  Selleck is the second player in conference history to receive both SUNYAC MVP and Rookie of the Year honors following Oswego State’s Ryan Ellis and is the first to accomplish this in consecutive seasons. 

Chris Laganiere, an Owego, N.Y. native, led the conference with four game-winning goals and ranked second in the conference at 30 points.  He tied Selleck for a league-best 14 goals and was tied for first in power play goals at six.  Laganiere also ranked second in power play points at 11 and fourth in assists at 16.

Stephen Mallaro, a defenseman from Syracuse, N.Y., was fourth among conference defensemen in scoring with 11 points on four goals and seven assists.  He also posted three game-winning goals for Oswego State. 


Assistant captain Neil Musselwhite led the conference with four short-handed goals and was tied for third in the league with 11 goals.  The Burlington, Ontario native was selected as the SUNYAC Player of the Week on December 7 and January 11.  He became the ninth player in NCAA history to tally a short-handed natural hat trick on December 4 against Brockport. 

Jon Whitelaw, a forward from Hunstville, Ontario, led all league rookies with 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists and was fourth among all players with nine power play points.  Whitelaw was named the SUNYAC Player of the Week on February 1 and was a three-time SUNYAC Rookie of the Week selection.  He is the ninth Laker to be selected as Rookie of the Year and the seventh since the 2000-01 season. 

Captain Tyler Lyon, who hails from Foxboro, Ontario, anchored a defense that allowed the fewest goals in the league at 1.75 goals per game, and helped set up the offense for the top-scoring squad in the SUNYAC at 5.44 goals per game.  Lyon, who started all 16 conference games this season, was also a key figure in the Laker penalty kill.

Kyle Gunn-Taylor, an honorable mention selection, registered a conference record of 11-1-0 and posted a 1.69 goals against average, which was second among SUNYAC goalies, and a .927 save percentage.  The West Seneca, N.Y. native was also chosen as the SUNYAC Goaltender of the Week three times during the season.

Head Coach Ed Gosek was chosen as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his seven-year tenure. Gosek led Oswego State to its first No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC Post-Season Tournament since 2003 despite 15 newcomers on the team.  His squad finished the season atop every conference team statistical category including scoring offense (5.44 goals per game), scoring defense (1.75 goals per game), power play efficiency (28.1 percent), and penalty kill (86.8 percent).  Gosek was named Coach of the Year for the 2004-05 season.

The Lakers start post-season play on Saturday when they face Morrisville at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Playoffs.  Tickets may be purchased by calling the Campus Center Box Office at 315-312-3073 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Photo - Jared Crast / Facebook

Make Way For The Ponies, Morrisville Hockey Advances To SUNYAC Semis

Most fans--hell, even some players on other programs within the conference--weren't aware of the Morrisville hockey program's postseason eligibility until after New Year's. But tonight the Mustangs showed they're not only eligible, but a Cinderella of sorts with a shocking 3-2 victory at third-seeded Fredonia in the play-in round of the 2010 SUNYAC postseason tournament.

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Junior forward Nick Kulas buried a goal past sophomore netminder Kody Van Rentergem in the fifth minute of overtime to give Morrisville the victory in their first postseason game since jumping to the NCAA from the junior college ranks in 2007.

The victory comes just four nights after the Mustangs suffered an embarassing 7-1 defeat to this same Fredonia club at the same Steele Hall Ice Arena.  It also serves as a giant leap forward for a program that endured back-to-back five win seasons in the two seasons leading up to this one.and moves them into Saturday's semifinal where they will visit top-seeded Oswego State at 7 p.m.

Live Audio: Morrisville Hockey Forces OT In SUNYAC Playoff Debut

Syracuse Football, 91st-Ranked Rushing Attack In '09, Hires Running Backs Coach From 92nd-Ranked Team

Doug Marrone has tabbed a former Rose Bowl MVP to head up the Syracuse running attack.

Tyrone Wheatley--once a Heisman Trophy hopeful during his days in the Michigan Wolverines backfield--was named the new running backs coach of the Orange on Wednesday.  He joins the program after holding the same position with Eastern Michigan for the 2009 season.

The former first-round pick of the New York Giants guided a rushing attack at Eastern Michigan that posted numbers comparable to that of the 2009 backfield at Syracuse. While the Orange ranked 91st in the nation last season, the Eagles were right on their heels at 92nd.  Each team ran the ball exactly 421 times last year with Syracuse out-gaining Eastern Michigan by just four yards.

The announcement of Wheatley's hire came just a day after the abrupt resignation of Roger Harriott, a former running back at Villanova who was temporarily lured away from coaching a high school program he had started in Florida.

Harriott was hired by Marrone on Jan. 27 to replace Stan Drayton, who accepted the same position on Urban Meyer's staff at Florida following the 2009 season.  But Harriott changed his mind on Monday thus allowing the Orange to bring in Wheatley.

No Nady For Yankees, Cubs Sign Xavier

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will not tab Xavier Clifford Nady VI to fill the vacancy in left field created by Johnny Damon's free agency.

Nady signed a one-year, $3.3 million deal with the Chicago Cubs yesterday.  The contract is filled with performance-based incentives that could increase its value by more than $2 million.  As with most contracts, the deal will only be finalized if Nady passes a physical examination.

Nady spent the past season and a half in pinstripes, but played in just seven major league games in 2009 before a right elbow injury forced him to undergo the second Tommy John surgery of his career.  The decision to shelve Nady for the remainder of the season was actually made in June, right here in Syracuse.  Nady was on assignment with Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the time.

The 31-year-old outfielder hit a combined .305 with 25 home runs and 97 RBI for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Yankees in 2008.

Image - Chris Faytok / The Star-Ledger

Jim Boeheim Appears On Dan Patrick Show

Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim called into Dan Patrick's radio program to discuss last night's blowout victory over Georgetown.  The conversation quickly turned to Orange forward Wes Johnson, who Patrick called "the best player in college basketball."  The host also inquired about the possibility of Boeheim coaching elsewhere in the future.  I found the answer to be slightly surprising.  Take a listen:

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A bit shocking to hear Beoehim entertain the idea of coaching Carmelo Anthony again, but not as shocking as what he said in a previous appearance on Patrick's show:

Football Scoop: Doug Marrone Wants Kevin Rogers

Football Scoop is reporting that Syracuse head football coach Doug Marrone has "great interest" in bringing Minnesota Vikings assistant Kevin Rogers to the Orange staff.

Rogers has spent the past four seasons coaching Minnesota's quarterbacks.  In the years prior to that, he took on various roles on Paul Pasqualoni's staff at Syracuse University.  Rogers joined the program as the quarterbacks coach in 1991.  By 1995 he was the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator.

He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1997, a job he held for two seasons -- the junior and senior seasons of quarterback Donovan McNabb -- before bolting to Notre Dame.  The Orange held a 17-8 record and scored 891 points during the time that Rodgers served as OC.

Mailbag: Details On Tiger's Turning Stone Trip?

I checked this site's e-mail for the first time ever today. Dumb. This little nugget of information was passed on to me way back on Dec. 3, a day after I first posted about Tiger's summertime romp through the Turning Stone Casino in Verona.

From "Laura Laura:"

VOTL:

    I have a picture of  one of the girls Tiger Woods was with that night at Turning Stone Resort.  Dont ask me to publish it to you guys, because i would fear for my safety.  Here's how the night at Turning Stone went.  Tiger Woods was playing in some fund raising golf tournament with a golfer names Nota Begah.  There were alot of women that were interviewed to hang out in Tiger Woods' VIP room in the Turning Stone Resort Casino.  I know this because i was there.  Tiger was playing blackjack at a table there with some of his friends...We were there working to make sure that Tiger and all of his friends had a good time.  Alot of guys were in the VIP area and we chatted them up the whole night.  I do know that Tiger was playing alot of money on the blackjack table.  One of the girls i was there with, made a comment that Tiger was staring at her in the VIP room while playing blackjack, and was making comments about it.  Stuart Scott from ESPN was in the room, as was Camillo something, and Mike Wire.  Some professional golfers.    After about 3 hours of partying, we were invited downstairs by Tiger and his friends to the dance floor of a nightclub called LAVA....While on the dance floor, Tiger was heavily flirting with two women.  One of them a VERY attractive blonde and a brunette girl who looked just like Jennifer Love Hewitt (It wasnt)....Tiger was sitting on a couch, and he was flirting with the two women saying, "Do you know what i am going to do to you tonight?"...."Are you sure both of you can handle me?"........Later, as Tiger was leaving, the brunette girl left with Tiger....3 minutes later, she came back and ran up to the roped off area of the dance floor and grabbed the blonde girl and basically looked like a kid who had just won the lottery...At this point, i followed them out the back door and they jumped in Tiger Wood's Limo and taken to the LODGE, which is only a few hundred feet from LAVA.  I walked around the corner, and sure enough, Tiger Woods entered the lodge, and minutes later, both women followed in....I can only imagine where they went.  That is my story, and i am 100 percent truthful in all of this, but i just dont want to release my picture, because i know someone who knows i have it.....Hope this helps....The whole night, Tiger was a scum.. He wasnt a very nice guy, and he thought the world should revolve around him.......

D3 Hockey Tale Featured On Deadspin

The following story was published today on Deadspin.com as part of blogger Drew Magary's A-Hole Coach Digest series:

The two most successful D-III hockey coaches of the last 20 years, who coach at colleges 70 miles apart in Vermont, have had a personal feud that goes back almost 40 years to their time at UNH.

The story is that Mike McShane, who was and is known as a bit of a c*********, decided to prank the newest hotshot member of the ‘70-‘71 Wildcat hockey team, a sophomore (remember, this was when freshman weren't allowed to play varsity) named Bill Beaney.

Instead of the regular hazing rituals, such as itch powder in the jock or tape on the bottom of the skate blades, McShane decided to leave a particularly nefarious and highly unsanitary joke; he took a s*** in Beaney's skates. The next day at practice Beaney loaded his bare toes into the front of his skate, only to have his digits greeted by the stinky deposit, and a Duellists-level obsession began.

To this day, through something like 70 matches against each other over the years, they continue to skip the customary post-game hand shake.

This begs the question: how many players have McShaned in Bob Emery's loafers?

Jets Lose, Oompa Continues To Confuse

Sweet 16! Oswego Extends Winning Streak With 10-Goal Night

The Oswego State student section affectionately named Buffalo State goaltender Alan Fritch "The Dancing Goalie" after the Bengals' trip to the Port City last season.  Last night, the Laker skaters made the sophomore goalie do the shuffle of shame off the ice, potting four goals in the game's opening period en route to a 10-1 victory at the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego.

Freshman goalie Mike Mesaros replaced Fritch following the first intermission, but had a similar experience, giving up six goals over the remaining 40 minutes.  This, after D'Arcy Thomas gave hope to the Bengal faithful by lighting the lamp on a breakaway just 69 seconds in to give his club the early lead.

But Thomas' seventh goal of the season would be Buffalo State's lone goal of the night, as Oswego State sophomore goalie Paul Beckwith stopped the next 14 shots to pick up his sixth win in seven tries.  Beckwith didn't have to do much for the victory; the Lakers defense never let him see more than five shots in a period.  The Cleveland native's GAA now shrinks to a minuscule 1.86 while his save percentage climbs to 93.

It would be Hank Van Boxmeer, of all people, who would ignite Oswego State's offense.  The 6-2 point man -- known not for his speed, but for his lack of it -- surprised the 1,706 fans in attendance when he took the puck coast-to-coast and beat Fritch to tie the game at 1-1 a little more than five minutes into the first period.

Sophomore Eric Selleck -- the nation's leading scorer -- would take it from there.  The 6-1 pivot assisted on three of the next four goals before burying two scores of his own in the third period.  The former SUNYAC Rookie of the Year now has 40 points on the season; he's the first Laker to reach that plateau since Brendan McLaughlin (55 points) and Ryan Ellis (42) reached the mark in 2006-07.

Photo - Jared Crast / Facebook

Oswego State Defenseman Stephen Mallaro Profiled In Syracuse Post-Standard

For the second time this season, Lindsay Kramer has profiled a member of the top-ranked Oswego State men's ice hockey team.  This time around, Kramer tells the somber story of the Lakers' top-scoring defenseman, junior Stephen Mallaro.  Mallaro's father tragically died during winter recess last school year.

When Stephen left his house in Onondaga on the night of Dec. 17, 2008, to skate with some friends, he shouted a goodbye up the stairs to his father. “All right. Be careful. I love you,” Marc replied before Stephen hurried out the door.

They were the last words Stephen ever heard from his father.

Around noon the next day, Marc, 48, who worked for the Solvay Electric Department, was electrocuted while doing wire work in a cherry picker. He was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Stephen, at home at the time, got a call from a family friend that his dad was hurt. He was initially only mildly concerned, because the dad he knew had an unbending body and spirit. When he arrived at the hospital and parked his car, he started running because a sense of dread overtook him. The crowd around the scene inside confirmed his fears.

The article goes on to mention the success that Mallaro has had in this his third season donning the hunter green and gold.  After playing in just 11 of 53 games through his sophomore year, Mallaro has been in coach Ed Gosek's lineup for all 17 games this season.

The Lakers' power play -- a group that had converted on less than 20 percent of their opportunities in each of the last two NCAA tournement-less seasons -- has been a beneficiary of Mallaro's addition to that unit.  He has five power play goals thus far, second-best in Division III among blueliners.

Mallaro look to increase that number tonight against a Buffalo State club that has allowed 26 power play goals while leading the SUNY Athletic Conference in penalty minutes.

NFL Grants Draft Eligibility Mike Williams, 52 Other Underclassmen

"My past is past i cant do nothing about it for all my problem im sorry and i will for sure limit them for all the positives there will be alot more trust me!. i just want to forget about the past and open my gift tomarrow thats y its called the present! [sic]"

That is former Syracuse University football star Mike Williams' latest message to his Facebook friends as he prepares to enter the 2010 NFL Draft.  The standout wide receiver was among the 53 underclassman to be granted special eligibility for the 75th annual selection process.

Williams caused quite a stir around these parts when he quit the team in November following an off-field car accident involving three of his teammates and a late-night trip to Turning Stone Casino.  Williams was projected to be a top five receiver in this year's draft class before his early departure from coach Doug Marrone's program brought his character into question.

This year's draft will begin on Apr. 22 and conclude on Apr. 24 and will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on the NFL Network and ESPN.

NY Post: Rex Ryan Is A Fat, Fat Man

New York/New Jersey's other pro football team has won consecutive playoff games for the first time since 1982.  Naturally, the New York Post has chosen this time to remind you just how fat their head coach is.

The coach celebrated Sunday's triumph over the San Diego Chargers by scarfing down a cheesesteak and a beer on the charter flight back home. He was then offered a choice of barbecue chicken, flank steak or a Cobb salad.

"I have never heard him order a Cobb salad," a source told The Post. "And I don't think you would be slandering him to say he is a beer guy."

After most games, Ryan, 47, and his wife, Michelle, eat heartily at a diner in New Jersey.

The coach's favorite cuisine is Mexican -- his assistants call it "Rexican" -- and Ryan dined Friday night in San Diego at Café Coyote, whose menu features the adjective "large" before many of its south-of-the-border offerings.

The article was mentioned on this morning's broadcast of The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM sattelite radio.

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The Jets visit Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon as they attempt to advance to their first Super Bowl in 42 years.  Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. on CBS.