The Class of 2010 Getting Scrappy In The Pros!

I came across these videos of Union Hockey alumni getting into some fights in their first year in the pros.

The first two videos are of former captain Mike Wakita '10, who currently plays for he Missouri Mavericks in the Central Hockey League. In 46 games this season the big defenseman has one goal, nine assists, and 86 penalty minutes. For more on Wakita click here.

The third video is of goaltender Rich "Pudge" Sillery '10 in a rare goalie fight. Sillery plays for the 1000 Islands Privateers in the Federal Hockey League where he posted a 4.06 GAA, .879 save percentage, and 10-8-3 record in 22 games last season. For more on Sillery click here.

Enjoy your weekend off Union fans!

(Sillery is in the red uniform)

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July... even my boys in Canada! While the ponds might be melted there are still plenty of roller rinks to play some puck.

Fun fact about Americans and Union hockey: all three of Union's goalies last season were from the United States (Keith Kinkaid - New York, Corey Milan - Massachusetts, Rich Sillery-Maryland). The leading American scorer on the team last season was John Simpson with 20 points (4g, 16a). Big Simpson was seventh on the team in scoring

Schreiber, Wakita, and Sillery also sign pro contracts

According to Union Athletics.com, senior captain Mike Wakita, senior goaltender Rich Sillery, and senior assistant captain Mike Schreiber have signed pro contracts. Wakita has will be staying in the states while playing for Missouri in the Central Hockey League, while Schreiber will be heading out to Hannover, Germany in the 2nd Bundesliga League. Both players were intregal parts to the Dutchmen defensive corps over their four seasons. While Schreiber was the quarterback of Union's offense, Wakita was a bone-crushing defensive defenseman. Sillery has signed a contract with 1,000 Islands of the Federal Hockey League after playing a limited role in his four years in Schenectady. The trio joins Jason Walters as Dutchmen to sign pro contracts this week.

Seniors key on Senior Night in 7-3 win over QU

No one could have scripted last night's game any better. It had the perfect storyline and the perfect ending. You knew this was going to be a memorable night from the moment when five seniors were announced in the starting lineup to having the senior class honored at the end of the game. There were so many moments in the game that would get the sports fan choked up:

• Senior Jeff Christiansen, who hadn't played a game in about 13 months got to dress and play on the checking line. But, not only did he play he scored a big goal and assisted on another. Christo deserves a lot of credit for sticking with the team for four years, and for working hard throughout his time with the Dutchmen. As soon as he scored Union's third goal I instantly thought of Rudy. What a way for the senior to go out.


• Christo's linemate Jason Shaffer also had a big night as he netted the game-winning goal and also had an assist. Shaffer has been used sparingly this season, so it was nice to see his name get announced in the starting lineup and score his first goal of the season with his mother in attendance, who I assume traveled all the way from Alaska.


• Six out of the seven senior skaters registered at least one point. Captain Mike Wakita was the only one not to tally a point, but he did plenty of things on the ice that you don't see on the scoresheet, including his bone crushing hits. Also, five of them recorded two points.


• While QU's Eric Lampe was making a fool out of himself by trying to fight Jason Walters, 'Super' Mario shoved it in Lampe's face by sniping a goal.


• Senior netminder Rich Sillery got to play the final two minutes of the game in front of his family. Sillery is in the same boat as Christiansen as he has not played much throughout his career. It was awesome how the fans reacted when he was put into the game. It must have been a special moment for him to have his name chanted and everything. But, next time Pudge remember to have a chin strap on your helmet haha.


• Senior Jon Lareau picked up two assists on the night. He along with the combination of Christo and Shaffer was probably the best Union line of the night.


• The post-game ceremonies were very nice. The funniest part was when Mike Schreiber sprinted towards his mother who was jumping up and down on the carpet laid down on the ice. It was also great that Schreiber and Wakita thanked basically everyone that has to do with Union Hockey. The ceremony was all wrapped up when Union Hockey's #1 fan Will Friedman (aka Union Hockey Maniac for those of you on the USCHO.com forums), who is also a senior, started a "Let's Go Seniors" chant. I personally feel Will should have been honored in some way as he has been the most dedicated Dutchmen fan by far throughout his four years. He has traveled to almost every rink in the ECAC and has helped promote the home games and sell the 7th Player t-shirts. When I ran into Will at the end of the game I asked him why he wasn't at his fraternity's formal. He responded by saying something like, "some things are just more important" (or something like that).


• By far the cutest moment of the night was while the seniors were taking a group photo together, Mario left the picture and went into the penalty box/ scorers box. I have no idea how he knew this, but a little girl was waiting for him there with a hand drawn picture of him. Mario gladly signed the picture along with other autographs and took pictures with some young fans. This will be a moment this little girl will never forget. I know this because I still have autographs and pictures in my room from my days watching Army Hockey as a young kid. I also still wear the number (#15 ironically) of my first favorite Army Hockey player, Ian Winer.

Well, I'm done with the cute stuff and on to some meaner stuff because I thoroughly dislike the Quinnipiac Bobcats. I have always held a grudge against them since my freshman year because my girlfriend goes there. But, after watching the Bobcats for the past three seasons I have come to hate their brand of hockey. I hate them even more after Eric Lampe's actions last night. Seriously, what a moron. Once Lampe challenged the Union bench I just wanted to see Wakita jump off the bench and knock him out cold. I feel that the Bobcats are a gutless, self-centered team. It seems that all they want to do out there is dangle and make the big hit. Basically, it seems that they're just having a tryout for the minors. I don't understand how a team with seniors as talented as Brandon Wong, Greg Holt, Mike Atkinson, Lampe, and Jean-Marc Beaudoin can just settle for mediocrity. The Bobcats should have a Top 5 offense with this group. It wouldn't surprise me to see this team drop out of the Top 8 in the ECAC next weekend and get swept in the first round of the playoffs.

Now back to some hockey stuff. With last night's win the Dutchmen can't finish any worse than third in the ECAC. They are now tied with Cornell for second place after their surprising loss to Dartmouth last night, which makes Friday's game that more important. The Dutchmen still only trail Yale by two points for top spot in the ECAC as well. As everyone predicted, next weekends games will be the most important of the season. Also, look out for some more records to be broken next weekend.

Also, the Union Club Hockey team had their own Senior Night on Saturday afternoon at Messa Rink at 2pm. The Club Dutchmen beat rival RPI 3-2 to close out their season. Seniors Anthony Savaglio (captain) and Greg Karamian (club president) assisted on senior Alex Kenyon's game-winning goal with about eight minutes remaining in regulation.

For more on Senior Night check out Union Athletics.com, Daily Gazette.com, Times Union.com, USCHO.com, Ken Schott's Blog, and Ken Schott's video.

Well, that's all from me. I can't wait to be back at Messa Rink in three weekends for the playoffs!

Dutchmen put up a record 11 goals against Clarkson

Wow, that was ridiculous. All of us in the press box were completely flustered within the first 10 minutes of the game with all the goals being scored. After a while we all expected that every shot on the Clarkson net went in. Clarkson is a miserable team considering the injuries, illnesses, and the sexual misconduct charges earlier this year. They were missing some defenseman, but hey 11 goals is 11 goals. If you're a Division I hockey team you should not be letting up 11 goals to any league opponent. That being said, Paul Karpowich is not a good goaltender. I remember thinking last season after the three times I saw him that he was not a good goaltender. He seems to be out of place way too much, which leaves big openings where players like Mario can snipe the net easily. I guarantee that will not be the case tonight as St. Lawrence goaltender Kain Tisi is 100 times better than Karpowich. Statistically, Tisi is one of the top netmidners in the ECAC. The matchup with the Saints will be a good and important game.

Congratulations to Super Mario on his 100th career point and second career hat trick, freshman Kyle Bodie on his four point night, and Rich Sillery on his first action this season. I've been hoping that Sillery would see some action this season, and it really made my night that he did. Oh, and a special shout out to #1 fan Will Friedman. It was fun celebrating the win with you last night... haha. Also, if you were wondering who the extra guy behind the bench was last night it was Jason Oshins (second from left), who is a "Coaches Level" donor to the Garnet Blades. For being a "Coaches Level" donor you get the chance to be on the bench for a home game. Oshins is a Board of Trustees member, and is the founder of the Upsilon Sigma chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity at Union College.

You can read more about the game on USCHO.com, Daily Gazette.com, Times Union.com, Union Athletics.com, and Ken Schott's Blog.

#15 UMass ends #18 Union's nine game unbeaten streak

Down 3-1 heading into the third period the Minutemen were able to score three goals to snatch victory away from the Dutchmen by the score of 4-3. Going into the game UMass was known for their third period play and proved it once again. They have now outscored their opponents 25-10 in the third period, and are 3-1 against ECAC opponents this season. This is an incredibly disappointing loss for Union considering they blew a two goal lead in the third period, and had a chance to prove to the nation that they can beat a Top 20 team. As noted in my game preview in order to stop UMass you needed to stop the nation's leading scorer James Marcou and Casey Wellman. The Dutchmen were unable to do this as Marcou registered three assists (including both of Wellman's goals), and Wellman tallied two goals (including the game-winner) and an assist. You can read recaps of the game on UnionAthletics.com and UMassAthletics.com. You can also read clips about the game on USCHO.com and TimesUnion.com.

After dropping this game the Dutchmen will play in the consolation game on Wednesday against host UConn (2-13-2) at 4pm. The Huskies dropped their opening game to Bentley 4-1. The Huskies are one of the worst teams in Division 1 College Hockey as they only have two wins, both of which game against AIC at their home rink early in the season. They haven't won since their last game against AIC on November 7th and are riding a nine game win-less streak. The Dutchmen should easily take care of the Huskies even though they only beat AIC by one goal and lost to Sacred Heart, another Atlantic Hockey team, in overtime. UConn's offense is led by freshman Sean Ambrosie (4g,5a) and junior Andrew Olson (6g,2a) who has four of his goals on the power-play. It will be interesting to see who Coach Leaman starts in goal against UConn considering the importance of the game. He could start Keith Kinkaid because you don't want to lose to a weak team since it would hurt you in the pair-wise rankings, or he could start Corey Milan or Rich 'Pudge' Sillery to give them some work. And once again I personally feel that Leaman should start 'Pudge' since he is a senior and deserves one start in his final collegiate season. If Sillery get the start and lets in a few early goals Leaman could always pull him just like he did against Army last season.

In other ECAC news Princeton came back to tie Maine 6-6, Harvard topped #8 Quinnipiac in a league game, #4 Cornell lost to #3 Colorado College 4-2, and RPI beat Michigan 4-3 in the opening game of the Great Lakes Invitational. Quinnipiac has fallen of late as after winning 12 of their first 13 games they have gone 1-3-1 with their only win coming against AIC.

Union first ECAC team to beat US U-18 Team

Behind a strong third period the Dutchmen were able to top the US U-18 team and become the first ECAC team to beat them... and that's basically it. This was an exhibition game, so anything that comes out of this doesn't really matter too much. But, I guess a win is better than a loss and it's nice to keep the ball rolling. It sounds like Mario was dominant again as he sniped another goal, but of course it doesn't count to his season totals. It was nice to see the Dutchmen play a strong third period, and to see Corey Milan get a start and make some saves. Personally, I would have like to seen Rich 'Pudge' Sillery play because I'm not sure if he will get a start this season, which is his final season. He has put in his time over the past four years and he deserves a chance to make his final stand. On the other hand it's great to see Jean-Sebastian Bergeron on the ice for the first time as a Dutchman. He finished +1 on the game. Justin Pallos, Nolan Julseth-White, and Luke Cain (1 goal, 1 assist) also saw some time tonight.

The team will now finally be able to enjoy their well deserved winter break and will not have another game for over two weeks. Their next game is on December 29th when they take on #15 UMass at the UConn Tournament. It's too bad that the break is coming at a time when the team is playing so well. Hopefully when they come back they can keep up the level of play that they're playing now. For a summary on tonight's game click here.

In other ECAC news, UMass-Lowell topped Princeton 4-1 and RPI came back in the third period to defeat defending national champion Boston University 5-3 in Boston . I guess all of their talk about not being affected by their loss to Union was true. It looks like it was an interesting game as RPI took a 2-1 lead after the first period while being out shot 16-5. Also, RPI did not allow any five-on-five goals as BU scored one power-play goal and two shorthanded goals. BU is definitely not as good as they were last year but they are the national champions until someone takes their title. You can read the RPI-BU game summary here.

Union takes on U.S. Under-18 team on Friday in charity exhibition game

This game is an exhibition game meaning it will not count towards the standings and will have no effect on the team's unbeaten streak or on Coach Leaman's 100th win. It should be a friendly match for a good cause (Toys for Tots). For more information on the even click here.

According to the team roster there is only one player committed to a ECAC school. This is Andy Iles a goaltender from Ithaca, New York who is committed to his home town team, Cornell. He is listed as 5' 8" so I'm guessing he relies on his quickness. All of the other players on the roster are committed to nine different schools: Cornell, Michigan, Boston University, Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Boston College, and Denver. This should be a great showcase for future NCAA stars. For more info on the US U-18 Team check out their website here.

Hopefully Coach Leaman will play some guys who haven't played much or at all this season, and I expect that he will. We have still yet to see freshmen defenseman Jean-Sebastian Bergeron and redshirt freshman defenseman Carl Ekstrom in Dutchmen uniforms. I have still heard no word if Ekstrom has overcome his hip injury. It should be interesting to see what this Swede is made of. We also haven't seen sophomore defenseman Taylor Reid this season after he played four games last season.

I assume Keith Kinkaid will sit while junior Corey Milan and senior Rich Sillery will get some time in net. Sillery hasn't seen any playing time this season and only played twice (one start) last season. This should also give Leaman a chance to rest his stars before the UConn Tournament and feature players that haven't seen much ice this year like forwards Justin Pallos, Luke Cain, Jason Shaffer, and defenseman Nolan Julseth-White. These are all very effective players and I expect them to be impressive against the U-18 team. Personally, I am a huge fan of Jason Shaffer as he is one of the fastest guys on the team and flies all over the ice when he plays. All in all, this should be a fun game for a good cause.

Union goes up against Atlantic Hockey foes AIC and Sacred Heart

This weekend the Dutchmen will go up against AIC and Sacred Heart, two of the weaker teams in NCAA Division I College Hockey. AIC finished last in the traditionally weak Atlantic Hockey conference while Sacred Heart came in third to last.

Look for Coach Leaman to play a variety of players at all positions. Union fans should look to see freshman Keith Kinkaid in between the pipes sometime this weekend. There could also be a Rich Sillery sighting in one of these games, which I am rooting for. Pudge has gone along with the the flow these past years and he deserves a chance to make his mark in his senior year.

In my opinion this should be an easy weekend for the Dutchmen and anything less than 2 wins will be a disappointment.

Here's my prediction for the scores this weekend: Union wins 6-1 vs. AIC, Union wins 4-1 vs. Sacred Heart

Here's the weekend preview from UnionAthletics.com: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/10/21/MICE_1021090900.aspx