On Oct. 14, the SUNYAC men’s ice hockey preseason coaches’ poll was released, with SUNY Plattsburgh in first place, three points ahead of Oswego State. The nine coaches from the SUNYAC conference voted on their rankings of the teams, excluding their own respective team.
Oswego State’s head coach, Ed Gosek, said that his ballot closely reflected the final poll that was formed by the other eight coaches.
SUNY Plattsburgh and Oswego State have won every SUNYAC championship back to the 2006-2007 season, but Gosek believes the SUNYAC conference is still one of the best and deepest in Div. III.
His defense is that their out-of-conference play is some of the best of any conference in the nation.
“When you look at our record versus the ECAC West, it was very good,” Gosek said. “I think our league top-to-bottom is getting stronger, there are less lopsided games, more so called ‘upsets’ because the teams that were considered middle-of-the-pack are knocking off Oswego, Plattsburgh and Geneseo.”
One of the teams on the rise in this conference is SUNY Potsdam. Finishing 8-6-2 in the conference last year, the Bears defeated SUNY Geneseo twice and defeated the Lakers on the road on senior night when the Lakers were then ranked No.1 in the nation.
“They’re working hard to get better,” Gosek said of Potsdam.
Gosek said the team can never take nights off against any team in the conference.
“I think on any given night if you’re not ready to bring your A-game, you’re not going to be successful,” he said. “It’s not enough anymore to win on talent. You have to have the talent with guys having the will to win, or a team that isn’t as talented is going to knock you off.”
Another team Gosek said he is looking out for in conference play is SUNY Morrisville. Although the Mustangs struggled mightily last year, Gosek believes their playing style gives them an advantage against many opponents.
“Morrisville plays you hard and right in your face,” Gosek said.
While teams like the College at Brockport, Morrisville and Potsdam are looking to continue on their improved play, Gosek still thinks Plattsburgh and Geneseo are deserving of their positions in the poll.
The defending conference champions, Plattsburgh returns a talented senior class along with former Div. I transfer from Quinnipiac University, Brady Rouleau, between the pipes.
Geneseo lost their top two goalies from last year, Bryan Haudy and Nick Horrigan, but their returning defensemen may be enough to keep them in the hunt.
“I know they lost two goalies, but to me, the defense is the key,” Gosek said. “It’s much easier for forwards to make mistakes. With them [Geneseo], they might have a strong enough [defensive] core that can defend well and let their goalies face low percentage shots.”
As a whole, Gosek takes the polls with a grain of salt.
“Personally, I don’t put any credence into what happened last year,” he said.
Gosek said he knows that things like injuries or even chemistry issues with
teams can lead to teams underperforming from their preseason expectation.
“I look at who they brought in, if I know them and we look at the returners coming back and then make an intelligent decision,” Gosek said. “You don’t know how things are going to pan out, we don’t take anything for granted here. I think if you rely on what you did in the past, it breeds complacency and the wrong attitude.”
