The city of Oswego will carry one fewer hockey team in the area after the Oswego Stampede announced on April 4 that it is relocating to Raynham, Massachusetts.
The Stampede were a part of the North American 3 Hockey League, an American Tier III junior hockey league. The league is operated by the tier two league, the North American Hockey League.
Owner and head coach Mike Beavis said he had been receiving offers to relocate the team over the last couple seasons. One offer he received this season required him to move to the southern division of the NA3HL and run the program in its new spot. The second offer, the one he accepted, was a full purchase of the team to relocate to the Boston area.
The team will now be owned by Lovell Hockey, who owns numerous youth teams and other junior programs in the NAHL and NA3HL, in the surrounding Boston area. As such, the Stampede will now change their name to the New England Knights.
“I always said that if I ever sold my program, it would be to somebody that I have a lot of respect for,” Beavis said. “The Lovell brothers are huge in hockey. … They’re just hockey guys, but they’re also business guys. I know that they’re going to do well.”
This is the first time the city will be left without a junior hockey team since the Oswego Admirals, who were part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, left the area in 2007. There was an extended period of time until the Stampede relocated to Oswego from Morrisville after the 2016–2017 season.
Both teams played at Fort Ontario at the Anthony J. Crisafulli Ice Skating Rink near the Fort.
“From minor hockey, to the high school hockey, then the junior program and then you’ve got the two programs here at the college, and the two club programs. … it’s a hockey community,” Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek said. “I hate to see it go.”
In the last eight years, the Stampede have helped 35 players move on to collegiate rosters, whether that was NCAA Div. I or Div. III, as well as a couple ACHA programs.
Only one player has joined the NCAA team that Oswego State boasts. Steven Kozikoski, who was the third-string goaltender this past year for the Lakers and joined the team following two seasons with the Stampede.
“It was an opportunity for him to continue his education, continue to work the job he already had, and an opportunity to play locally,” Gosek said. “Without that team here, I can’t say that we wouldn’t have seen him. But it certainly helped him.”
For Beavis, it was hard to let go of the team, knowing that Oswego would be without a junior program. He was also a part of the Admirals and has been involved with junior hockey for 30 years.
“It was a hard decision. The junior hockey landscape over the last few years has changed a lot,” Beavis said. “I’ve been involved with junior hockey for 30 years. It was a big decision moving away from that.”
The Stampede had players from all around the nation, including local kids like Kozikoski, who is from Liverpool, but also other players who hailed from states across the country like Arizona.
With the growth of both the NAHL and NA3HL in southern states, such as Texas, Florida and California, it was harder to get those athletes to live across the country at such a young age to play junior hockey. Oswego is the third or fourth program to leave the Syracuse area, with the Binghamton team moving to Elmira and the Syracuse team moving to the Utica area.
One of the biggest perks was having the SUNYAC and other top hockey conferences right around Oswego, enticing many juniors players.
“You have to be proven in what you do. You have to get guys who want to move to the area,” Beavis said. “[In Oswego], there’s college opportunities and college scouts readily available for guys.”
For some players like Kozikoski, with the program dropping the Stampede from their name, it is sad to see the legacy of the community that the Stampede have created end. While Lovell Hockey considered keeping the Stampede name, it made more sense to combine the name with their youth programs.
“I was kind of sad about that because I wanted the legacy of the Stampede to move on,” Beavis said.
All three said they hope someday another junior program can come back to the hockey community Oswego has built, between the NCAA and ACHA teams, but also the multiple community-based teams, like midget and minor hockey as well as the high school.
Beavis is entertaining offers to join other teams throughout different leagues in the U.S. and Canada but is trying to stay out of the ownership level of the league. He is potentially looking for a league-level job. Beavis said he would also consider the idea of another team making Oswego its home and working for the team.
“Being a local kid, central New York has always been a hotspot for local hockey,” Kozikoski said. “Not only the Stampede, but many junior and youth teams, are moving out of the area. I hope to see it come back one day, so I can freeze my butt off and watch another game at the Fort.”
Photo from NA3HL via YouTube
