Jon Whitelaw may have retired his green and gold jersey, but he continues to show his Oswego pride serving as assistant coach for the Oswego State men’s hockey team. Whitelaw’s abundance of awards, continuous dedication and overall support for Oswego is what led him to be a part of the 2023 induction class of Oswego’s Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Beginning his career for the men’s hockey team as a forward back in 2009, Whitelaw left quite the mark during his four years playing for the Lakers. 

In only his first year playing, Whitelaw was named SUNYAC Rookie of the Week three times, Rookie of the Year and SUNYAC Player of the Week. Whitelaw was granted various other awards throughout the rest of his Oswego career and served as assistant team captain during the 2011-12 season and team captain during the 2012-13 season. 

The awards Whitelaw was granted with included being named First-Team All-SUNYAC in the 2011-12 season, a 2012 First Team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Capital Academic All-District honoree, the 2012-13 SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award winner, the 2013 SUNYAC Dr. Sam Molinar Award winner, the 2013 Oswego State Academic Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award and the 2013 Donald Snygg Award winner. 

“There was a large part of me that just wanted to fit in and to help however I could,” Whitelaw said. “I don’t think I ever came in with expectations of having that type of individual success.” 

Aside from individual recognition, while he was a player, the team made the NCAA Div. III Frozen Four four years in a row, the only time the program achieved this thus far, and won two SUNYAC Championship titles in 2010 and 2013. 

“The group that he was with was a very talented group,” said Ed Gosek, the head coach of the men’s hockey team. 

Whitelaw was recruited alongside thirteen other men back in 2009, including his best friend at the time Jesse McConney. McConney and Whitelaw both played in the junior hockey leagues together for the Huntsville-Muskoka Otters. 

Knowing nothing about Oswego prior to playing here, Whitelaw was immediately sold on Oswego after meeting Gosek and attending a game.

“A lot of players in our position and that come to our [Oswego] program have dreams of ending up at a division one school,” Whitelaw said. “But I think for a lot of us we got that experience during our time at Oswego and we are so fortunate to everything that the school has to offer and the hockey program has to offer that we were able to have such a great time.” 

For Whitelaw, playing in front of the Oswego crowd was quite the experience, especially coming from a smaller hockey community. 

“I’ll never forget the first time standing on the blue line during the anthem, you could see the reflection in the glass of a sold-out building at the [Marano] campus center,” Whitelaw said. “That was kind of my ‘wow’ moment.” 

Whitelaw’s days of playing in front of big crowds did not end after he graduated from Oswego. After graduating, Whitelaw played for one of the top leagues in France for the Morzine-Avoriaz Penguins. 

“It was a different experience,” Whitelaw said. “But an unbelievable one just to be able to travel and see so much and play at an elite level.” 

Although playing somewhere in Europe was ultimately his goal upon graduating, Whitelaw wanted to get into coaching and come back to the States after his time playing in France. Taking a six-month break, he then served as a graduate assistant to SUNY Cortland’s men’s hockey team for a year.

Whitelaw then decided to return to Oswego to obtain his master’s to build upon his teaching degree and serve as a graduate assistant for the team. There may not have been any open positions after finishing his graduate studies, but he still served as a volunteer assistant coach, which eventually led to the opportunity of the full-time assistant coach position. 

With everything he has accomplished as a player, coach and commitment to the program, his spot in the Athletic Hall of Fame is well deserved, Gosek said. 

“Once a Laker, always a Laker,” Gosek said. “He is loyal to our school and loyal to our program.”

Photo via: Oswego Athletics