Broadcast Information: Saturday's contest will be televised on the Time Warner Cable Sports Network throughout New York State … The game will be broadcast in Central New York (Channel 813), Buffalo (Channel 713), Albany (Channel 1), Rochester (Channel 26) and New York City (Channel 198) … The game will also be available shortly after its live airing on Time Warner Cable Sports On Demand … Saturday is the first time the hockey team will have a home contest televised on Time Warner in the program's 12 year history … The contest is also being broadcast on the radio locally at 99.1 FM/1310 AM ESPN – Utica/Rome and on 90.7 FM WPNR … Fans can follow live stats on the internet at www.ucpioneers.com or follow live video on www.fasthockey.com or www.twcs.tv/sportstream/
About the New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss: Fans who bring a stuffed animal to the game will receive free admission and after the Pioneers score their first goal fans can throw their stuffed animals out onto the ice for collection by players and other volunteers … The stuffed animals will be donated to Operation Sunshine, a local charity, for distribution throughout the Mohawk Valley during the holiday season … Over the course of the last six years the Pioneers have collected about 15,000 stuffed animals for distribution to local children … UC is now 5-1-1 all-time in Teddy Bear Toss contests headed into the match-up.
Teddy Bear Toss Break Down:
|
Year |
Attendance |
Goal Scorer |
Stuffed Animal Count |
Score/Opponent |
|
2011 |
4,000 |
Ridge Garbutt (Toronto, Ontario/Brewster Academy (NH)) |
4,500+ |
W, 12-0/Salve Regina |
|
2010 |
3,839 |
Adam Graff (Bear, DE/Syracuse Stars (EJHL)) |
3,000+ |
W, 3-2/Buffalo State |
|
2009 |
3,582 |
Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) |
3,000+ |
T, 4-4/Castleton |
|
2008 |
3,003 |
Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) |
2,200+ |
W, 7-1/Western New England |
|
2007 |
2,868 |
Aaron Jeffery |
1,100+ |
L, 2-3/Curry |
|
2006 |
2,473 |
Colin Kingston |
700+ |
W, 5-1/Hamilton |
|
2005 |
1,713 |
Colin Kingston |
400+ |
W, 4-2/Hamilton |
Meet Coach Heenan: Head Coach
Gary Heenan is in the midst of his 12th season and he is the program's only head coach since its inception back in 2001-2002 … He currently holds an overall record of 150-113-28 … Heenan has led the Pioneers to nine consecutive ECAC Men's West Conference playoff appearances (2003-2012), two appearances in the ECAC West Championship Game and one ECAC West Regular-Season Championship … He is a two-time ECAC Men's West Conference Coach of the Year recipient and he has coached two All-American's in his tenure,
Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) '12 and Jimmy Sokol '05.
Nationally-Ranked: The Pioneers are ranked No. 10 in the USCHO.com national poll and No. 9 in the d3hockey.com poll … Utica is appearing in the USCHO.com poll for the fifth straight week … The Pioneers began the year ranked No. 13.
Last Game: (11/24/2012) - The nationally-ranked No. 10 Utica College men's hockey team netted four second period
2011 New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss Gallery
goals and fended off a fierce comeback by visiting Amherst, ranked No. 8 in the country, as the Pioneers earned a 4-3 victory over the Lord Jeffs in front of a paid attendance of 3,816 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium Saturday night … The Pioneers (6-2) handed the Lord Jeffs (3-1-1) their first loss of the year and Utica has now defeated Amherst in three consecutive meetings dating back to 2010 … Utica's
Rob Morton (New Hartford, NY/Merrimack (Hockey East)) netted two goals, including the first of the game and the eventual game-winner with less than four minutes to go in the second period, while freshman
Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)) led UC with two assists.
Home Sweet Home: Utica College plays all of its home games at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, affectionately known as “The Aud” … The Aud is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Utica … It was built in 1959 on the site of the old Erie Canal … When it was completed, the Aud was one of just three arenas built without obstructed views and it is said that Madison Square Garden in New York City is actually modeled after the Auditorium … It hosted the 1962 NCAA Frozen Four … Scenes from the 1977 movie Slap Shot starring Paul Newman were filmed at The Aud … Voted “Best Venue” in Div. III by “Around The Rinks” survey in 2003-04 … The Utica Aud is the former home for several professional teams including the Mohawk Valley Stars/Comets of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, the Utica Devils of the American Hockey League, the Utica Bulldogs, Utica Blizzard, and Mohawk Valley Prowlers of the United Hockey League, and the Mohawk Valley IceCats of the North Eastern Hockey League.
Best Crowd in all of DIII Hockey: Last season marked the sixth consecutive year that the Pioneer fan base posted the highest average attendance in NCAA Division III … 3,253 fans per home contest last season placed Utica in the top half of Division I in average attendance, above such teams as Yale, St. Lawrence, Colgate, and Clarkson.
DIII Attendance Figures:
|
2008-09 |
2009-10 |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
|
Utica - 2,890 |
Utica - 2,791 |
Utica - 3,233 |
Utica - 3253 |
|
Oswego - 2,298 |
Oswego - 2,313 |
Oswego - 2,347 |
Oswego - 2,434 |
|
Norwich - 1,682 |
Plattsburgh - 1,735 |
Plattsburgh - 1,737 |
Plattsburgh - 1,850 |
|
Plattsburgh - 1,672 |
Middlebury - 1,666 |
Norwich - 1,732 |
Geneseo - 1,582 |
|
Geneseo - 1,664 |
Norwich - 1,498 |
Geneseo - 1,534 |
Norwich - 1,421 |
|
Middlebury - 1,424 |
Geneseo - 1,401 |
Middlebury - 1,452 |
Middlebury - 1,395 |
|
Bowdoin - 1,301 |
Wisc. Stevens - 1,241 |
St. Norbert -1,136 |
St. Norbert - 1,149 |
|
St. Norbert - 1,178 |
St. Norbert - 1,225 |
Williams - 1,100 |
Elmira - 1,118 |
All-Time Against Buffalo State: The Pioneers own a 4-2 all-time series advantage against the Bengals of Buffalo State … UC has outscored Buffalo State 17-7 over the course of their last three meetings … The last time Buffalo State beat Utica was back in 2002 … Utica's first game in program-history was played against Buffalo State – The Pioneers lost 7-2 on Oct. 26th, 2001.
Last Time Against Buffalo State: The Pioneers', ranked No.8 at the time, exploded for six third period goals to earn a convincing 9-3 victory over visiting Buffalo State last year in front of 3,109 fans at the Utica Memorial Auditorium … Eight different players scored at least two points for UC, including forward
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) -- who netted a team-best two goals -- including the game's opening and closing goals. The Pioneers were able to shake a two game losing streak with the victory.
UC Comes to Play at the Aud: UC is 27-7-3 at home in the last three seasons, including a 5-1 ledger at the Aud this season … The Pioneers' only home loss of the season came at the hands of Elmira College, 5-2, on Nov. 17th.
Louie, Louie: Sophomore transfer Louis Educate is currently tied for third in the country with an average of 2.00 points per contest … He leads the team with eight goals and eight assists … He was named the ECAC Men's West Player of the Week last week after posting a career-best four goals and two assists in the Pioneers' 11-2 win over Elmira … Educate transferred to UC from Nichols College this year … As a freshman at Nichols last season he finished the year ranked fifth in the country with an average of 1.56 points per game … Educate netted 27 goals and added 15 assists for Nichols last season and he was named to the USCHO.com Division III All-Rookie Team after leading the country in rookie scoring.
Active Scoring Leader: Senior captain
Evan Chlanda (Islip, NY/Springfield (EJHL)) is the College's active scoring leader with 80 career points on 37 goals and 43 assists in 78 career games … He currently ranks third on the College's all-time scoring list behind for UC All-American's
Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) '12 and Jimmy Sokol '05 … He is one of just four players in program-history with 40 or more assists … So far this season he has one goal and six assists.
UC Can Score: The Pioneers rank third in the country with an average of 5.50 goals per game … Utica has scored 44 goals over the course of eight games this season … UC's average margin of victory (3.25) ranks fifth in the country … The Pioneers have scored 44 goals, while allowing just 18 this season.
Gaffney Gettin' it Done: Junior forward
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)), an assistant captain for UC, is in the top 30 nationally with an average of 1.62 points per game (six goals, seven assists).
Penalty Kill Unit: The Pioneers penalty kill unit has fended off 33-of-37 power-play opportunity's (89.2%) so far this season … 89.2% ranks ninth nationally.
Between the Pipes: Junior
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) has seen action in six games this season and currently holds a 5-1 overall record … He has a save percentage of .910 and a goals against average of 2.33 … Sophomore goalie
Mike Taffe (Maple Grove, MN/Amarillo (NAHL)) has played in three games for UC and currently holds the Pioneers' lone shut out of the season as they topped Fredonia 9-0 … Taffe transferred in this past Fall after spending one season at Division I power University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2010-11.
Other Pioneers to Watch: Sophomore defender
Mike Baird (Oakville, Ontario/Huntsville (OJHL)) is tied for 27th in the country in defenseman scoring with an average of .86 points per game … He currently lead all UC defenders with six assists this year … Junior
Mike Slowikowski (Ewing, NJ/N.J. Hitmen (EJHL)), a 6-foot-6 defender, is arguably the Pioneers top defender … Last year Slowikowski led all Utica defensemen with five goals and he also chipped in with seven assists for a total of 12 points on his way to earning All-Conference accolades … Junior forward
Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) finished the year ranked third on the team in scoring last season (12 goals, 18 assists) … Hertz is third on the team's active scoring list, behind Gaffney and Chlanda, with 58 career points.
Local Favorites: Forwards
Rob Morton (New Hartford, NY/Merrimack (Hockey East)) and
Jordan Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Northwood School) both grew up in the Utica area … Morton is originally from New Hartford, NY and Hobaica is from nearby Clinton, NY … Morton attended Division I Merrimack College after junior hockey before transferring to Utica College … Hobaica attended Northwood Prep after Clinton High School … Hobaica's younger brother Ben is a sophomore on the Utica College baseball team … Morton currently ranks third on the team with nine points (five goals, four assists) … Hobaica has played in 58 career games and he has 21 career points to his credit.
