Ice Hockey 1/30/2003 12:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Hockey Hosts Bentley and Fairfield This Weekend

Canisius College Golden Griffins (8-13-3, 7-6-1 MAAC)
vs. Bentley College Falcons (10-11-0, 9-6-0 MAAC) Friday, January 31, 2003 - 7:00 p.m.
vs. Fairfield University Stags (4-15-2, 3-9-2 MAAC) Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 7:00 p.m.
Buffalo State Sports Arena - Buffalo, N.Y.

This Weekend The Griffs return to MAAC Hockey League action this weekend as they host Bentley College and Fairfield University at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Canisius and Bentley will face each other in the rubber match of their three-game season series with both teams winning a 4-0 decision in Watertown, Mass during November. The Blue and Gold will face Fairfield for the first of two games this season, with the Griffs traveling to Fairfield next Friday night.

Scouting Bentley Sitting in third place in the MAAC Hockey League, Bentley has been the surprising team in the conference so far this season. Junior Joe Lovell leads the Falcons with 20 points on six goals and 14 assists, while freshmen Ryan Mayhew (6-11-17), Paul Markarian (8-7-15), and Bryan Goodwin (6-9-15) have injected new life into the Bentley offense. Sophomore netminder Simon St. Pierre has been solid between the pipes for the Falcons, posting a 10-10-0 record, a 3.16 GAA, and a .893 save percentage. Head Coach Ryan Soderquist is in his 1st full season behind the bench of the Falcons.

Series History vs. Bentley Canisius leads the all-time series between the two schools, 10-3-1. Canisius scored a 4-0 win, their only shutout this season, against Bentley on Nov. 22. The Falcons responded with a 4-0 victory of their own the following night.
Scouting Fairfield Sitting in the cellar of the MAAC Hockey League, Fairfield will look to make a run for the final playoff spot in the conference during the month of February. Senior Rae Metz leads the Stags with 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists), while fellow senior Steve Calderara heads up the defensive corps with six goals and nine assists. Three netminders have played seven games each for the Stags. Sophomore Andrew Martin leads the group with a 2-4-1 overall record and a 3.23 GAA. Head Coach Jim Hunt is in his 3rd season behind the bench of the Stags, posting a 20-52-7 career record.

Series History vs. Fairfield Canisius leads the all-time series with the Stags, 13-1-1. Last season, the Griffs took the season series, 2-0-1. This is the first meeting the season between the two squads.

Head Coach Brian Cavanaugh Brian Cavanaugh is in his 22nd season as head coach of the Canisius College ice hockey team and his third in a full-time capacity. He has led the Griffs to the postseason 16 times during his career, including a trip to the 2000 Easton/MAAC Championships after tying a school record with 21 wins (21-10-4). Last season, Cavanaugh joined college hockey's coaching elite as he earned his 300th win behind the Griffs' bench. Prior to accepting the head post at Canisius, Cavanaugh served as an assistant coach at Geneseo State (1976-77) and at Brockport State (1978-80). Before joining the coaching ranks, he played for the Brockport ice hockey team. Cavanaugh was named the Golden Eagles' MVP three times and held numerous Brockport scoring records upon graduation. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education and health education from the school in 1976. Cavanaugh continued his studies, earning a master's degree from Brockport in 1980. His thesis, "Spectator Misbehavior at Sporting Events" was presented at an International Symposium of Sports in Trois Rivers, Quebec, and was published in 1981.

Cavanaugh Coaching Highlights 1st Win 11-20-80 7-6 @ Niagara-Welland 50th Win 11-09-85 7-3 @ Hobart 100th Win 02-06-88 4-3 vs. Hobart 150th Win 10-02-92 5-2 @ Brockport 200th Win 02-25-95 10-5 vs. Hobart 250th Win 01-30-99 3-2 vs. Holy Cross 300th Win 11-02-01 9-2 vs. Bentley

Last Time Out Canisius dropped a 6-2 decision to host Niagara University Saturday evening in non-conference action at Niagara's Dwyer Arena. Canisius jumped out to a quick lead as senior Jeff Street slipped one passed Niagara netminder Jeff VanNynatten only 20 seconds into the game. Paul Muniz would even things up for the Purple Eagles as he scored on a pass from Chris Sebastian and Nick Kormanyos at the 10:24 mark of the first period. The Blue and Gold would not be held down for long as they went up a goal as junior Daryl Pierce would find the back of the net with 1:49 remaining in the first period. The Griffs would take a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the end of one period of play. Niagara came into the second period down a goal, but they would not leave that way as they scored four unanswered goals in the second period. Joe Tallari, who is 5th in the nation in scoring and tenth in points, scored only 1:15 into the second period as he received a pass from Chris Welch. Brian Hartman would score his second goal of his career as he capitalized on a Niagara man advantage, scoring a power-play goal on a pass from Barret Ehgoetz and Welch. Welch would then score Niagara's fourth goal on a pass from Tallari. Muniz would get his second goal of the night getting a pass from Kormanyos and Sebastian. The Purple Eagles would go into the third period with a commanding three-goal lead. Andrew Lackner would round out the Niagara scoring as he let one fly from the left point beating Canisius goalie Bryan Worosz. Worosz would end up with 36 saves on the night, and would come out of the game with 5:55 left in the game. Replacing Worosz was Jeremy Redquest who had four saves on four shots. VanNynatten finished with 23 saves on 25 shots.

2002-03 NCAA Frozen Four The NCAA Men's Frozen Four has sold out for the fourth consecutive year. The 56th annual event will be held at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York, April 10 and 12, 2003. It marks the sixth time in the last seven years that the event has sold out. This will be the 10th time the semifinals and finals have been in the state of New York, the second most of any state. The state of Colorado has hosted the Men's Frozen Four 14 times. The MAAC, Canisius College and Niagara University are co-hosts of the 2003 event. "The Frozen Four has become one of the biggest events in college athletics, and we're excited about hosting it in a city that is very passionate about hockey," said Tim Dillon, athletic director at Canisius. "We're also expecting around 10,000 out-of-town fans so it's an excellent opportunity for Western New York and Southern Ontario to be the center of college hockey for a weekend." Buffalo is hoping to build off a successful 2002 Frozen Four, which was held in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the Xcel Energy Center. Attendance records were set in 2002 for a single game (19,324 for the championship game), and three-game total (57,957). HSBC Arena, the home of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, has a capacity of 18,600.

Hall of Fame Former Griff forward Mike Sisti was inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame Saturday Sept. 28, joining three other former Golden Griffin Hockey players (Mike Torrillo, Gary Roessler and Kevin Sykes) and Canisius ice hockey founder Dr. David Dietz. A four-year letter winner in ice hockey, Michael Sisti ranks fourth at Canisius in career scoring (163 points), third in career goals (74), and sixth in career assists (89). He shares the school record for single-game goals with four and holds the mark for single-season hat tricks with six. Sisti posted 13 goals and 19 assists to help the Griffs to a 21-11 record in 1986-87. He led Canisius in goals (33) and points (57) in 1988-89 and was named the team's top forward. Sisti served as an assistant coach at Canisius and Mercyhurst before becoming the first Mercyhurst women's ice hockey coach. He owns a 61-30-4 record in three seasons.

He Shoots, He Scores Sophomore Fred Coccimiglio scored on a penalty shot this season beating UConn netminder Jason Carey during the second period of the Griffs' 3-3 tie with the Huskies at the Buffalo State Sports Arena Jan. 17.

All In The Family Several members of the 2002-03 Golden Griffins have interesting connections to the professional sports world. They include: Ryan Corcoran - nephew of Lou Nanne (player/coach/general manager with the Minnesota North Stars from 1968-78, captain of the U.S. Olympic Team in 1967-68 and inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998) Joe D'Urzo - cousin of John Massara (former captain at University of Maine, member of Italian National Team) Andrew Dawe - cousin of Jason Dawe (1991 second-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, played with Buffalo, Montreal, and the New York Islanders and New York Rangers) son of Mike Dawe (played for Cornell University) Jon Durno - brother of Chris Durno (three-year letter winner and senior center for Michigan Tech in the WCHA) Tim Songin - son of Paul Songin (played defense for the University at Buffalo hockey team) cousin of Tom Songin (played right wing for the Boston Bruins) cousin of Ed “Butch” Songin (played quarterback for the Boston Patriots) Jeremy Redquest - son of Greg Redquest (fourth-round selection of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1976 NHL Draft)

Home Sweet Home Enjoying a 34-8-8 record within the confines of Buffalo State Sports Arena over their four-plus seasons, Canisius will return to their home ice Jan. 31 for a 7:00 p.m. MAAC Hockey League contest with Bentley.
MAAC Bits The 2003 Easton/MAAC Hockey Championships will be held March 20-22 at Tate Rink on the campus of the United State Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. This is the third year that the NCAA will grant an automatic berth to the winner of the MAAC Championships into the NCAA Hockey Tournament. Last season, Quinnipiac became the second team to represent the MAAC in college hockey's "Big Dance."

2002-2003 MAAC Standings http://www.collegehockeystats.com/standings/maac
2002-2003 Overall MAAC Statistics http://www.collegehockeystats.com/overallstats/maac
2002-2003 MAAC Conference Statistics http://www.collegehockeystats.com/confstats/maac
2002-2003 Canisius Schedule/Results/Box Scores http://www.collegehockeystats.com/schedules/cnsm
MAAC Rankings Canisius is tenth in the MAAC in scoring offense with 2.29 goals per game. The Griffs are seventh in scoring defense, allowing 3.83 goals-per-game. Canisius is the highest penalized team in the conference with 22.1 minutes per game. The Griffs' power-play, 20-for-121 (16.5%) ranks fifth in the MAAC. Canisius' penalty kill, 97-of-128 (75.8%) is eighth.

100+ Club Senior forward Marc Bouffard (Sturgeon Falls, Ont.) played in his 100th career game on Jan. 11, against Lake Superior State. Bouffard joins defenseman Tom Wnuk as the only current Golden Griffins to hold that distinction. Last season, the Griffs graduated four players, David Deeves, Steve Birch, Corey Lucas and Todd Houston, who broke the century mark in games played.
Against the CCHA The Griffs are 0-3-2 all-time against opponents from Central Collegiate Hockey Association. This season, the Blue and Gold picked up the first ever points by a MAAC Hockey League team against a CCHA opponent, skated to a pair of ties with Lake Superior State Jan. 10-11. Canisius and the Lakers played to a 2-2 tie Friday night and a 4-4 draw on Saturday. Last season, Canisius dropped a pair of non-conference games in Kalamazoo, Mich. against Western Michigan. The Griffs fell 4-2 on Nov. 23, and 4-3 in Saturday's closer. In 2000-01, Canisius lost 3-1 to Nebraska-Omaha in the championship game of the SCI Holiday Shootout in Huntsville, Ala.

Against the CHA The Griffs are 9-9-1 all-time against opponents from College Hockey America, which is the NCAA's newest D-I hockey conference, formed in 1999. Last season, Canisius was 1-4-0 against the CHA with a split against Alabama-Huntsville, a loss to Niagara and dropping a weekend series at Findlay. Canisius defeated the Chargers 9-3 and lost 5-4, both games in Buffalo. The Blue and Gold also dropped a 7-2 loss to Niagara Jan. 11, at the Punch Imlach College Hockey Showcase at HSBC Arena. Canisius fell by 6-3 and 4-1 scores during a weekend trip to Findlay on January 25-26. This season, the Griffs are 1-4-0 against the CHA, falling 4-1 to Niagara in the consolation game of the Xerox Punch Imlach College Hockey Showcase and dropping two games to Findlay by scores of 3-1 and 8-1. Canisius and Niagara also split a home-and-home series in January with each team winning on their home ice. The Griffs won 4-3 Thursday, Jan. 23, while the Purple Eagles gained revenge with a 6-2 victory at Dwyer Arena Saturday, Jan. 25.
Against the ECAC The Griffs are 0-3-0 all-time against members of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, with all three losses against Colgate. Canisius fell 7-2 to the Raiders on February 5 at Colgate's Starr Rink. There are no games on the 2002-03 schedule against ECAC members.

Against the WCHA The Griffs are 0-3-0 against teams from the WCHA. Canisius fell to North Dakota 8-0 in the Xerox Punch Imlach College Hockey Showcase Oct. 11. The Blue and Gold also fell to the Fighting Sioux two more times, 6-0 and 8-2, Dec. 13-14, in Grand Forks.

Against the Hockey East The Griffs are 0-1-0 against Hockey East members, falling to Maine 6-3 in 1999-2000 at the JC Penney Black Bear Classic. There are no games on the 2002-03 schedule against Hockey East members.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll (January 27) Team Record Pts LW 1 Maine (23) 20-2-4 577 1 2 North Dakota (13) 21-2-3 556 2 3 Colorado College (4) 19-2-5 533 3 4 Cornell 16-3-0 486 4 5 New Hampshire 17-5-3 435 5 6 Boston College 15-6-3 369 6 7 Michigan 17-6-1 333 9 8 Minnesota 12-6-7 324 7 9 Ferris State 18-7-1 250 10 10 Ohio State 17-6-2 211 8 11 Denver 15-7-4 205 11 12 St. Cloud State 12-9-3 137 12 13 Harvard 12-6-1 128 13 14 Boston University 14-10-2 126 14 15 MSU-Mankato 10-7-9 80 15
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Division I Men's Poll (January 27) Team Record Pts LW 1 North Dakota (6) 21-2-3 239 2 2 Maine (7) 20-2-4 237 1 3 Colorado College (4) 19-2-5 232 3 4 Cornell 16-3-0 206 4 5 New Hampshire 17-5-3 183 5 6 Boston College 15-6-3 155 7 7 Minnesota 12-6-7 141 8 8 Michigan 17-6-1 132 9 9 Denver 15-7-4 97 10 10 Ohio State 17-6-2 93 6 11 Ferris State 18-7-1 92 11 12 Boston University 14-10-2 61 14 13 Harvard 12-6-1 57 13 14 St. Cloud State 12-9-3 49 12 15 MSU-Mankato 10-7-9 43 ?
Teams Canisius have played during 2002-03 season in bold italic.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#26 Steve Birch: D; 5' 11"; Senior

#25 David Deeves: F; 5' 7"; Senior

#27 Todd Houston: F; 5' 8"; Senior

#8 Corey Lucas: F; 6' 4"; Senior

#10 Marc Bouffard: F; 6' 1"; Senior

#21 Fred Coccimiglio: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#19 Ryan Corcoran: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#6 Joe D'Urzo: D; 5' 9"; Junior

#25 Andrew Dawe: F; 5' 9"; Freshman

#23 Daryl Pierce: D; 6' 1"; Junior

#33 Jeremy Redquest: G; 6' 0"; Freshman

#2 Tim Songin: D; 6' 5"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#26 Steve Birch
: 5' 11"; Senior
: D

#25 David Deeves
: 5' 7"; Senior
: F

#27 Todd Houston
: 5' 8"; Senior
: F

#8 Corey Lucas
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F

#10 Marc Bouffard
: 6' 1"; Senior
: F

#21 Fred Coccimiglio
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#19 Ryan Corcoran
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#6 Joe D'Urzo
: 5' 9"; Junior
: D

#25 Andrew Dawe
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: F

#23 Daryl Pierce
: 6' 1"; Junior
: D

#33 Jeremy Redquest
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: G

#2 Tim Songin
: 6' 5"; Freshman
: D