Canisius College Golden Griffins (4-5-1, 2-3-1 Atlantic Hockey) vs. Connecticut Huskies (2-4-1, 1-3-0)
Friday, Nov. 18, 2005 and Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005 -- 7 p.m. Buffalo State Sports Arena -- Buffalo, N.Y.
Home Stretch Starts this Weekend Canisius returns home to the Buffalo State Sports Arena where it holds a 1-0-1 record during conference play. Currently in fifth place in the league, The Griffs play five of their next six games at home, starting with Friday night's game. Coming into this season, the Griffs owned a 48-24-13 mark at Buffalo State in their seven seasons here.
Scouting Connecticut The Huskies had last weekend off and haven't played since the weekend of Nov. 4-5 when they split two games with Holy Cross. Connecticut is currently in sixth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with a 1-3-0 record. Their four games have come against the top two teams in the conference ? Mercyhurst and Holy Cross. The Huskies have had trouble stopping their opponents' power play as their penalty kill ranks last in the conference with a percentage of 71.7.
Last Weekend The Blue and Gold got their first road conference win of the season on Nov. 12, with a 7-3 victory at Bentley. Down 2-0, the Griffs scored the next six goals to break the game open. Canisius scored six power play goals on the night, doubling its season total. Eight Golden Griffins set or tied career highs in the game.
New career highs: ?Senior defenseman Tim Songin (Hamburg, N.Y.) had three assists ?Senior defenseman Brandon Irish-Baker (Clarence, N.Y.) had three points ?Freshman goaltender Ryan Hatch (Medway, Mass.) made 33 saves and had his first career assist Career highs tied: ?Sophomore forward Joel Kitchen (Orilla, Ont.) had two assists ?Junior forward Michael Cohen (Williamsville, N.Y.) scored two goals ?Brandon Irish-Baker (right) with one goal and two assists ?Senior forward David Ovcjak (Mississauga, Ont.) scored a goal ?Senior forward Chris Angelo (Depew, N.Y.) had one assist ?Junior forward Joey Coccimiglio (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) had two assists and three points
Connecticut--Canisius History The Griffs won all three games between the teams last season, outscoring the Huskies 12-3 in those contests. In Buffalo, Canisius owns a 5-3-3 record against Connecticut, including a 5-1-2. Overall, Canisius leads the series 13-12-4
Current Griffs vs. Connecticut Three upperclassmen have seen a lot of success against Connecticut. Senior captain Fred Coccimiglio (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) has five goals and two assists in seven games against the Huskies, senior forward Andrew Dawe (Kitchener, Ont.) has two goals and six assists in eight games and Michael Cohen has three goals and three assists in six games. Last season against the Huskies, Dawe had five assists, Cohen had two assists and two goals and Joel Kitchen had three assists in the three games.
Irish-Baker Likes Scoring Goals After going the first 87 games of his career without a goal, Brandon Irish-Baker has found the back of the net in the past three contests. He now ranks seventh in the country among defensemen for points per game with an average of 1.11.
Griffs in Atlantic Rankings Michael Cohen, Joel Kitchen and Mike Ruberto tied for third in the conference with 12 points. Brandon Irish-Baker is second among defensemen and eighth overall with 10 points. Ruberto is third in the conference with six goals while Cohen is fourth with five goals. Kitchen's nine assists put him second in the league. Junior goaltender Max Buetow (Denver, Colo.) is second in the conference in goals against average with a mark of 2.06.
Commissioners' Cup Atlantic Hockey won its only Commissioners' Cup game last weekend when Army defeated Air Force 4-3 in overtime. The Commissioners' Cup is a season-long competition between the six Division I ice hockey conferences. The AHA is now 454 in Commissioners' Cup games with the next game for the conference coming Nov. 26 when Ferris State travels to Mercyhurst.
Gare Face-Off Banquet Speaker At the Canisius Hockey Face-Off Banquet Oct. 7, former Buffalo Sabre Danny Gare served as the keynote speaker. Gare played in 827 games during his 13-year NHL career, scoring 354 goals and adding 331 assists for 685 points. He also amassed 1,285 penalty minutes while playing for the Buffalo Sabres (1974-82), Detroit Red Wings (1982-86) and Edmonton Oilers (1986-87). Gare's jersey will be retired by the Sabres prior to the Nov. 22 game against the New York Rangers.
Preseason Atlantic Hockey Poll At the Atlantic Hockey Media Day on Sept. 28, Mercyhurst and Holy Cross tied for first place in the coaches poll with 59 points each. Canisius was predicted to be in fourth place, finishing with a total of 40 points. First-place votes are in parentheses.
Preseason Coaches Poll Points 1. Mercyhurst (4) 59 1. Holy Cross (3) 59 3. Sacred Heart (1) 49 4. Canisius 40 5. Connecticut 29 6. Bentley 23 7. Army 18 8. American International 11
2005-06 Atlantic Hockey Tournament The College of the Holy Cross will host the 2006 Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament semifinals and championship game at the Hart Center on Friday and Saturday, March 17 and 18. All eight schools will play in quarterfinal round matchups on Saturday, March 11, at the highest seed. The quarterfinal round will be a single game with the semifinals and finals being played the next weekend. Tickets for the semifinals and championship can be purchased by calling the Holy Cross ticket office at (508) 793-2573. This is the sixth year that the NCAA will grant an automatic berth to the winner of the conference championship into the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament.
All In The Family Several members of the 2005-06 Golden Griffins have interesting connections to the professional sports world. They include: Greg Brown - cousin of Jeff Jurek (played at Canisius in 1999-2000) Max Buetow - son of Bart “Mad Scientist” Buetow (played football for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings and played football and hockey at Minnesota) 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) Dan Giffin - grandson of the late Donald P. Giffin of Toronto Maple Leafs fame. Giffin was a member of the Board Of Directors from 1970-1992 and in 1990, became President and CEO of Maple Leaf Gardens and sat on the NHL Board Of Governors. Giffin was responsible for the restoration of the image and operation of the storied NHL club including the return of Leafs player alumni, the hanging of Stanley Cup and legendary commemorative player banners as well as the hiring of Cliff Fletcher as Leafs GM. Brother Charlie is a sophomore at St. Lawrence University of the ECACHL Jaymie Harrington - brother of Lance Harrington (member of 2001 NCAA Division III Ice Hockey National Champions at Norwich) Ryan Klusendorf - father Daryl played baseball at Bradley University Craig Nooyen - son of Paul Nooyen and nephew of Pete Nooyen (both played professional hockey in Holland) John Patera - grandson of Jack Patera (head coach of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks from 1976-82 and a fourth-round draft pick of the Baltimore Colts), grand-nephew of Dennis Patera (was a placekicker with the San Francisco 49ers) and grand-nephew of Ken Patera (1972 Olympic weightlifter and professional wrestler with the WWF from 1973-89) Matt and Mike Ruberto - nephew of George Beveridge (selected 121st overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the eighth round of the 1973 NHL amateur draft) 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)
Brothers, Twins and a Coincidence Canisius' roster boasts two pairs of brothers, the Irish-Bakers and the Rubertos. Senior Brandon Irish-Baker is a year younger than his brother, junior Billy Irish-Baker. Brandon joined the Griffs directly out of high school at Williamsville North, while Billy honed his skills as a member of the USHL's Chicago Freeze. Identical sophomore twins Mike and Matt Ruberto joined the Griffs last season from the Cleveland Barons of the NAHL. Contrary to popular belief, the Coccimiglios (senior Fred and junior Joey) are not directly related, even though they hail from the same town, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and both played for the Soo Thunderbirds of the NOJHA.
2005-06 Atlantic Hockey Standings
2005-06 Overall Atlantic Hockey Statistics
2005-06 Atlantic Hockey Conference Statistics
2005-06 Canisius Schedule/Results/Box Scores