The defending SUNYAC Men's Ice Hockey Champion Oswego State Lakers have released their 2010-2011 schedule to the public. The road to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the Frozen Four will be long, but a true test for Oswego but with the new recruits that Head Coach Ed Gosek brought to the Port City, the Lakers should be one of the teams to beat as they try to defend their SUNYAC Championship. The Lakers host one preseason game on October 16th as they take on Bradford Rattlers All Stars before getting right into a non-conference home and home series with the Elmira College Soaring Eagles. Then the Lakers get into their SUNYAC Schedule with home contests against Buffalo State, Fredonia and Potsdam before the November 6th date with arch-rival Plattsburgh for the annual Whiteout Game.
After the game against the Cards, Oswego State will host Cortland before making the trip to Utica to play the Pioneers at the Auditorium on November 13th. Then the Lakers will contine on the road with contests against Morrisville, Brockport and Geneseo before returning to the Port City to host Utica on December 10th and the following night, make the trip down NYS Route 14 to Geneva to "the Cooler" to take on the Hobart Statesmen.
Hobart is a familiar team that Lakers fans will see when Oswego hosts the Pathfinder Bank Oswego Hockey Classic Participating this year will also be Hamilton College and Wisconson-Stevens Point. Oswego will host Hamilton on December 30th at 7:00 pm with UW Stevens Point and Hobart facing off at 4:00 pm that afternoon. Then on New Years Eve, the championship game will be at 7:00 with the third place game squaring off at 4:00 pm.
Oswego will then open up the calendar year to 2011 as they take on Skidmore and Curry before the spring semester starts with a trip to Western New York as they travel to play Buffalo State and Fredonia. The following weekend has the Lakers in the North Country as they take on Potsdam and Plattsburgh and then making the trip down I-81 to Cortland to take on the Red Dragons. After that road trip, the Lakers return to the Campus Center Ice Arena as they host Morrisville, Brockport and Geneseo to wrap up the regular season.
In a move that makes Miami an instant force in the Eastern Conference, LeBron James is joining the Heat. The two-time MVP made the official announcement in front of a national television audience on Thursday night. Reports throughout the day had indicated that James would bolt Cleveland in favor of South Beach, completing a powerful trio that includes fellow all-stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
Bosh and Wade both made their declaration to play for the Heat on Wednesday. As of now, the Heat have only five players on their roster and will be cash strapped against the cap for the rest of their roster with only Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers still on the team from last season. King LeBron leaves Cleveland after seven seasons during which he made the All-Star team six teams, led the league in scoring once in 2008, and was awarded Rookie of the Year in 2003 after the Cavs made him the number one overall pick in the draft. James had been courted by the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks.
Video courtesy of ESPN.com
Now onto a totally different topic as the Buffalo Sabres announced their 2010-2011 Preseason Schedule today as two of their games will be played at HSBC Arena. There are six total contests this preseason for the blue and gold. The action begins on Saturday September 25th when the long time rival Toronto Maple Leafs come to downtown Buffalo.
Here is the complete preseason schedule: Saturday, September 25 Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m. (HSBC Arena)
Monday, September 27 Buffalo at Toronto, 7 p.m. (Air Canada Centre)
Tuesday, September 28 Buffalo at Ottawa, TBD (Dundas, Ontario)
Thursday, September 30 Buffalo at Montreal, 7:30 p.m. (Bell Centre)
Friday, October 1 Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. (Wachovia Center)
Sunday, October 3 Philadelphia at Buffalo, 6 p.m. (HSBC Arena)
The area's car racing community was in shock on the weekend, over the passing of Modified Division driver Mitchell Jock. Jock, 27, a regular competitor at Cornwall Motor Speedway and at Mohawk International Raceway in Hogansburg, died on Wednesday in Ottawa from complications after suffering a brain aneurysm. Jock leaves a common-law wife, Fallon David, and four-year-old son, Ty David. "He was the best dad, we did everything with him,'' said Fallon David, breaking into tears on Sunday night at Cornwall Motor Speedway, where tributes to Jock pour in.
His No. 14 red car (above) sat in the winner's circle, as hundreds of race fans made their way to the bleachers. Jock, of Akwesasne, had over 40 feature wins during a 14-year racing career, and he made history. Jock was just 13, turning 14 during the season, when he went on to take the Cornwall rookie division top rookie award, and the track title, a DIRT age record that still stands.
Jock, a former Pro Stock Division champion, was in contention for the Modified track title in Cornwall into the last week of the 2009 season. Jock wasn't feeling well this spring, the family said, and his last race this season was May 14, a second-place finish at Mohawk International. "He was weak (in the spring),'' Fallon David said. "He wanted to race but we didn't want him to.'' In the Cornwall pits on Sunday night, drivers were having a difficult time focusing on racing.
"I think we're all (in shock),'' said fellow Modified Division driver Joel Doiron. "Mitch was only in the Modified Division for a few years, but what I remember is his smile, he was always smiling. He was fun to talk to, but he was serious about his racing.
PERRY, NY… Independence Day Weekend started out with side by side action all over the action packed 1/3rd mile oval at Wyoming County International Speedway this past week as all the divisions had great car counts and put on a spectacular show for the fans. There was an exhibition from the Vintage Late Models during the intermission and even two fire cars lit up the Perry sky after the racing was completed. The racing on the track was the best of the season to this point as all three classes that were on hand had good turnouts. Young gun Patrick Emerling picked up his third win on the season in the SST Modifieds. Mike “Scrappy” Chenaille was victorious in the SST Super Stocks for the first time in his career and 14 year old sensation Tommy Catalano of Ontario, NY picked up his track leading fifth victory of the year in the 4 Cylinder class.
Dick Kluth and Jim Ling would lead the SST Modifieds for the start of the 35 lap affair with the veteran driver Kluth getting out to the early lead. The first yellow would fly as Scott Combs would spin in turn three. After the first restart, defending SST Series Champion Amy Catalano would take over the top spot from race leader John Julicher Jr. Catalano would show the boys how to get it done around the historic Wyoming County International Speedway oval. The second caution of the night came out before the halfway mark as once again Scott Combs spun in between turns three and four. Off of the restart, Patrick Emerling got around Catalano and took over the top spot. Great racing as the cars were strung all around the 1/3rd mile and lap traffic did play a factor into the final outcome of the event, however the leaders knew exactly how to get around the traffic that they were encountering.
When he was up front, Emerling would pull away to a big lead over top running Andy Jankowiak and defending series champ Amy Catalano. Even lap cars didn’t slow down the high flying Emerling as he would pull away from the rest of the field and pick up win number three of the season. Amy Catalano came home in second and last week’s feature winner Andy Jankowiak came home in third. Early race leader John Julicher Jr. was the only other car that finished on the lead lap as he would cross the line in fourth and Jim Ling would round out the top five. The entire top three were all on American Racers Tires and Greg Utberg was chosen as the Driver of the Week for next week.
Austyn Fugle and Jeremy Gray led the field to the green flag for the start of the 25 lap SST Super Stock event and it was Jeremy Gray getting the early advantage. Then with Gray up front, Mike “Scrappy” Chenaille of Perry, NY took over the top position. Chenaille got out to a full straightaway lead over the rest of the field at the Bullring.
Side by side action all over the Perry, NY oval and Jeremy Gray and Cassie Logsdon were putting on a great battle for the fans. Logsdon and Phil Alhart Jr put on a great battle for the runner up position. Logsdon, last week’s feature winner was right on the rear bumper of Chenaille after a late race restart and was unable to real in Scrappy as he came across the line for his first career win in the Super Stocks. The Perry resident stated in victory lane that his car “was like driving a boat”. “It was just hooked up and the only thing I had to do was hit the gas pedal”. The recent high school graduate Cassie Logsdon finished in second continue her great string of recent finishes and current WCIS Super Stock Points Leader Phil Alhart Jr. from Fairport came across the line in third. Newcomer Steve Malin finished fourth and former feature winner Willie Strusz completed the top five.
Josh Beardsley and Eric Haistreiter lead the strong field of the entry level 4 cylinders to the green flag for their 20 lap feature go and it was Haistreiter getting the early advantage. Then Beardsley, a recent graduate of AlfredState took the top spot away from Haistreiter on lap number two. Then Mike Hossfeld, who was making his first trip to the Bullring this year spun in turn four on lap number six. The restart saw Beardsley and four time feature winner Tommy Catalano at the head of the class and it was the Cam’s NY Pizzeria, PJ Radiator, Catalano Motorsports entry taking the lead off of the restart. Charles Buchanan drove right up thru the field and had a great battle with the 14 year old Catalano but was unable to get around the Catalano machine as Tommy would pick up his track leading fifth win of the year. Buchanan would finish second and Josh Beardsley would cross the line in third. Defending WCIS Track Champion Brian Johnson would finish fourth and Eric Haistreiter would fall back to finish in the top five.
Next week at the Bullring is the annual visit by the heart-pounding Race of Champions DART Asphalt Modified Tour. The Mods are also joined by the second appearance of the season by the Casey’s TQ Midgets Series. Also in competition next Friday night will be the SST Modifieds, SST Super Stocks and the 4 cylinders. Pit gates will open at a special time, 3:00 pm with the grandstand gates getting opened at 5:00 pm and race time is set for 7:30 pm sharp. For more information, you can log on to www.wyomingcountyinternationalspeedway.com or check us out on Facebook by searching Wyoming International Speedway. You can also call the speedway office at (585) 237-2580 or on raceday at (585) 237-2510.
Official Results – 7/2/10
SST Modifieds: PATRICK EMERLING, Amy Catalano, Andy Jankowiak, John Julicher Jr., Jim Ling, Ed Schueler, Lexi Wilson, Greg Utberg, Ron Williams, Dick Kluth, Matt Jurek (DNF), Scott Combs (DNF), Tom Weist (DNF), Mike Shaughnessy (DNS)
Heat Winners – John Julicher Jr. and Patrick Emerling
SST Super Stocks: MIKE CHENAILLE, Cassie Logsdon, Phil Alhart Jr., Steve Malin, Willie Strusz, Joe Mancuso, Austyn Fugle, Jeremy Gray, Brad Collings (DNF)
Heat Winner – Austyn Fugle
4 Cylinders: TOMMY CATALANO, Charles Buchanan, Josh Beardsley, Brian Johnson, Eric Haistreiter, Kevin Grom, Allison Knoepfler, Daniel Majchrzak, Joe Clark, Ashley Kirchberger, Zach Willis, Dan Scott, Dakota Packman (DNF), Mike Hossfeld (DNF)
The Sabres have announced the signing of free agent defenseman Jordan Leopold to a 3-year contract worth $9 million. Leopold played in Florida and Pittsburgh last season, scoring 11 goals to go with 15 assists. Leopold did not register a point in 8 playoff games with the Penguins.
He was knocked out of the Penguins playoff series with the Senators on a hit by Andy Sutton during Game 2. Leopold began his career with Calgary in 2002 and has skated for 4 teams, Calgary, Colorado, Florida and the Pens. The 29-year old was originally drafted by Anaheim in 1999.
The Sabres lost a pair of blueliners in free agency. Toni Lydman signed with the Anaheim Ducks for 3 years and $9 million. Henrik Tallinder jumped to New Jersey, signing a 4-year deal worth $3.375 per season.
