Possibility of Seeing Former Laker Eric Selleck

According to amerks.com, the Rochester Americans announced that the Florida Panthers will be playing a NHL Preseason game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday September 23rd at the Blue Cross Arena.  This would mean a possibility of seeing former Oswego State Laker Eric Selleck wearing a Panthers jersey after Selleck (Pictured left) was signed by the Panthers and he will for-go what would have been his Junior season in Oswego. Selleck is the defending SUNYAC Player of the Year and led the Lakers in goals (21) and points (54) this season. In his two seasons on the shores of Lake Ontario, Selleck played in 54 games wearing the Hunter Green and Gold. He collected 34 goals and 46 assists for a total of 80 points. If he continued on the pace that he had last year, he could have been a member of the 100 goal club.


The 7:00 p.m. contest against the Boston Bruins is set at the home of the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans. Rochester is entering its third season as the sole affiliate of the Panthers.
Florida opens the preseason on Tuesday, September 21st with a game against the Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Center, followed by contests in Rochester (September 23rd), Boston (September 25th) and Montreal (Sept. 27).

The Rochester Americans will open their 55th season against their oldest rival, the Hershey Bears, as the two teams participate in the historic kick off to the AHL’s 75th anniversary season. The Amerks will open the 2010-11 campaign against the oldest team in the AHL on Sunday, October 10th at The Blue Cross Arena. To order Amerks season tickets, call a ticket representative at (585) 454-5335 or go online to amerks.com.

Oswego Men Dominate SUNYAC Post-Season Awards

The State University of New York Athletic Conference released its 2009-10 Post-Season Men’s Ice Hockey awards on Wednesday and Oswego State garnered the majority of the awards. Sophomore forward Eric Selleck (pictured)  was named the Herb Hammond Most Valuable Player, freshman forward Jon Whitelaw was named Rookie of the Year, and Ed Gosek was selected as the Coach of the Year. Three players received First Team All-Conference recognition including junior forward Chris Laganiere, junior defenseman Stephen Mallaro, and Selleck, while senior forward Neil Musselwhite was named to the Second Team.


In addition, senior defenseman Tyler Lyon and senior goaltender Kyle Gunn-Taylor received honorable mention All-Conference honors.  After finishing the SUNYAC regular season with a record of 15-1-0, the Lakers, who are 23-2-0 overall, earned the top seed in the conference post-season tournament.
Eric Selleck, a native of Spencerville, Ontario, led the league in the majority of offensive categories including points (39), assists (25), goals (14), power play points (14).  He was tied for the league-lead in goals scored at 14.  Last year’s SUNYAC Rookie of the Year was named SUNYAC Player of the Week on November 9 and December 14.  Selleck is the second player in conference history to receive both SUNYAC MVP and Rookie of the Year honors following Oswego State’s Ryan Ellis and is the first to accomplish this in consecutive seasons. 

Chris Laganiere, an Owego, N.Y. native, led the conference with four game-winning goals and ranked second in the conference at 30 points.  He tied Selleck for a league-best 14 goals and was tied for first in power play goals at six.  Laganiere also ranked second in power play points at 11 and fourth in assists at 16.

Stephen Mallaro (right), a defenseman from Syracuse, N.Y., was fourth among conference defensemen in scoring with 11 points on four goals and seven assists.  He also posted three game-winning goals for Oswego State.

Assistant captain Neil Musselwhite led the conference with four short-handed goals and was tied for third in the league with 11 goals.  The Burlington, Ontario native was selected as the SUNYAC Player of the Week on December 7 and January 11.  He became the ninth player in NCAA history to tally a short-handed natural hat trick on December 4 against Brockport. 

Jon Whitelaw (right), a forward from Hunstville, Ontario, led all league rookies with 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists and was fourth among all players with nine power play points.  Whitelaw was named the SUNYAC Player of the Week on February 1 and was a three-time SUNYAC Rookie of the Week selection.  He is the ninth Laker to be selected as Rookie of the Year and the seventh since the 2000-01 season. 



Captain Tyler Lyon (left), who hails from Foxboro, Ontario, anchored a defense that allowed the fewest goals in the league at 1.75 goals per game, and helped set up the offense for the top-scoring squad in the SUNYAC at 5.44 goals per game.  Lyon, who started all 16 conference games this season, was also a key figure in the Laker penalty kill.

Kyle Gunn-Taylor, an honorable mention selection, registered a conference record of 11-1-0 and posted a 1.69 goals against average, which was second among SUNYAC goalies, and a .927 save percentage.  The West Seneca, N.Y. native was also chosen as the SUNYAC Goaltender of the Week three times during the season.

Head Coach Ed Gosek (left) was chosen as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his seven-year tenure. Gosek led Oswego State to its first No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC Post-Season Tournament since 2003 despite 15 newcomers on the team.  His squad finished the season atop every conference team statistical category including scoring offense (5.44 goals per game), scoring defense (1.75 goals per game), power play efficiency (28.1 percent), and penalty kill (86.8 percent).  Gosek was named Coach of the Year for the 2004-05 season.

The Lakers start post-season play on Saturday when they face Morrisville at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Playoffs.The game will be broadcasted live on Time Warner Cable Sports, WTOP-10, and on the radio on WNYO-FM 88.9.

Courtesy of Oswego State Sports Information

"Three Puckateers" Power Oswego to Win Against Buffalo State

The Oswego State Lakers gave up the first goal of the night just over a minute played in the opening period. But the Lakers scored the next 10 goals in defeating the guest Buffalo State Bengals 10-1 at the Campus Center Ice Arena on the campus of SUNY Oswego. The "three Puckateers" - Eric Selleck (left),Justin Fox (center) and  Chris Laganiere (right) combined for ten points (4 goals and 6 assists) to lead the top ranked offense in the nation.to the win infront of the announced crowd of 1706.

The opening period started with D'Arcy Thomas beating Paul Beckwith 1:09 into the game that silenced the crowd at the Campus Center Ice Arena. Thomas goal was assisted by Mike Luzarraga. Then the Lakers wasted no time in scoring the tieing goal courtesy of Hank Van Boxmeer. Van Boxmeer scored at the 5:27 mark to even the game. Then the Lakers took the lead courtesy of Chris Laganiere. The Owego, NY native was set up by Eric Selleck and Jon Whitelaw at 7:43 on the power play. Then five minutes later, Laganiere would score his second of the night with linemates Selleck and Justin Fox getting the helpers. With eight seconds remaining in the first, Captain Tyler Lyon scored with the man advantage to give the Lakers a 4-1 lead with the assists going to Assistant Captain Neil Musselwhite and forward Paul Rodrigues.

The second period startedwith Buff State changing goalies as Mike Mesaros came in for starter Alan Fritch who gave up four goals. Oswego would get on the young goalie early as Musselwhite would make it a 5-1 lead just 5:27 into the middle frame with the assists going to Selleck and Assistant Captain Brad Dormeidy. The Lakers would bump the lead to 6-1 as Matt Singleton would score his first collegiate goal of his career with Chris Muise getting the lone assist three minutes after Musselwhite's talley.

The offense would continue to pound the Bengals as the Lakers would score just 2:12 into the final period with Selleck getting the goal with Laganiere and Fox getting the assists. Then Owen Kelly would take a pass from Singleton and Kevin Huinink for a 8-1 lead for the home team. Selleck would then get his second of the period on the power play with Hank Van Boxmeer and Stephen Mallaro getting the assists. Tyler Leimbrock would finish the scoring for the Lakers as he would beat Mesaros with Jon Whitelaw and Jesse McConney getting the assists.

Oswego outshot the visiting Bengals 49-15 with Mesaros getting most of the saves after coming in for Fritch after the first period. Beckwith stops 14 Buff State shots for his sixth of the season. Oswego finishes 3/7 on the power play while the Bengals were 0/5.

Both teams will be in action tomorrow night as the Bengals will be visiting the Cortland Red Dragons at Alumni Arena in Cortland while the Lakers host the Fredonia Blue Devils at the Campus Center Ice Arena. Faceoff time on the shores of Lake Ontario will be at 7:00 pm and you can hear the game on WNYO-FM 88.9 "the Voice of Oswego". 

Box Score

Why Didn't Eric Selleck play last night???

Division III hockey's leading scorer was not in the lineup last night for the Oswego State Lakers and Connecticut College Camels at the Campus Center Ice Arena. Many fans were asking, "why not?". The VOTL.com had the insight on this story and here is what they report... 

The coaching staff did not provide a reason for Selleck's absence from the lineup, and that has allowed room for speculation.  One fan wrote on his Twitter account that Selleck appeared to be sporting a black eye.

A source close to the team confirmed to me that Selleck does indeed have a shiner, but would not say how it happened.  When pressed on the issue, they said Selleck took a puck to the face in practice.  The source then added that Selleck should be on the ice tonight when Oswego State hosts Elmira at 7 p.m. in the title game of the Pathfinder Bank Oswego Hockey Classic.

Selleck could only stand and watch last night as his team failed to score a first-period goal for the second straight game.  Of course, they'd pot four of them over the game's final 34 minutes en route to a 4-1, but the general consensus among Lakers fans was that the offense looked out of sync sans Selleck.

This video is also with special thanks to the VOTL.com 

Lakers Continue Winning Ways With Blowout of Morrisville

The Oswego State Lakers contined their winning ways last night infront of 2600 + at the Campus Center Ice Arena as Oswego punnished SUNYAC foe Morrisville 8-1. The win gives Oswego their eighth victory of the season and also gives the Lakers a perfect 6-0 in SUNYAC play to this point in the season.

Morrisville (3-5-0, 2-4-0 in SUNYAC) got the scoring started 12 minutes into the opening period as Dana Calderone scored his second of the season with the assist going to Andrew Alarie. Morrisville outworked, outplayed and out husseled Oswego during the first twenty minutes, outshooting the Lakers 8-7 in the first.                                                       

A tale of two periods occured in the second as the Lakers got their legs moving and that got the offense going as it didnt

even take two minutes into the second as rookie Tyler Leimbrock scored his second of the year with the assists going to Alternate Captains Brad Dormeidy and Neil Musselwhite. Then Oswego gained the lead as Owego, NY native Chris Laganiere scored his seventh of the year with linemates Justin Fox and Eric Selleck getting the assists. Three minutes later, the Lakers would grab a 3-1 lead on the Power Play with a goal scored by Jon Whitelaw with Stephen Mallaro and Laganiere getting the helpers. The scoring didnt stop in the middle frame as Oswego tacked on one more before the end of the period Luke Moodie scored his third on the year with Paul Rodrigues getting the lone assist at 17:22. Oswego outshot the Mustangs of Morrisville 16-4 in the second period and 23-12 after 40 minutes.

The third period started the same way the second ended as Captain Tyler Lyon scored just 19 seconds in with Musslewhite and Dormeidy getting their second helpers on the night. Then the game would become the Chris Laganiere show as Laganiere would score his eighth  of the season with Fox and Whitelaw getting the assists at 6:27. Then Laganiere would get the hat trick just three minutes later on the power play for his second consecuative PPG with linemates Fox and Selleck getting the assists. Then Eric Selleck would cap the scoring for Oswego as he would strip the puck at center ice and head in on a breakaway and would beat goaltender Mike Will at 13:12. The line of Laganiere, Selleck, and Fox finished the night with 10 points on four goals and six assists. Final shots were 36-23 in favor of the second ranked Oswego State Lakers.

Laker netminder Kyle Gunn-Taylor improved to 5-0-0 on the season as he stopped 22 shots and allowed one goal. Morrisville goaltender Caylin Relkoff made 25 saves on 32 shots before Mike Will came into the game to record three saves and allow one goal. Oswego returns to the ice on December 4th as they take on SUNYAC opponent Brockport and then the following night, the Geneseo Ice Knights come into the Campus Center and challenge the Lakers. Face-off for both nights will be at 7:00 pm. You can listen to the games live on WNYO 88.9 FM Oswego or you can watch the game on WTOP-TV 10 on campus or Cable Access 96. You can also follow the game with live stats live on the Oswego State Athletics Page.

Top Photo: Courtesy of Oswego State Athletic Dept.

Bottom Photo: Courtesy of Jared Crast

Oswego Takes Care of Utica 3-2

The second-ranked Oswego State men’s ice hockey team survived a third-period flurry from visiting Utica to come away with a 3-2 win on Saturday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena. The Lakers held a three-goal lead heading into the final period, but the Pioneers registered two goals late in the third period to test the young Oswego team. The Lakers improved to 7-1-0 overall, while Utica suffered its first loss of the season for a record of 2-1-1.

Oswego got off to a quick start as the Lakers went on a power play in the first minute of the game. Utica effectively killed the penalty, but Oswego State caught the Pioneers in a line change as Paul Rodrigues skated up the left side of the rink. Rodrigues threaded the puck through the crease to Chris Ayotte for the one-timer past Utica goaltender Anthony Luckow for a 1-0 lead just passed the three minute mark into the first period. Halfway through the opening period , the Pioneers were whistled for a penalty. After the ensuing face-off, Stephen Mallaro took a blast from center ice that found its way into the back of the net for his third power play goal of the weekend to give the Lakers a 2-0 margin. Utica gained control of play at the end of the period, as Oswego committed two penalties with less than two minutes remaining, but did not score before the horn to end the second.

Utica carried momentum into the second period as it still held a 5-on-3 advantage for 30 seconds. However, the Lakers got through the situation unscathed as the Pioneers were unable to get on the board, putting the momentum back in favor of the Lakers. The line of Justin Fox, Chris Laganiere, and Eric Selleck quickly to advantage of the swing by creating an odd-skater rush. After chaos in front of the net, Fox tallied his sixth goal of the season with assists going to both of his linemates at 1:38 in the second period.

So Oswego came into the third period with a 3-0 lead infront of a big crowd at the Campus Center, and Utica got some momentum into the third period as Utica got on the board almost halfway into the final period when Sean Timkey threw the puck on goal with Gunn-Taylor making the initial pad save, but the rebound went right onto the tape of Evan Chlanda, who did not miss the empty net. The Pioneers cut the deficit in half to 3-2 when Brian Gibbons scored a power play goal on a rebound at 15:51 with assists going to Scott Birnstill and Chlanda.

In a very physical contest, both squads combined for 63 penalty minutes on 22 penalties as each team was 1-for-7 with the extra skater. Gunn-Taylor finished the game with 21 saves, while Luckow compiled 34 saves on 37 shots.

from Oswego Sports Information

Oswego Sweeps SUNYAC Weekly Awards

The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announced their weekly awards and recieving them are all apart of the Oswego State Lakers. The Lakers (4-0 in Conference, 5-1 overall) swept the first two weekends of their SUNYAC schedule against the two Western New York Teams (Buffalo State, Fredonia) and the sweep of the North Country against Potsdam and arch-rival Plattsburgh. Oswego started the weekend in the North Country with a convincing 8-1 win over the Potsdam Bears. The following night saw the Lakers in the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena to take on the defending SUNYAC Champion Plattsburgh Cardinals. For the first time since November 11, 2005, Oswego came into Plattsburgh and knocked-off the Cardinals by the score of 5-2.

Eric Selleck was named SUNYAC Player of the Week for his three goal, four assist performance this past weekend.
Kyle Gunn-Taylor was named conference goaltender of the week as he picked up a pair of victories in his first action as a Laker. Gunn-Taylor stopped 56 of the 59 shots he saw while filling in for starter Paul Beckwith, who stayed in Central New York  over the weekend with an illness. Freshman Jon Whitelaw tallied his first three collegiate goals during the road trip and also recorded an assist. Two of his goals came in Saturday's 5-2 victory over Plattsburgh, which snapped a 10-game winless streak in the rivalry series for the Lakers.

Next weekend sees the Lakers head off to Cortland on Friday night to continue their winning ways in the SUNYAC standings. Saturday night sees Oswego back at the Campus Center Ice Arena to play host to the Utica Pioneers.