More on Flannery's commitment to Brockport

From the Metro Jets staff comes the official news release on Robby Flannery's commitment to Brockport...



The national champion Metro Jets continue to ride the wave of their incredible 2017-18 season and today announced another NCAA commitment.

Veteran defenseman Robby Flannery, who skated three seasons with the Jets, going to the national title game each year, has committed to Brockport State University. Brockport is part of the SUNYAC conference and is located near Rochester, N.Y. Last season, the Golden Eagles finished 11-13-1 overall with a 5-10-1 conference mark.

Flannery joins forward Connor Inger (New England College), goaltender Andrew Kormos (New England College) and forward Trevor Momot (Johnson and Wales University) as Jets from the 2017-18 season who will skate in the NCAA next season.

“There was a lot about Brockport that was really appealing,” said Flannery, a 21-year-old native of Lathrup Village, Mich. “The hockey facilities are top notch and the campus was big, but not too big. It will definitely be nice to start college and get away from home. Next season, I would hope to fit in as someone that makes an impact right away. And someone that can be relied upon. Academically, I’m expecting a grind after being off full-time schooling for three years.”

In the classroom, Flannery is looking into studying a Business curriculum right now.

“‘Flanny’ is a special player in a lot of ways,” Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville said. “He’s been a Jet for three years and done so much for this program. Even when he had NAHL interest, he chose to come back and finish what he started. He is a character kid who brings a lot on and off the ice. Everybody notices his shot and offensive ability, but one of his biggest skill sets is his stick. He does such a great job of breaking up and killing plays away from the puck. He generated a lot of NCAA interest this past season and really took his time on his decision. Brockport is getting a heck of a player and we wish Flanny the best of luck.”

A four-time Division 2 All-State player at Berkley High School (twice honorable mention), Flannery was named All-League Third Team this past season and tallied 14 goals and 47 points in 45 regular-season games. He also served as an alternate captain. In 2016-17, Flannery contributed 13 goals and 27 points and as a rookie, rattled off 18 points. Over his three years combined, Flannery posted a plus-148 plus/minus rating.

Flannery said his three seasons in Fraser helped his development, both on and off the ice.

“Metro has been an enormous part of my development not only as a player, but as an individual, too,” Flannery said. “And that is a huge reason why I got the opportunity to play NCAA hockey. I’d like to thank Q, (assistant coach) Randy (Wilson) and (assistant coach) Jamie (Lovell) for pushing me on and off the ice to get better. I’d also like to that Pete (Cammick) for being such a gracious owner of the team the past three years. And last, but not least, I’d also like to thank (director of communications) Matt (Mackinder) for making me look good and sound good in all the articles and videos the Jets post. And what would a thank you be without thanking my vet Jake Gleason, a guy who took me in and showed me the ropes.”

In making his commitment to Brockport, Flannery said he has to give credit to more than the hockey folks, too.

“Aside from the hockey people, I’d like to thank my mom and dad (Katy and Rob) for supporting me the past 18 years I’ve been wearing skates,” said Flannery. “I’d also like to thank my grandfather (Bob Flannery) and my Aunt Molly (Harder) for being huge supporters and watching every game they could for the past three years.”

Flannery said it’ll be a challenge next season to make the jump to college hockey, but will take a boatload of memories with him from his time with the Jets.

“What will I remember most? Easy. I’ll remember winning a national championship and getting to play hockey everyday with my brothers,” Flannery said.

Winn is Brockport's Rookie of the Year

At the annual, year-end hockey banquet it was announced that Casey Winn won the Golden Eagles' "Chris Palin Rookie of the Year Award". The freshman defenseman had 1 goal and 7 assists while playing mistake-free defense that saw him have just 22 penalty minutes while leading the team in blocked shots.

"Thank you" and "good luck" to the seniors

This weekend is commencement weekend at Brockport -- a bittersweet event for sure. It's great to see the students graduate and go on to do great things, but at the same time, it's sad to see friends go their separate ways around the world and for us to say "good bye" to hockey players who entertained us on the ice for the past four years. Thank you to these young men for the memories...you played a lot of good hockey and you've made us proud on the ice, in the classroom and in the community. I wish you the very best of luck in the new adventures that are before you.

Our seniors are: Tim Kielich, Brandon McMartin, Dylan Shapiro, Aidan Verbeke, Matt Meredith, David Horan, Zac Sikich, and Brian Hurlimann.

Throwback Thursday: Chris Palin's fastet goal

Fastest Goal in History of Hockey May Have Been Matter of Bad Timing

January 17, 1989|Associated Press

All of a sudden Oswego State hockey Coach Don Unger is a very popular man, and he doesn't like it one bit.

"WNBC has called me, USA Today has called me," Unger said Monday. "I'm being bothered by everybody."

Everybody, it seems, wants to know how it feels to be coach of the team that allowed the fastest goal in hockey history.

It happened in a matchup of New York schools last Wednesday night when Brockport State's Chris Palin scored 3 seconds after the opening faceoff. At least, that's what the clock said in recording a goal 2 seconds faster than the official record in both the college and professional ranks.

"When I looked up, the clock said 19:57," Palin said. "It seemed like the play had taken 4 or 5 seconds, but it said 19:57."

There's only one problem--the official scoresheet signed by referee Jim Zarnick says the goal was scored with 19:55 left.

According to Unger, this is how the play developed: "The puck was dropped and we took the puck forward, that's 110 feet from the goal still."

After Palin gained control, "our forward went through and hit their man as he was skating down the boards, he skated over the blue line, then cut toward the net and took a screen shot through two of our defensemen and scored.

"The puck had to travel backward 15 or 20 feet, then diagonally about 20 feet, then it was passed another 20 feet to the red line. And then he had to skate it about 100 feet."

"They supposedly started the clock late and the people working the scoresheet decided to put down 5 seconds," Brockport sports information director Mike Andriatch said. "The people at the scorer's table should have changed the clock right then.

In case anyone missed it, Unger wants everyone to know the final score was Oswego State 8, Brockport State 5.

Horan is honored for academics at BESPYs

The College at Brockport Athletics Department held their end of the year award ceremony, the BESPYs on Sunday, honoring some of their top student-athletes. Brockport honored its two Scholar Athletes of the year, with Ice Hockey's David Horan repeating for the award. The senior is a double major, in finance and accounting with a cumulative GPA of 3.87. His peers on the ice also put up good numbers in the classroom as the hockey team was also recognized for having the best team GPA.

Zeis is with Team USA

David Zeis is serving as an athletic trainer on a U.S Men’s National Team for the first time. 

Zeis recently completed his 11th season as head athletic trainer for the NHL’s Dallas Stars, a role he has held since 2007. Prior to that, he spent seven seasons as the head athletic trainer for the Columbia Inferno and Pee Dee Pride of the East Coast Hockey League.

Certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association since 1995, Zeis is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Zeis earned a bachelor of science degree from SUNY Brockport in New York where he also played collegiate hockey. He also worked at University Sports Medicine at the University of Buffalo from 1993-95 as a clinical therapist and research coordinator.

Zeis and his wife, Michelle, live in Prosper, Texas, with their son, Brendon.

Flannery commits to Brockport

Last week, Robby Flannery took to Twitter to announce his commitment to Brockport. The 6'2", 190-pound Michigan native has been playing junior hockey with the Metro Jets of the NA3HL the past 3 seasons, most recently wearing the "A" on his sweater.

His numbers have been great. In 2016-2017 he played in 43 regular season games in which he had a 13-24-37 line. In the 2017-2018 campaign, he played in 45 games and had a 14-33-47 line.

Averaging more than a point a game as he did this year is always a huge accomplishment but consider how remarkable his output is -- he's not a forward, he's a defenseman!

His defensive savvy and playmaking abilities have been a critical part of the Metro Jets success. In his 3 seasons there, the Jets won 3 Fraser Cups, the championship of the NA3HL.

Who's wearing the "C" in 2018/2019?

At last night's annual celebration, the Golden Eagles announced their captaincy for the 2018-2019 season. Two men will be wearing the "C": Connor Hutchins and Hunter Laslo, who will both be juniors next year.

Polino & Facchini win the Cup

Troy Polino (2011/2012 - 2014/2015) and Jesse Facchini (2012/2013 - 2015/2016) are Brockport alumni who are still living the dream. On Wednesday night they and their fellow Watertown Wolves secured the Federal Hockey League's Commissioner's Cup. They were big contributors. For example, in Game 3 of the best-of-five series, Facchini scored 2 goals and Polino had 1. In an interview with the local paper afterward, Facchini attributed that success to the chemistry they built in their Brockport days. Congrats to these Golden Eagles!

Throwback Thursday: 2009's playoff game against Potsdam

Every Thursday we'll post a photo or memory here to reflect on players, games, and fans of the past.

Here are some video highlights from the 2009 home playoff game against Potsdam. It was Brockport's first-ever home playoff game and the Golden Eagles' first-ever playoff victory (3-1):

Throwback Thursday: The Nick Smyth game

Every Thursday we'll post a photo or memory here to reflect on players, games, and fans of the past.

On the night of Tuesday, October 17, 2000, the College at Brockport played one of its most exciting games in team history, an exhibition game against Humber College out of Toronto, Ontario.

The sparse crowd of only 250 fans saw a game of epic proportions. It was high-scoring affair eventually won by Brockport 9-7 thanks to a 6-goal flurry in the second.

Amidst all that goal scoring was physical hockey like you’ve never seen. There were 29 penalties in the match-up, including three 10-minute misconducts and a game disqualification. In total the teams accounted for 96 minutes of penalties.

That aggression didn't stop at the final buzzer: During the post-game handshake a Brockport player had his helmet off and was innocently shaking hands when all of a sudden a Humber player blasted the unprotected and unsuspecting soul right in the nose, instantly bloodying his face.

You don’t see games like that too often….and you definitely don’t see a single player’s performance as we did that night very often.

Brockport’s Nick Smyth had the greatest game ever by a Brockport hockey player.

In his first game for the Golden Eagles he scored a school-record 5 goals. An impressive total no doubt. What makes it even more extraordinary is that he scored a natural shorthanded hat trick!! How's that for a debut!!

That was the first time that ever happened in the NCAA...or was it?

NCAA purists will say that Neil Musselwhite’s (against Brockport, no less, in 2009) was the first in NCAA DIII history being that it was a true NCAA game pitting two NCAA colleges against one another while the Brockport/Humber game was a US/Canada event featuring only one NCAA school.

But, that’s semantics. Smyth’s was the first by a player at the DIII level of US collegiate hockey and he should be recognized for it.

Hockey's stellar student-athletes

The College at Brockport Athletic Department held its annual Senior Athlete Luncheon on Thursday, honoring its 104-senior student-athletes. At the event, the Golden Eagles inducted 23 student athletes into the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society, the National College Athletic Honor Society. Membership selection is based on outstanding scholarship, athletic achievement, character and citizenship. Hockey players inducted into the society were:  David Horan, Dylan Shapiro, and Aidan Verbeke.

Throwback Thursday: Adam Shoff

Every Thursday we'll post a photo or memory here to reflect on players, games, and fans of the past.

Here's a snapshot of Adam Shoff in his junior season of 2010-2011. Adam was known for hustling up and down the ice with reckless abandon, fighting for pucks in the corners, putting his body in harm's way to block shots like he was a second goalie and fearlessly mixing it up with anyone, no matter their size. He was possessed of energy and a never-give-up attitude.

His best season was the 2011-2012 campaign when, as captain, the senior scored 5 goals, had 19 assists and put up 40 penalty minutes.

On the Humboldt Broncos tragedy

As the hockey world reels from the tragedy that befell the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team, one can't help but wonder if we know someone connected to the Broncos. In SUNYAC, there is only one player who recently played for Humboldt -- Brett Horn of Potsdam. The freshman played for the Broncos last season, so he knows and played alongside some of the young men who passed. Our hearts go out to Brett, the Broncos, the real families, the billet families, and the entire Humboldt community in these dark days of grief and sorrow.

Pray commits to Brockport

Tonawanda, NY native Trevor Pray took to Twitter this week to announce his commitment to Brockport. The 6'3" forward is another excellent recruit, possessing some serious scoring ability.

In his 2015-2016 senior campaign at Kenmore East he made the All-State Team and was Section II's Player of the Year after a 20 goal, 17 assist regular season. In the 6 playoff games that followed he scored an amazing 17 goals and had 7 assists against the best teams in New York.

The state championship game was all him -- he scored the game-tying goal late in the third and then the game winner in overtime in the 3-2 victory over Skaneateles. That performance put him in the Faces In the Crowd section of Sports Illustrated -- sharing that installment of Faces with Lonzo Ball, who went on to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

After graduating from high school, he spent two seasons in the Juniors with the Walpole Express. In 2016-2017 he had 24 goals and 29 assists, good for 53 points in 40 games. This past season he had a 22-18-40 line in 48 games.

Klimowicz is coach of the year

Bob Klimowicz played hockey at Brockport. Since then, he's been coaching high school hockey. He has been named the 2017-18 All-Bee Girls’ Hockey Coach of the Year by the Bee family of newspapers in WNY:

http://www.clarencebee.com/news/2018-03-21/Sports/Threetitle_season_lifts_Klimowicz_to_Coach_of_the_.html

Brockport alumnus Meredith is SUNYAC Coach of the Year

The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) is proud to announce the recipient of Men's Ice Hockey Coach of the Year for the 2017-2018 season. This year, Fredonia head coach Jeff Meredith (who is an alumnus of Brockport) has been voted to receive this honor.

In his 30th season as head coach for the Blue Devils, Meredith led his squad to an overall record of 13-11-4, and a fifth place SUNYAC seeding entering playoffs with a conference record of 7-8-1. The team had a triumphant SUNYAC playoff run, upsetting No. 5 seeded Plattsburgh in the Quarterfinals, 4-3, then upsetting No. 1 seeded Oswego in the semifinals, 3-1, to advance to the SUNYAC championship game.

Meredith entered the 2017-18 season ranked 45th on the all-time NCAA wins list, and earned his 400th career victory in a 7-4 win over visiting Plattsburgh on December 2. This marks Meredith's third SUNYAC Coach of the Year honor.

Bennet tackles student-athletes for Winging It blog

Hockey player Luke Bennett has undertaken a new endeavor at the Winging It blog at Brockport. He will interview student-athletes for the blog. His first subject -- hockey player Doc Gentzler:

https://bportwingingit.com/2018/02/26/golden-eagle-student-athlete-spotlight-doc-gentzler/

Verbeke is All-SUNYAC

The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announced Feb. 22nd the men's ice hockey All-Conference selections, with Aidan Verbeke from The College at Brockport making this year's list.

Verbeke was named to the Third-Team as a forward during his senior campaign. He finished the year with 35 points which is second best in the SUNYAC.  He scored 15 goals that left him fourth best in the conference and dished out 20 assists which is good for third.

Kielich joins the Thunder

On Saturday, Tim Kielich closed out his collegiate career against Geneseo. Tonight, he embarks on his professional career with the ECHL Adirondack Thunder!

Brockport doesn't make playoffs in season-ending loss to Geneseo

The College at Brockport ice hockey team dropped their final State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest of the season against SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, 1-0. The Golden Eagles wrap up the 2017-2018 season with a record of 11-13-1 (5-10-1 SUNYAC), while the Knights move to 16-5-3 (10-3-3).

Brockport trailed halfway through the first period when Geneseo took a 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the contest. The Green and Gold tried to answer when they were awarded a power play opportunity, but the Knights penalty kill shut down any offensive threat. The Golden Eagles kept the intensity up for the remainder of the period ripping off seven shots, but were unsuccessful in tying the game up.

The Green and Gold suffered an early penalty in the second period to give them a man-down disadvantage. The Brockport penalty kill locked down too, and only allowed one shot on frame during the Geneseo power play. Both teams battled it out for the remainder of the period as the score stayed the same, going into the final period.

The Golden Eagles fought hard throughout the third period but fell short in finding the back of the net. Brockport teed off a total of 23 shots throughout this period, but none could beat the goalie, who held on to a final 1-0 win.

Brockport goalie Matt Schneider had a strong day between the pipes, finishing with 27 saves and a .964 save percentage.

This concludes Brockport ice hockey's season and will return a healthy amount of talent to make a run in the SUNYAC next year.

The playoff scenario

Going into the last night of regular season play, the playoff picture is absolute chaos in SUNYAC. Here is the official list of scenarios from the SUNYAC officials themselves....

SUNYAC Men’s Ice Hockey Scenario

1 – Oswego

2 – Geneseo

3 – Buffalo State

4 – Potsdam

·       With a win

·       With losses by Fredonia and Plattsburgh

·       With a tie and ties or losses by both Fredonia and Plattsburgh

4 – Plattsburgh

·       With a win and a loss by Potsdam and a loss or tie by Fredonia

4 – Fredonia

·       With a win and a loss by Potsdam and a loss or tie by Plattsburgh

Other scenarios

·       3-way tie at 15 points among Fredonia, Plattsburgh and Potsdam

o   4 – Plattsburgh

o   5 - Fredonia

o   6 – Potsdam

·       2-way tie at 15 points between Fredonia and Potsdam

o   4 – Potsdam

o   5 – Fredonia

·       2-way tie at 15 points between Plattsburgh and Potsdam

o   4 – Plattsburgh

o   5 – Potsdam

·       2-way tie at 15 points between Plattsburgh and Fredonia

o   4 – Plattsburgh

o   5 - Fredonia

·       3-way tie at 14 points among Fredonia, Plattsburgh and Potsdam

o   4 – Potsdam

o   5 - Plattsburgh

o   6 - Fredonia

·       2-way tie at 14 points between Fredonia and Potsdam

o   4 – Potsdam

o   5 - Fredonia

·       2-way tie at 14 points between Plattsburgh and Potsdam

o   4 – Potsdam

o   5 - Plattsburgh

·       3-way tie among Brockport, Fredonia and Plattsburgh

o   4 - Potsdam

o   5 - Brockport

o   6 – Fredonia

o   Out - Plattsburgh

·       Brockport in a 2-way tie with Fredonia or Plattsburgh is 6 while the other team is out

·       Brockport out with a tie or loss or a win or tie by both Plattsburgh and Fredonia

Verbeke can cement case for SUNYAC Player of the Year

There is one regular season game left to play for Brockport. It's do or die. Brockport HAS to win to have any chance of making the playoffs.

Someone who looks to make a huge impact against Geneseo is senior captain Aidan Verbeke.

With one weekend to go, it looks like the battle for SUNYAC Player of the Year could go to either him or Geneseo's Conlan Keenan.

Of all players in the SUNYAC, Keenan has the highest points per game average at 1.50 (12th in the nation). Next in line is Verbeke at 1.46 which is good for 13th best in the nation.

Verbeke's goal total of 15 ranks behind only 3 SUNYAC players...Tyson Empey, also of Geneseo (18), Rich McCartney of Plattsburgh (17) and Keenan (17).

Voters might see that Keenan has a deep team (3 players with 30+ points, 2 more with 20+) while Verbeke is carrying a heavy load (he has 10 points and 5 goals more than his closest teammates). Then again, voters might consider Keenan's out of this world numbers as not being team dependent -- in his freshman campaign last year he put up an awesome 23-12-35 line. 

Even if he doesn't secure SUNYAC MVP honors, Verbeke is certainly worthy of First Team All American consideration.

Hopefully you've been savoring the season -- and career -- Verbeke has been having.

Parsons commits to Brockport

Mitchell Parsons played for the North Iowa Bulls’ during the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 season where he was one of the most recognizable faces on and off the ice. His leadership earned him the captain’s designation during the 2016-17 season.

He’s now a member of the Eastern Hockey League’s Connecticut Roughriders and, next year, he'll be a member of the Brockport Golden Eagles.

Parsons announced his commitment last week to the State University of New York at Brockport.

The Grandville, Michigan native was a key factor in the Bulls’ 2015-16 run to the Silver Cup national championship, and the team’s return to the national tournament a year ago, with 64 points in 87 regular-season and postseason games for North Iowa.

This year, his game has shifted into a new gear, with 58 points, including 30 goals, in 36 EHL games. 

“Mitch is a complete player playing at 100% capacity and all zones on a daily basis,” said Connecticut head coach Eric Lind. “He is extremely effective on special teams and is a team leader both on and off the ice. He elevates the team to work at higher level of play by leading by example.”

Here is his highlight video from his senior year of high school a year in which he was the Grand Rapids Press Winter Athlete of the Year:

Brockport's playoff chances

With one weekend of SUNYAC regular season play left, Brockport players and fans face a stressful entrance into -- or exclusion from -- the playoffs.

Brockport is currently tied with Fredonia for sixth place in the conference with 11 points. If the season would end today, Brockport would get in because the season split between the two teams saw Brockport score one more goal.

But, the season isn't over.

Brockport has one game left...a tough one against a powerful 16-5-3 Geneseo team (which is ranked second in the SUNYAC) at Geneseo.

Fredonia has two games left...they are hosting Morrisville on both nights next weekend.

Fredonia could beat Morrisville twice as Brockport did last weekend. But, they could also split.

If they split, Brockport HAS to win on Saturday night to get into the playoffs.

It is highly unlikely Fredonia will lose both games, so the split-and-win is the most likely scenario that could help Brockport.

But, suppose the unlikely happens and Fredonia loses both and Brockport loses -- then you have to watch out for Cortland...they are out of the playoffs today with 9 points, but if Brockport and Fredonia gain nothing and Cortland beats one of Plattsburgh and Potsdam, Cortland is in due to the tie-breaker of goal differential from their 7-3 win over Brockport recently.

Yes, it's SUNYAC chaos with one weekend to go.

So, fans: keep fingers crossed and watch the scoreboards, and players: play hard and trust one another to get the job done!