The 2012-2103 schedule was released yesterday and you can see it in the toolbar of this blog. It’s a healthy schedule with some unfamiliar non-conference opponents whom we haven’t seen in awhile, like Suffolk and Franklin Pierce.
The Golden Eagles will also get to face off against a new non-conference foe that will likely become an annual opponent – Nazareth (the Rochester college’s varsity team has its inaugural season in 2012-2013). Brockport’s season opens against them at Tuttle North when the Golden Eagles host the Golden Flyers on Tuesday, October 23rd, a good primer for the SUNYAC season which begins 3 days later on the annual Western New York road trip.
The first semester sees Brockport mostly operating from the friendly confines, with 8 of 14 games happening at home, including 5 conference games among them. The men become road warriors in the second semester when they play at home only 4 times in 11 games. The road stretch from January 25th till February 9th will really test the team’s mettle with Oswego, Cortland, Geneseo, Potsdam and Plattsburgh in succession.
If I had to choose the 4 “must watch” home games, they would be:
Tuesday, October 23rd: The home opener against Nazareth
Friday, November 16th: Potsdam is in town and I guarantee that the Golden Eagles have a score to settle, which will make for a very aggressive game. Potsdam is the team that called for James Cody’s suspension at the end of last season for a hard -- but clean, legal, and non-penalized -- hit. That kept the All-American out of Brockport’s final game, which in turn kept Brockport out of the postseason and Potsdam in it. As I see it, the call for suspension had nothing to do with right and wrong and everything to do with Potsdam’s self-preservation
Friday, December 7th: Brockport plays host to their greatest rival – Geneseo. Always a good game. These affairs are what hockey is all about!
Friday, February 15th: The last SUNYAC game of the season, and entrance into the playoffs could hinge on it
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