POTSDAM, N.Y.-After a 6-0 start to the season, the SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team has earned the No. 12 ranking in both the uscho.com and d3hockey.com polls. It’s the first time the Bears have cracked the uscho.com rankings since March 5, 2001 when they finished the season seventh in the nation. Potsdam has never been ranked in the d3hockey.com poll before.
The Bears have been consistently good this season and are off to their best start in 20 years. They swept Morrisville in a home-and-home season to kick off 2015-16 and followed it up with a sweep of Buffalo State and Fredonia at Maxcy Ice Arena on Nov. 6-7. However, Potsdam was at it’s best last weekend with a road sweep of Cortland on Friday and No. 10/11 Oswego on Saturday night.
One of the primary reasons for the success is sophomore goaltender Brendan McMenimen (Merrimack, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club), who has seamlessly stepped in for departed first team All-SUNYAC goalie Jon Hall. His .951 save percentage is second in the SUNYAC and sixth in the nation and his 1.66 goals-against-average is second in the conference and 16th in the NCAA.
Offensively, the Bears have gotten the expected contributions from sophomore forward Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) (6g-3a-9pts), senior captain Todd Thomas (Davidsville, Pa./Hartford Wolfpack) (5-1-6) and senior forward Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York Bobcats) (1-5-6).
The Bears are giving up just 1.67 goals-per-game, which is best in the SUNYAC and fourth best in the nation. They are also scoring 3.67 goals-per-game which is third best in the conference. Potsdam has also killed off 31 of 34 opponent power plays, a 91.2 percent clip that’s second best in the SUNYAC and 15th best in the country.
The Bears biggest challenge of the season is their next one. Potsdam invades Stafford Ice Arena on Saturday night at 7 p.m. to face the No. 3/4 SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinals in the biggest SUNYAC game of the season to date.
