By Warren Kozireski —
Plattsburgh senior forward Adam Tretowicz joined the Cardinals for their unusual under .500 campaign in 2019-20 and then 20-21 was cancelled. Since the 5’11” 175 lb. graduate student was named an assistant captain as a junior and saw his team win the SUNYAC tournament before losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
This season as captain, the Cardinals are back to their more familiar setting ranked in the top-five in Division I while the Baldwinsville native has already set personal bests for points (18, third on the team) and assists (13, second on the team) as of this writing.
“It’s always good to win anywhere, but on the road, it brings the team together with everyone chipping in and it was a really good one tonight,” Tretowicz said after Plattsburgh defeated nationally ranked Geneseo on the road.
“We lost two really good captains last year and I just kind of wanted to step in. I knew we were going to have a really good team again this year, so that’s one of the reasons why I came back (for his fifth year). Anything I can do to help is kind of my role here.”
“He plays in important faceoff, penalty kill, he’s a leader on this team, he’s scoring some goals for us, he does it all as a 200-foot guy and he’s really developed himself into a really good leader over the last three or four years,” Plattsburgh head coach and 2023 SUNYAC Coach of the Year Steve Moffat said.
“He’s the heartbeat of the team.”
His father, Dave, played for Clarkson University in the late 80’s-early 90’s before he spent three seasons in the now-defunct International Hockey League (IHL) with Phoenix and Fort Wayne. That made it inevitable that son would follow.
“I’ve had skates on since I can remember, so it’s been a long road over 20 years now.
Tretowicz played one season of high school hockey at Baldwinsville before jumping to the Buffalo Jr. Sabres for four years, the last as captain, where he put up 40, 48 and 60 points in his final three seasons.
“It was close by, and they had a good program and I played against a bunch of those kids growing up playing summer tournaments with them and they wanted me to go there. I just liked it there and I had a great time there and it led me to here, so I can’t be happier. I was young enough where my parents were driving so, I thank them for that.”
He led all Cardinal rookies in goals, assists and points and was named the Mike Daoust ’01 Rookie of the Year in his freshman season. He has had steady offensive numbers throughout before his coming-out party this year, but he is not looking too far ahead.
One good thing about the lost pandemic year was it allowed players like Tretowicz to play for a fifth season and get a Graduate degree with the extra time. His is in Data Analytics.
“Just going to finish the season and then see what happens. My dad has been telling me to get a job, so that’s what I’m working on, but just trying to focus on one game at a time.”
“It’s a little bit emotional sometimes, but you try not to think about it because just being around the guys is contagious. It’s going to be the last time in my life being around guys and being competitive, so just embracing it right now.”
(Photos provided by Plattsburgh Athletic Department/Men’s Hockey)
