By Warren Kozireski—
The Buffalo Regals and Jr. Sabres have sent dozens of players on to play various levels college hockey. Dartmouth sophomore Collin Rutherford (Tonawanda) is one of them.
Rutherford got off to a slow start offensively this season after his six goal, eight assist freshman campaign. But he was getting his points when it mattered most, with all but one coming against conference opponents.
Rutherford played midget-minor hockey with the Regals before two full seasons in the Jr. Sabres organization followed by two more with as USHL Clark Cup champions with Tri-City and one year later helping Des Moines earn a playoff berth for the first time in a decade before heading to Dartmouth.
Hockey is in his family blood as well as his father played at Buffalo State.
“I started off (this season) pretty well, had a couple of points at the beginning and there’s been a switch in lines so it’s nice to get some chemistry with Matt Baker and Alex Jasiek. We’re jelling pretty well. We’re a smaller line, so we like to use our speed to our advantage.
“I’m trying to play to my strengths a little more, trying to get some more confidence.”
When he first made the decision to head to the USHL from the Jr. Sabres, he first was in Cedar Rapids where he was in the line-up sporadically.
“(In) Cedar Rapids I played one game out of eight, so they traded me to Tri-City and I got in the line-up a little more and tried to make a name for myself.”
A U-18 state championship with the Jr. Sabres, a USHL league championship and helping Dartmouth to the ECAC quarterfinals last season as a freshman.
The Harvard men’s hockey team dueled familiar Ivy League foe, Dartmouth, last weekend for a spot in the ECAC’s annual mid-March pilgrimage to Lake Placid, NY.
Harvard followed its 3-1 victory on Friday with an emotional 4-3 OT clincher on Saturday, knocking out Dartmouth (13-17-4, 10-9-3) in the 13th meeting in the past four campaigns with its Hanover, NH counterpart.
(Dartmouth photo)
