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October 10, 2008

Placid to host NCAA tourney again

LAKE PLACID -- Three regional men's Division III hockey coaches as well as the 2008 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Champions' coach met Wednesday in Lake Placid to promote the NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Championships, which will be held March 20-21, 2009 at the famed Olympic Center.

The three local coaches were Bill Beaney from Middlebury College, Mike McShane of Norwich University and Bob Emery from Plattsburgh State University. St. Norbert College coach Tim Coghlin called in from De Pere, Wisc., representing the defending champions.

The Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and SUNY-Plattsburgh are co-hosting the event, now in its 26th year, under the banner of the NCAA.

"I have average expectations (for this season) with only two seniors, three juniors and 20 freshmen/sophomores on this year's team," said Coghlin. "So you look back at a 27-1-4 season, including a national championship, having played at Lake Placid with the "Miracle on Ice" and all of the history in that building. I don't think by any stretch of the imagination it was a miracle, but it was extremely magical for St. Norbert College and our young men.

"It was our first-ever national championship for any team sport on campus. To experience that was phenomenal. When we returned home we were overwhelmed by the emails and phone calls and response from our alumni, and fans, and past players and coaches. It was just very, very gratifying all the way around."

The Green Knights defeated Plattsburgh State 2-0 in the title match last year at Herb Brooks Arena.

"It was a great experience for us last year," Emery said. "I think that the key for us was being so close. We have great fans in Plattsburgh and they had an opportunity to get here very easily to see us play. It was a great experience for a lot of our players who hadn't been in a Frozen Four format in quite some time."

Lake Placid native Beaney is looking forward to the chance to bring his Middlebury team to the Olympic Center. The Panthers have won eight national titles, including an NCAA record five in a row from 1995-99 and won three in a row from 2004-06.

"We graduated 10 players from last year's team, so we have a lot of new faces and a lot of enthusiasm. So certainly, our players heard about what went on here in Lake Placid and it got rave reviews," commented Beaney. "A lot of fans in Middlebury came over and watched the games and came away saying that's the venue we should have that at all the time. So a job well done by Lake Placid and we certainly will do our best to try and get here."

"I was one of the proponents of the Final Four who fought for it to be here and certainly Lake Placid lived up to the expectations" stated McShane. "We had great support as far as the fans go, and it was an honor. The games were great games, and the people who came here were very happy with everything. The idea of coming back here and setting up some kind of tradition -- I'm on the selection committee -- it was like a no brainer for what happened last year. We're very excited to be coming back here."

The weekend features a full array of tournament-related activities and offerings from Lake Placid's Olympic venues. One of the elements that makes this championship unique from other sites is the fact that spectators and fans will be able to experience bobsledding, skiing or riding, ice skating, tobogganing and more while waiting for the puck to drop in the evening. A full schedule of events will be released later this winter.

Tickets for the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championships go on sale in November at the Olympic Center Box Office. Tickets may be purchased by calling (518) 523-3330.

For updates from ORDA venues and events, and for web cams from five locations, please log on to www.orda.org.

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