Post Classifieds
Junior class returns key pieces in '13-14
By Aaron Garland
On February 27, 2013
After the NCAA announced sanctions against the Buffalo State men's hockey team in 2010, it sent coach
Nick Carriere back to the drawing board.
The violation stemmed from a Canadian grant program that allowed free housing to full-time Canadian
students. A certain ratio of general students to student-athletes from Canada had to be met, but the
latter group exceeded the permissible amount in the program.
Consequently, all Buffalo State teams with players in the program had to forfeit any postseason play
during the 2009-10 season. The bigger issue was that it resulted in the termination of the grant at the
school.
With free housing out of the question, a number of Canadian recruits withdrew their commitments
to play hockey for the Bengals. The process of building the hockey program to a level of sustainability
became an even bigger challenge than it already was given many years of futility before that.
Carriere had to restart a majority of his recruiting in the middle of the season, at a time many potential
recruits were already steadfast to a school. But the 2010 freshman class he ended up with - complete
with far less Canadians than normal - did not deter any momentum the program gained prior to the
breach.
"It was a new beginning," Carriere said. "... We had this huge recruiting class of 17 guys who didn't know
any better, so they just worked and worked and worked, and we got some good success out of it."
That players in that class, who just wrapped up their juniors seasons, have experienced the most
successful three-year run in school history. Just as much credit is due to their coach for setting the stage
for the recent aberrant achievement, though.
The program saw just one playoff appearance in its first 12 years of existence before Carriere took over
prior to the 2005-06 season. He turned a five-win team into one with 11 that year en route to making
the SUNYAC playoffs.
Carriere has followed with playoff appearances in six of the last seven years with the one exclusion
being a six-win campaign the year of the sanctions. And with their 2010 class being a huge part, the
Bengals have had the two most successful seasons in school history the last two years.
The Bengals season ended Saturday with a 5-2 loss at No. 3 Oswego in the SUNYAC semifinal, marking
the second straight year - and only times in school history - they have made it that far. They were
very much in position to pull an upset in this year's semifinal, as well last year's - a triple overtime loss
to Plattsburgh.
"Anybody that watched the game (against Oswego), I think will agree that we were the better team
out there five-on-five that night and it's tough to lose when you're the better team in categories," said
junior captain Mike Zannella, who made the All-SUNYAC second team this season.
Junior goaltender and three-time All-SUNYAC performer Kevin Carr noted a third straight exit in the
second round of the playoffs would be disappointing given how close the team has come to their first-
ever SUNYAC final appearance.
"Obviously, it's positive, but it's not where we want to be," he said of the team's recent success. "We
want to be in the final. ... For a lot of seniors - we have a lot of seniors on the team next year - we
want to make a statement, and we want to go home with something at the end of our four years."
Whether the fallout from the grant program is a blessing in disguise or not, it helped pave the way for
what will likely be the winningest group of players in program history after next season.
The class that made up 17 spots on the roster at the start of the 2010 season has now dwindled down to
11. Only Carr and Mac Balson hail from north of the border, as the sanctions were reason for recruiting
efforts to commence in other places.
The melting pot of local and distant talent has become a key component of consecutive school-record
seasons of 13 wins. Juniors on the roster range from places as far as Nevada and as close as Buffalo.
There are also juniors that emanate from Illinois, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Now that the Bengals have gained some consistency in the notoriously tough SUNYAC, the test is to
withstand that raised standard. The soon-to-be-seniors have played in five playoff games in three years,
which not only prepares them for another postseason run next year, but for the future of the program,
too.
"I think the program is heading in a great direction, and it shows through our record," Zannella said.
"The coaches are able to recruit better and better players now, too, because of it."
Guiding the effort to take the next step for the program next year will be the diverse group that has
familiarized themselves with attainment in the SUNYAC. Zannella expressed applying the experiences of
the last three years can go a long way in adding to the list of unmatched feats at Buffalo State. And the
next step is now the SUNYAC championship game.
"The way we played against Fredonia Wednesday night (in the SUNYAC quarterfinals), and the way
we played at Oswego, if we play like that night in and night out, it's going to be extremely scary what
we can do," Zannella said. "And I think every year we're just getting closer and closer to that feeling
of, 'okay, this is what we have to do.'"
Aaron Garland can be reached by email at garland.record@live.com and on Twitter @AA_Garland.
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