Ice Hockey Takes the Ice for the First Time
9/20/2008 12:36:26 PM | Ice Hockey
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Coach Paul Flanagan quotes
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -The Syracuse women’s ice hockey team held first official practice in program history on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Tennity Ice Pavilion. The Orange has been training on and off the ice this fall, but the team has not been allowed to use pucks due to NCAA guidelines for the practice season.
Head coach Paul Flanagan led the team for an hour and a half in some fundamental drills including skating sprints, full-ice passing and a half-ice scrimmage at the end of practice.
"They looked good. I think some of the girls are fitting in pretty well right off the bat here. We have a ways to go and I think everybody recognizes that, but I think initially, everybody’s working really hard. We’ve got a really good group here and we’re having a lot of fun," Flanagan said.
Flanagan came to Syracuse after leading the St. Lawrence women’s hockey team for the last nine seasons. Flanagan guided St. Lawrence to the women’s NCAA Frozen Four Championship five times, tying him for the most appearances in the country. Flanagan’s team played in four consecutive of Frozen Fours (2003-07); another superlative in college hockey. The Canton, N.Y. native accrued a 230-83-24 record. His .718 winning percentage ranks third nationally among active Division I coaches. Flanagan’s 230 wins is sixth highest total among active Division I coaches.
"We know what he have ahead of us, but once we get through these next couple of weeks and just bear down, we’ll be fine. This is new to everybody. It’s new to me, the players and everybody. There are no veterans here," Flanagan said.
Currently, SU has nine freshmen, five sophomores, three juniors and two seniors working for a spot on the Orange lineup. Eight players have transferred to Syracuse from other ice hockey programs to become part of SU’s first season. The student-athletes who transferred hail from programs including Bemidji State, Boston College, Clarkson, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac and University of New Hampshire.
The Orange will play 13 home games in 2008-09. The majority of SU’s home contests will be held at the Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion, but the Orange will be featured in at least two games at the Onondaga County War Memorial in downtown Syracuse. The remaining 17 games will be on the road.
The Orange will be part of the College Hockey America (CHA) league, which was founded in 1999. The league includes Mercyhurst, Niagara, Robert Morris and Wayne State. SU will play each of the four conference opponents four times this season.
Syracuse’s first game is at Colgate University in on Wednesday, October 1 at 7 p.m. at the Raiders’ Starr Rink. The Orange will then travel to Madison, Wisc. to battle the Wisconsin Badgers, the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Division I champions. The 2008 Frozen Four finalists will host the Orange at the Kohl Center Oct. 3 and 4. On Friday, Oct. 31, the Orange will host Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. for the first home game in SU history.
