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Emery not happy with Division III schedule change
At the 2013 NCAA Convention last Saturday, Division III passed a proposal that established Nov. 1 as the earliest date hockey competition can start.
The Division III Management Council stipulated that if Nov. 1 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, games can begin the previous Friday.
The Plattsburgh State men’s team has typically opened the season in late October, although some schools, notably the NESCAC members, have started later. This season, Plattsburgh’s first game was Oct. 26.
Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery isn’t happy with the way the change was made.
“Unfortunately — and it’s kind of disheartening — the NCCA, you would think that they would seek out from the coaches themselves what their opinion is before they make a vote,” Emery said. “If the administration and the presidents all want to make a vote on something, they should at least think what’s best for the game, and usually the coaches know what’s best for the game.
“Now if they want to go ahead and get the coaches’ opinion and then vote, that’s fine with us. But they didn’t even seek our opinion. So that’s real disheartening.”
Emery said the schedule will have to be more compact now.
“I don’t know what their thinking was,” he said. “Every sport’s unique, and we have a hard time getting all our games in on the weekend as it is. And it’s going to create a lot of midweek games, and it’s going to be hard.”
NOTES
- The Cardinals will be wearing camouflage jerseys in Friday’s game against Potsdam. The jerseys will be autographed and auctioned off after the game, with proceeds going to the Pat Tillman Foundation.
- Alex Jensen and Mark Constantine both missed last week’s game with injuries. Emery said earlier this week that he wasn’t sure if they’d play Friday, but Jensen had been skating.
- Potsdam (6-11-1, 3-6 SUNYAC) is seventh in the SUNY Athletic Conference standings and has lost three straight games, including two in overtime last week. Adam Place leads the team with 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists). Plattsburgh beat the Bears 6-4 on Nov. 3.
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