BC Icemen beat New Haven in front of BU crowd with 6-3 win

Andrew Healy - Staff Writer 

December 01, 2000

www.bupipedream.com

The BC Icemen hosted their annual Binghamton University night on Friday, November 17th as they defeated the New Haven Knights 6-3. 

Being my first Icemen game, and not expecting much, I found that the game much more entertaining than I thought it would be. Although most of these guys will never make it to the National Hockey League, the players were very good and some proved that they could play with the best of them. The action was fast-paced, full of odd man rushes, beautiful goals and amazing saves. 

Besides the entertainment provided on ice, the Icemen staff worked hard to make this year’s BU night one to remember. The Bearcat dance team performed during the second intermission in front of many fans. Free raffle tickets were handed out with prizes ranging from hair gel and body wash to gift certificates to Friendly’s and other restaurants in the community. 

During the first intermission, students were selected to do a relay race on the ice. The students had to ride a skateboard with their knees, pull someone on a sled and do other “crazy” things to win the race. In the end all contestants were rewarded with little prizes and it was fun to watch. 

With the Broome County Arena full of a happy atmosphere and packed with fans and students, the Icemen were ready to get the crowd on their feet. 

However, BC came out flat allowing a goal in the first 21 seconds. New Haven center John Vecchiarelli took a pass from teammate Brian Bolf which allowed him to slide the puck through Icemen goalie Bryan Schoen. Only minutes later, the Knights added to their lead as Bolf earned his second point of the game after a pass from Vecchiarelli gave him room to wrist a shot over Schoen’s blocker. At 13:29, left wing Chad Cabana made the game 3-0 as his shot found the back of the net. 

Icemen head coach Brad Jones knew he had to shut down Vecchiarelli, who added another assist on Cabana’s goal, and so Schoen was done for the night. Coming into the net was second-year pro Pierre-Luc Therrien and apparently he was all the help his team needed to turn the game around. 

The Icemen quickly increased the intensity of the game by working hard for loose pucks. Their effort showed off as defensemen Jeff Kozakowski put his team on the boards, scoring with less then 45 seconds left in the first period. 

The second period was full of hits and odd-man rushes for both teams, yet neither team was able to light the lamp. That is until Icemen center James Desmarais took a pass from defenseman Alex Andreyev, and took a low hard shot to score past the left side of New Haven goalie Blair Allison at 13:37. 

Going into the third period the Icemen were on fire and full of adrenaline and they showed this as Desmarais scored his second of the game on a power-play less than four minutes into the third period. At 11:36 rookie Glendon Cominetti scored the first goal of his professional career which was the eventual game winning goal. UHL Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 19th, Mark Dutiaume added to the Icemen lead just over a minute later on assists from Justin Plamondon and Derek 

Knorr after skating around the defense and roofing one on the left side of the net. Captain Derek Wood added an empty netter with 34 seconds left to finish his teams scoring surge at six unanswered goals. 

Since that game, the Icemen upped their record to 12-7 and they now lead the Northeast division by four points. With only a quarter of the season done the BC Icemen are off to a good lead and have their eyes on their first Colonial Cup. 

The Icemen hit the road this weekend for games against Asheville and Knoxville. However, they will have to do without the services of Desmarais and UHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending Nov. 19th, Therrien who were called up to parent club Springfield of the American Hockey League and center Steve Moore who is out after suffering a concussion. Their next home game is Friday, December 8th at 7:05 p.m. versus Knoxville.