College Hockey Computer Game!!!!

I just found this game made by "Inklings" on the USCHO forums. It was made in 2007/2008, so the rosters are from the 2006-07 season. So, you have the seniors who just graduated (Mario, Schreiber, etc.) and some of your favorite older players (Fox, Caffaro, Cook). The game is based on the NHL 93 game, so the graphics aren't good. But, the game is a lot of fun. Hey, are there any other games out there where you can play as Union College? Check out the post from "Inklings" here to learn how to download the game and play it (it's pretty simple). I have attached a video of the game from YouTube, but if you can't see it click here. This is the ECAC/CHA version, but there is also a Hockey East/WCHA version. Enjoy!

Interview with Will Friedman: Union's #1 Fan

During ECAC Championship weekend I promised Union's #1 Hockey Fan Will Friedman that I would get him an interview on my blog. Well, about three months later I have remembered.

I will first introduce Will. Will is from Scarsdale, New York and just graduated from Union in June. Some would describe Will as insane, intense, and obsessive... I think he's dedicated. I just met Will this school year when I started the blog. He was the only guy who commented on any of my posts, and I was like who is this guy? I knew Will was a big Union Hockey fan and helped out with some Garnet Blades stuff like selling the 7th Player t-shirts. He also helped promote home games on Facebook. You could always spot Will at the top of the student section at Messa Rink yelling his heart out, looking like was going to have a heart attack.

I finally met Will in the middle of this past hockey season(probably at one of his DKE parties). We talked about Union hockey and the Mets among other stuff. Once the conversation was over I thought to myself "Is this guy nuts?" I've never met anybody as intense about his team in my entire life. I thought I was intense about my teams, but Will just took it to a whole new level. I remember he once missed the majority of one of his DKE formals to go to Messa Rink, and made a video to try to sway Lebron James to come play for his beloved Knicks, which you can check out here. He even went on the Price Is Right game show and proudly wore his Union "U Gotta Believe" shirt, which you can check out here. He is no doubt the most dedicated sports fan I've ever met.

Will was the heart and soul of the student section and will truly be missed. So, finally here is the long awaited interview with Will "UnionHockeyManiac" Friedman:

DG: Did you play hockey in high school?

WF: Nope. In high school I was on the basketball and tennis teams.

DG: How long have you been a hockey fan?

WF: September 5th, 2006 - My first day at Union. I actually wasn't a big hockey fan until I came to Union.

DG: What is your favorite Union Hockey moment?

WF: Too hard to pick between beating #7 in the country Clarkson in OT my freshman year, beating RPI this season at home and moving up to #7 in the PWR, Senior Night this season vs. Quinnipiac, coming back to win the next 2 games vs. Quinnipiac after losing the 5OT game - the longest in college hockey history - to go to the ECAC Final 4 in Albany for the first time ever, and beating St. Lawrence at the Albany Times Union center to advance to the ECAC Championship.

DG: Who is your favorite Union Hockey player?

WF: Tough to say, but I'll go with (assistant captain Mike) Schreiber since I have known him the longest. To quote the Canadians on the team, they are all "beauties" though.

DG: Where is your favorite place to take in a college hockey game?

WF: Easy question. Messa Rink. The atmosphere there can be awesome when it's packed.

DG: Which college hockey team do you hate the most?

WF: RPI, for obvious reasons.

DG: Which team do you hate the most besides RPI?

WF: Cornell. I have traveled to Cornell twice to see Union play and their fans, although loud and impressive, are complete a-holes. I also don't like Cornell because they stopped us from reaching the National Tournament in my senior year.

DG: How far will the Dutchmen go in the 2010-11 season?

WF: National Tournament. They were one game away last season so the goal should be to get over that hump.

DG: What is your favorite team to root for besides Union Hockey?

WF: New York Knicks and New York Mets. I've been a die-hard fan for my whole life and I'm still looking for that first championship in my lifetime. I just missed the Mets in 1986 and the Knicks haven't won since 1973. Hopefully this is the year where things start to turn around with the Mets (they have one of the best records in baseball) and the Knicks. Hopefully they can get a few free agents to turn the team around.

DG: What else did you do on campus besides being the #1 hockey fan?

WF: I was President of Speakers Forum. My job was to pick interesting speakers to come to campus. During my three years as president, we brought in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Mike Huckabee, Howard Dean, Maya Angelou, Bob Saget, Mayor Cory Booker, Kal Penn, Richie Roberts and Frank Lucas (real guys from "American Gangster" played by Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, respectively), Manute Bol (who just recently passed away), and a few others. I also was President of Philanthropy of my fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon.

DG: Congrats on graduating by the way. What do you plan on doing now?

WF: Good question. I'm on the job hunt now, looking at possible positions with the New York Knicks, New York Mets, and some Speaking Agencies in New York City. For now though, just enjoying my free time, catching up with old friends, going to lots of Mets games, and following the NBA Free Agency very carefully.

DG: Will you come back to Schenectady to watch Union games often?

WF: Absolutely. I will try to make it up for as many home weekends as possible. Hopefully they'll still let me stand in the student section.

DG: What are you going to miss the most about Union?

WF: Everything. The people, the hockey games, the atmosphere, the parties, etc. It was the best four years of my life and I'm sad to be leaving.

DG: Will you be handing down your title of #1 fan to another Union student?

WF: Ha Ha, not in an official ceremony but I truly hope that the Union students realize how lucky we are to have one of the best college hockey teams in Division I at such a small school like Union. I hope that people took notice of how good the team was last year and that will hopefully increase the attendance for the upcoming season. The student section needs to be loud! LET'S GO UNION DA DA DADADA!!!

DG: Do you have any nicknames?

WF: Will the Thrill, One Dollah Bill, Bill, Billy, Liam, friedmaw@, and a few others I'd rather not share on here. Online, I'm known as UnionHockeyManiac, KnicksManiac, and MetsManiac. I prefer Will.

DG: Where will Lebron James be playing next season?

WF: My heart says the Knicks, but my head says the Bulls. If he doesn't come to the Knicks, I'd almost want him to stay in Cleveland rather than going anywhere else. Praying of LBJ in NYC though.

College Hockey Video of the Week (6/28/10): Dutchmen on the Hockey Treadmill

This is a new segment that I will be adding to the blog every week. I call it "College Hockey Video of the Week." I will be showing some great goals, hits, fights, etc. from college hockey that have been caught on film. Some of these videos will be Union Hockey videos, just like the one I am presenting this week.

This is a video of some of your favorite Union players working out in the awesome hockey training facility at Athletic Republic in Clifton Park. Here Dutchmen such as Luke Cain and Andrew Buote are training on the hockey treadmill, which might be one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I definitely need to get one for my house next season! I can't wait for the 2010-2011 season to begin, and I'm sure the players are working hard this summer.

If for some reason you cannot see (I can on my computer) the video click on this link here.

Union Hockey notes: 6/24/10

Former Union forward T.J. Fox has signed a contract with the Hannover Indians (Germany). He will be joining Mike Schreiber who recently signed with the Indians after a stellar senior year in Schenectady. Fox was a star in his short stint in Schenectady, but left after signing a pro contract. Since then he has been pretty disappointing and is possibly regretting his decision to leave Union early. For more on Fox go to ECAC Hockey.com.

Also, Union goaltender Keith Kinkaid has been invited to the New York Rangers Prospect Camp. According to the Rangers website Keith is the only goaltender that was invited to attend the camp. For more on the camp click here. Kinkaid was also invited to the Vancouver Canucks Prospect Camp.

16 Dutchmen named to ECAC All-Academic Team

The ECAC announced today that 181 student-athletes have been named to the ECAC All-Academic team. 16 of the 181 players are from Union. These Dutchmen are: freshman Jean Sebastian Bergeron, junior Stephane Boileau, junior Andrew Buote, sophomore (technically a junior since he red-shirted) Luke Cain, senior Jeff Christiansen, sophomore Nolan Julseth-White, senior Jon Lareau, junior captain Brock Matheson, junior Justin Pallos, sophomore Taylor Reid, senior Jason Shaffer, junior John Simpson, freshman Wayne Simpson, freshman Shawn Stuart, senior captain Mike Wakita, and freshman Jeremy Welsh.

Over half of these guys are Economics majors, which is pretty impressive to me. I took Economics 101 freshman year... and let's just say it wasn't my best class.

To be eligible for the All-Academic team one must obtain a 3.0 GPA.

Congratulations to the 16 Dutchmen and the other 165 ECAC players. The ECAC is by far the most challenging league academically in college hockey. Each team in the ECAC had at least 13 All-Academic selections, except for Clarkson who only had four (weird?).

For more check out ECAC Hockey.com and Union Athletics.com.

Boileau to return for senior season

According to Ken Schott's Blog, Union forward Stephane Boileau will be returning for his senior season after deciding not to go to Med School early. Check out Ken's blog for more information and quotes from Stephane here.

YES! I was so worried that Stephane was going to leave for Med School and opt out of his final season in Schenectady. He is such a great student (I think he has a 3.88 GPA) and will definitely be great in the medical profession, but that can wait for just one more year.

The now senior forward is such a valuable part of Union's success and is the type of player all successful teams need. He is an extremely gritty player and is awesome at taking faceoffs. Boileau goes 110% for the whole 60 minutes and will put in a decent amount of goals.

Last season Boileau put in eight goals and tallied 13 assists for 21 points (three goals and five assists in ECAC play). He scored three power-play goals and tallied one game-winner. In his sophomore season he registered 10 goals and 15 assists, and in his freshman season he had five goals and 15 assists. It wouldn't surprise me if Stephane's numbers went up next season.

Boileau named Academic All-American

Union forward Stephane Boileau has been named to the 2010 ESPN The Magazine/ CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large Second Team. Boileau, a native of Quebec, has a collective 3.88 while being a Neuroscience major. The gritty and energetic forward has the highest GPA on the men's hockey team, was awarded the Thomas Vanarden Dukehard award, and was named Union's junior student-athlete of the year.

For more on Boileau check out Union Athletics.com.

Dutchwomen name Olympian as assistant coach

The Union Women's Hockey team has announced the hiring of Olympian Julie Chu to their coaching staff. Chu played her college hockey at Harvard and was the assistant captain of the USA team that won the silver medal this year in Vancouver. Chu has also been on the University of Minnesota-Duluth coaching staff. Hopefully Chu can bring her winner mentality to the Dutchwomen who definitely need it. But, the Dutchwomen are hopefully on the rise as they won their first ECAC game in 119 games this season.

For more on Chu check out Union Athletics.com.

RPI players bulking up

According to Ed Weaver's article from the Troy Record, the Engineers are taking their off season workouts very seriously and the results are fsupposedly obvious as many of the players have gained muscle and strength. The article specifically keys on young gun Brandon Pirri and captain John Kennedy. With the Engineers getting stronger I hope the Dutchmen are keeping up with them (which I'm sure they are).

RPI is going to be a very scary opponent next season as they return Pirri and Kennedy, along with freshman phenom Jerry D'Amigo, first team All-American Chase Polacek, and seasoned goaltender Allan York. With all of these stars returning and a chip on their shoulder after a big disappointment in the playoffs it wouldn't surprise me if RPI finished in the Top 4 of the ECAC next season and made a run to the ECAC Final Four.