FREDONIA, N.Y. – The Fredonia State hockey team is looking forward to its home games this weekend at the Steele Hall Ice Arena, and not just because of Pink The Rink.
The Blue Devils and their student cheering section have not been seen together since Dec. 4, the last home game of the 2010 fall-winter semester. While the Blue Devils have played five times in Steele since then, all of those dates came while the students were still away on break.
The team is 5-5-0 at home this season and 10-11-1 overall, 5-7-1 in the SUNYAC.
“It has been two weeks,” Blue Devil head coach Jeff Meredith said, “since we have played at home and this will be the first real time that we have played in front of the students since classes began in late January. It should be a great college hockey atmosphere on Friday night.”
The Blue Devils face the Potsdam Bears at 7 p.m. Friday before donning pink jerseys and socks for the fifth annual Pink The Rink event Saturday night vs. the Plattsburgh Cardinals.
Friday's game is pivotal in the SUNYAC standings. The Blue Devils are sixth in the conference standings with 11 points and lead the eighth-place Bears by three points. Potsdam must win to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Blue Devils won the first meeting between the teams, 5-3, at Potsdam last Nov. 19.
Meredith believes the key for his team is to keep the Bears' goal-scorers in check. “Potsdam might be one of the most offensively explosive teams in the conference in that they can score goals,” he said. “Look at the scores of their games and that is pretty obvious. I think the key is to keep things tight from a defensive point of view and when we get our chances, we have to convert.”
Potsdam is averaging 3.54 goals per conference game, compared to 3.04 by the Blue Devils.
Plattsburgh plays Friday night at Buffalo State. The Cardinals, ranked No. 9 in the latest USCHO.com poll, are the Blue Devils' opponent Saturday for the fifth annual Pink The Rink game. Tickets go on sale one hour before the 7 p.m. game. Another capacity crowd is expected.
Plattsburgh defeated the Blue Devils, 4-2, last Nov. 20.
It is the final home weekend for five Blue Devil seniors: Chris de Bruyn, Alex Morton, Jordan Oye, Dave Ridos, and Steve Rizer. They will be recognized prior to Friday's game.
