Freshman, Ian Ellenberger on his first week at Fredonia with his hockey family

"The first week of freshman year is off to a great start. Its nice to finally be all settled in and have classes situated, and its been great spending time with the team and starting to get to know everyone.  There's a lot of excitement around the team this coming season, and I'm looking forward to being a piece of the puzzle. I'm becoming more and more familiar with the campus each day, just have to enjoy this weather while it lasts!"

Ian Ellenberger

Freshman, Stephen Castriota is excited about getting going

Its been a good first week at Fredonia.  The weather has been better then I thought it was going to be execpt for that thunderstorm we had the other night. Its been a little difficult getting back into the swing of things being that I've been out of school for two years, but I'm getting the hang of going to class and studying.  All the guys on the team have been great and have welcomed all the freshman in.  Can't wait to get the season started.

Stephen Castriota

Alberta freshman, Brian Doust on getting back into the classroom after being out a few years

The last couple weeks have been a huge change, being a 21 year old freshman because of the years spent grooming my hockey game through junior, it has been 3 years since the last time I sat in a classroom. Although the school work is intimidating to some degree, it is exciting to put that next foot forward into life. The hockey adds to the excitement meeting new, talented and diverse, players from all over North America. Its been a busy first week, excited for the weeks to come!

Brian Doust

Junior, Pre-Law Major, Ian Cosgrove weighs in

It's good to be back in Fredonia after a summer of working.  Luckily most of my things were already moved into the new apartment so there was plenty of time to see the boys once I was back in town.  It's a different atmosphere this year being an upper classmen on the team.  I remember it like yesterday walking in as a freshman so I know how the new guys feel.  Soon enough Fredonia will feel like home to them too. 

 

Classes are looking pretty easy this semester.  Holly pulled some strings to get into one of mine otherwise I wouldn't have known anyone in all 5 of my classes.  More importantly, we skated today and yesterday and I have to say I like what I see for our squad this year.  Coming off a pretty successful season where we came just a hair short of the big dance, I know all the returning guys are thirsting for a chance at the SUNYAC championship.  Hopefully that attitude will rub off on the incoming freshmen because it looks like they have some real talent. 

 

For now, we have a few more days until advanced conditioning starts.  Not sure the freshmen know what they're in for yet.

 

Cossie

Sophomore, Ryan Edens on the difference between being a freshman and one year older

I’m Ryan Edens and it’s my sophomore year here at Fredonia State and it’s been great to be back. It's great to be back because I already know the drill with everything. Not everything is new so I feel like there’s not much stress and I was able to get right back into it. Me and Palmy (teammate, Tyler Palmerton)are the only 2 returning guys living on campus this year, we had stuff stored here over the summer so it was easy to unpack and get our room set up, we didn’t have to go to Wal-Mart and do the dorm room shopping we did last year. We got a good little set up with the TV on top of the fridge and have been taking advantage of syllabus week by playing a lot of ‘chel’ on the Xbox. I still stink but I’m getting better.

I’d say being reunited with all the boys is definitely the best part, catching up and hearing about everyone's summer break. We have 9 freshmen this year and they seem like a real good group of guys. I’ve learned all their names now and me and Palmy have been helping them get adjusted to the dorm life, answering some of their questions about dining halls and workouts and such that I had last year. It feels good to know what I’m doing and to be able to help.

Classes have started out well; it was good being able to kind of know what classes to try and get into and not be so overwhelmed by the registering for class’s part. We got on the ice yesterday and had a fun scrimmage. Playing hockey again with the boys is the best way to end a day of classes and I don’t have any night classes this year so that’s exactly what I do. So far the second year of my college experience is going well and look forward to keeping it going.

Sophomore, goaltender, Mark Friesen's excited to be back at it.

It's been a busy first week of classes, but it feels great to get back in to a routine and back into the swing of things. Coming in as a Sophomore has definitely been different than it was as a Freshman, in a good way. I have so many great friends and teammates here in Fredonia now, and was really looking forward to coming back to spend the year here! The long few days of travel and getting set back up are over which is nice, it feels good to finally be settled in and be able to focus on my work on and off the ice. We got back on the ice for the first time yesterday, and I have to say I'm really excited about this group of guys, I have a good feeling about the year. I look forward to the next few weeks of training together and can't wait for the season to start. We're going to put in some hard work in the coming weeks, and it will pay off come October 21st when we play our first game.

Mark Friesen

Sophomore, Andrew Christ lends his thoughts on the start of the year

Its exciting to be back on campus, and being back with the team. Its been great weather for the classroom not too hot. Now being a Sophomore its been easier jumping back into the swing of things. We had our first chance to skate yesterday, it was great to see all the guys flying around the ice again. From what it appears we are going to have a great group of incoming freshman this year. I cant wait for a great school year and hockey season.

Andrew Christ