October
27, 2005
Video and the Goaltending Star
By
Ken McMillan
Holy Cross senior goaltender Tony Quesada
has plenty of fond memories of his sophomore season,
and thanks to an idea hatched while watching television
he now has a means to re-live those special moments
with his teammates.
The Crusaders were gathered around the
TV one day watching ESPN. The network was airing an
edition of “The Season,’’ a show
which allows viewers to catch all the behind-the-scenes
work and antics that goes on with a particular team.
Since this episode dealt with the Detroit Red Wings,
it was only natural that someone popped off that the
same thing could be done with the Holy Cross hockey
team.
Tony Quesada, meet Cecil B. DeMille.
“I broke out the camera and started
taping everything: the practices, bus rides and stuff
like that,’’ Quesada said. “It started
out as a fun thing to do. Then I said, maybe I can
propose this for a class, and asked if I could get
credit.’’
The school agreed to his request, requiring
Quesada to take a class in digital editing, amongst
other things.
“He is very much into movie making
and that whole side of it,’’ said Holy
Cross coach Paul Pearl. “He is a very artistic
guy.’’
“It made me appreciate the opportunities
that I might have after (college),’’ Quesada
said, “as well as capturing one of the greatest
times of our lives. It was a unique experience.’’
In a case of perfect timing, the Crusaders
enjoyed a banner season in 2003-04, posting an overall
mark of 22-10-4 and winning the first Atlantic Hockey
Association title with a three-game breeze through
the playoffs held at West Point. The magical ride
came to an end at the NCAA West Regional in Colorado
Springs as North Dakota downed Holy Cross 3-0.
Quesada stopped 80 of 81 shots he faced
during the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. He went 17-6-2
that season (ranking sixth nationally in win percentage)
with a .925 save percentage (ranking sixth) and 2.23
goals-against average (ranking 11th).
Quesada has been splitting time with
classmate Ben Conway since the pair arrived in Worcester.
Conway is a fiery competitor who is small and quick
in net. Quesada is also competitive but displays a
very calm demeanor in net and plays in the classic
butterfly style. The duo have nearly identical career
save percentage and goals-against averages.
Quesada got the nod in the 2005-06 opener
against Massachusetts, his 22 saves backstopping a
3-2 victory in Amherst. It was Holy Cross’ first
win over a Hockey East team.
The finished documentary is 80 minutes
long and remains in Quesada’s computer, awaiting
transfer to DVD.
“Everyone on the team has seen
it and they loved it,’’ Quesada said.
His final grade for the project: an
A-minus.
Quesada said he can’t watch television
shows now without thinking about what goes into making
one.
“It’s interesting to see
what goes into it,’’ he said. “You
don’t appreciate the work they do until you
try to emulate it yourself. I watch TV now and analyze
what they are doing. It gives me a whole new dimension
to watching TV and movies.’’
Don’t expect mass sales or an
airing of the hockey documentary on New England public
television any time soon, though … at least
during family viewing hours.
“I was thinking about it but it’s
pretty raw in the sense that it captures the locker
room and bus that wouldn’t be appropriate for
public television,’’ Quesada said. “I
actually showed it to my family this summer and I
wasn’t aware of how much vulgarity there was
until I showed it to my family. Then I thought, maybe
this isn’t the best idea.’’
SEEN
AND HEARD IN ATLANTIC HOCKEY
Hello, and good to see you again
– Former high school teammates Ryan
Soderquist and Mark White will be teamed up again,
this time on the bench at Bentley.
Soderquist named White, 26, to his coaching
staff, almost eight years after they played together
for Arlington (Mass.) Catholic. White, a defenseman,
went on to play four seasons and 133 games for New
Hampshire and four years in minor-pro hockey.
“I’m excited to add Mark
to our coaching staff,’’ Soderquist said.
“He brings a large amount of hockey experience
after playing at UNH and as a professional. He has
been successful wherever he has been and I feel that
he will also be a success as a coach.’’
White was a member of the UNH team that
lost to Maine in the 1999 NCAA title game. He played
one season with the Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast
Hockey League, the better part of two seasons with
the Orlando Seals of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League
and the final months of the 2003-04 season with the
Florida Everblades of the ECHL.
|
Great Weekend Getaway |
 |
|
Canisius
at Sacred Heart (Fri.-Sat.)
Sacred Heart beat Ryerson University
from Toronto in its home debut. Now the Pioneers
will take on a team from the East side of Peace
Bridge, opening Atlantic Hockey play with Canisius.
Last season the home team held serve in all
three meetings with Sacred Heart prevailing,
two games to one.
While You're There: Between
games, you can experience Halloween tales on
the Center Church Crypt Tour in New Haven (18
minute drive), the Trail of Terror in Wallingford
(30 minutes), a Haunted Graveyard in Bristol
(one hour) and the always scary visit to New
York City (90 minutes).
By the way, the expected travel
delay while crossing the Peace Brige is 10 minutes
from Monday through Thursday and 20 minutes
from Friday through Sunday and on holidays.
|
| Stick
Salute |
|
Freshman
Jon Anderson made 36 saves
to backstop Connecticut’s 2-1 victory
over Merrimack last Saturday. It gave the Huskies
a split of the weekend series, but more importantly
it was UConn’s second victory over a Hockey
East foe and first triumph over Merrimack in
20 tries. |
|
Bench
Minor |
|
Bentley
enjoyed unprecedented success at the beginning
of the season, killing off its opponents' first
26 power play opportunities. That streak came
to an end Friday at Robert Morris. The wounded
Falcons penalty kill then allowed seven
power-play goals in nine opportunities, including
all five in a 5-2 loss to Robert Morris on Saturday.
|
FRIES
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• It’s early, but …:
Six Atlantic Hockey players are tied for fourth nationally
in points per game (2.00) after just two weeks of
play: Mike Ruberto of Canisius, Rob Godfrey, Sean
Nappo and Dale Reinhardt of Holy Cross and Dave Borelli
and Scott Champagne of Mercyhurst. Ruberto is tied
for second in goal-scoring with five goals in four
games.
• Hit the books, take the ice:
Sacred Heart sophomore Nick Kary will be presented
with the 2004-05 Atlantic Hockey scholar athlete award
prior to Friday’s game with Canisius. League
commissioner Robert DeGregorio will present the award.
Kary posted a league-best 3.94 grade-point average
in his freshman year. Kary is working on a double
major: finance and business administration.
• Did you know?: The University
of Connecticut hockey team has no players hailing
from the state itself.
• Applying for membership?: No,
Union College in Schenectady does not play in Atlantic
Hockey, even if the Dutchmen’s schedule appears
so. Union lost to future member Air Force, beat Sacred
Heart, tied Connecticut and hosts Bentley on Friday.
Still ahead: two games with future Atlantic Hockey
member Rochester Institute of Technology.
• Power play is no advantage:
Army has surrendered four short-handed goals this
season.
• Road woes: Army plays nine of
its next 11 games on the road, starting with this
weekend’s series at Holy Cross. Last season
the Black Knights were 1-15-1 away from the friendly
confines of West Point’s Tate Rink; this year
they are 0-3.
• Haven’t I seen you before?:
Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin and Connecticut coach
Bruce Marshall have both been head coaches for 18
seasons. Gotkin owns a 317-186-32 record; Marshall’s
mark is 246-222-89. Gotkin enjoys a 16-5-1 edge in
the series. Their clubs meet in a weekend series in
Erie, Pa.
A variety of sources were utilized
in the compilation of this report.
