The Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team has been able to sellout every home game they have had this season with an average attendance of 1,769. Senior Alex Brenton said having great crowds helps the team play better.
“We feed off it tremendously,” Brenton said. “Getting rowdy, it is a big support to us and helps us a lot, and in turn, we want to give back to the fans, put on a good show. It’s kind of a vicious cycle in a good life. If we are playing good, the fans will be pumped even more, and then we play even better, so it’s a nice cycle.”
Brenton said he believes Plattsburgh has one of the best crowds in the SUNYAC, if not the country. He has a friend who plays in another conference and said that they don’t draw anywhere near the Cardinals.
Junior forward Dillan Fox agrees with Brenton on the value of PSUC’s crowd. He said when the team goes away to face other teams, they don’t get the support from the fans that they do at home.
Fox likes playing at home because the team feeds off the crowd.
He said when they play teams like Geneseo or Oswego, you can see that PSUC’s support by its fans is unmatched.
Fox said that you feel a difference in the home games and away games because of the way the crowd acts.
“When you come to one of our games, the place is going to be pretty juiced, pretty loud and some of the other games you got to get psyched up yourself,” Fox said. “It is something we try not to look too much into, but you don’t really get that on the road.”
Brenton said he likes the PSUC fan base because Plattsburgh is a great city.
He said he likes being able to go out into the community to certain venues and being both recognized and recognizing fans from the stands during warm-ups.
“You don’t mind saying ‘hello,’ you don’t mind saying anything,” Brenton said. “That’s what makes Plattsburgh a great town to play in.”
Head coach Bob Emery said the team always feeds off the home crowd, but isn’t sure if the home crowd influences the team because they have lost four games at home.
He said whether the team is playing at home or on the road, the team still needs to give 100 percent and sacrifice their bodies to win their games.
Brenton said the team is good on the road going 7-0 this year and losing one game during the PrimeLink tournament. The team has been able to play consistently well on the road.
The team’s last two games of the regular season are this weekend with the team playing Oswego and Cortland.
Oswego is currently 15-2-3 and is currently on a four-game winning streak. Oswego plays their last two games of the season at home, the opposite of the Cards.
In the last matchup between these two teams, Oswego won on PSUC ice 3-1.
The Cortland matchup will be against a team who has gone 9-9-3 this year and in their last matchup against the Cards, they lost 7-1 on the Card’s home ice.
Fox said while playing games at home is great, the road trips have its advantages as well.
“It is definitely nice playing at home,” Fox said, “but the road trips have benefits too. But it is nice to play at home.”
Email Nick Topping at sports@cardinalpointsonline.com.
