Raider 1992-93 Team Slated for High School Hockey Hall Induction

By ALAINSt. PIERRE

C-OSports

UTICA - As the Blizzard of 1993 swept across Utica and beyond, Section 10 hockey was busy sweeping New York State championship honors at the Aud with Massena Central capturing the Division I crown with a methodical 10-0 win over Saratoga while Canton skated to the first of two straight Division II titles with a 4-2 decision over LaSalle Institute.

This weekend, both those squads are slated for induction to the New York State High School Hockey Hall of Fame.

"That was a heck of a weekend," said Tim Long, the longtime assistant coach under legendary head coach Stan Moore, who took over behind the bench and guided the Raiders to an unexpected state title in the first of his six seasons.

"The year before, we lost a tough one in overtime to Suffern in the championship game. Stan retired and we lost a lot of seniors so the '92-'93 team was supposed to be a rebuilding year," he recalled. "We played Saratoga in the championship game. Earlier in the year, they'd came up to Massena for a tournament. The other teams backed out so we ended up playing them twice. All our kids had the flu and they beat us pretty bad in both games. We got them in the championship game and beat them 10-0. What a lot of people don't remember about that game is that we didn't score after the second period."

Among the players on that team, which finished with a 24-2-1 record, were; Doug Adams, Chris Aldous, Sebastien Bergeron, Trevor Cameron, Jason Chilton, Derek Deroucher, Matt Francis, Brian Garcia, Jon-Paul Genest, Derek Gladding, Mike Inabinet, Frank Joy, Bryan LaBombard, Mike Ramsdell, Matt Reid, Ken Smith, Josh Spanburgh, Brian Terry, Mark Tyo and Chad Willard.

The Raiders will be honored at a ceremony at the Utica Aud on Saturday at 1 p.m. Along with coach Long, several members of the team are also expected to be on hand.

"I was able to track down all but four of the players to let them know. They're scattered all over and most of them have families. There should be a few there," noted Long. "It's a nice honor for everyone."