Saturday Sports: Golden Knights give warm welcome to new hockey coach

POTSDAM, New York (WWNY) – This weekend is Alumni Weekend at Clarkson University and the Golden Knights used the opportunity Friday night to introduce a former alum and a familiar face to lead the men’s hockey program after the departure of Casey Jones.

It only took 8 days, but the Clarkson Golden Knights capped off their search for a new coach by welcoming back J.F. Houle in a ceremony on the ice at Cheel Arena.

Houle, a former Clarkson player and assistant coach, spent the last 3 seasons as the head coach of the Laval Rockets, the Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate.

Houle is excited to take the reigns at his alma mater and become the 12th men’s hockey coach in school history.

”For me, it’s an honor to be here and be the head coach of my alma mater. I had some very precious moments here as a player, as a coach, and it’s a great feeling to be back. My family is very excited to be coming back to Potsdam as well,” said Houle.

Clarkson Athletic Director Laurel Kane says it was imperative to fill the vacancy quickly to maintain the stability of the program and added the search committee put in countless hours of work over the last week to find the right candidate.

Kane says at the end of the day, Houle brought all the attributes to the table that Clarkson was looking for in their next head coach.

”His passion for Clarkson, his work ethic, his ability to translate that passion and excitement and his knowledge, obviously, of the game and his ability to develop players. In this world where N.I.L. deals and people are looking to poach your players, you want to make sure that they are having a good experience at the institution and that they are growing as hockey players and as people. J.F. brought that to the table,” said Kane.

Houle, who has spent the last 9 seasons as an assistant and head coach in the A.H.L., says he was unsure the possibility of coming back to his alma mater to run the program would ever present itself, but when it did, he jumped at the chance to continue the rich tradition of Clarkson Men’s Hockey.

”I’ve always kept an eye on it just in case. To me, it’s a special place and I want to help the program as much as I can. I think that we’re heading in the right direction and we just gotta keep it going here. I’m excited to introduce some of my philosophy to this team. Hopefully, we go out and have some success with that,” said Houle.

Houle who had recently signed a contract extension with Laval and led his team to the Calder Cup playoffs in 2 of his first 3 season there, says the Clarkson job was the only one that would have enticed him to leave his position in the Canadiens organization.

”No, I don’t think so. For me, it’s just the fact that it was my alma mater and it’s a place I hold dear in my heart is why I made this move. I don’t think I would have went to anybody else. I would have stayed in Laval if that would have been the case but this is a special opportunity,” said Houle.

A golden night for the Clarkson Men’s Hockey program.

The Watertown Red and Black closed out their 3 game homestand Saturday night at George Ashcraft Field hosting Genesee County in Northeastern Football Alliance action.

The Red & Black are looking for their third straight win against the visiting Spartans.

In the first quarter, a 74 yard pass play for Genesee County sets up the first touchdown of the game. The two point conversion is good: 8-0 Spartans.

Meanwhile, the Red & Black sputtered in the first quarter as Genesee County comes up with a pair of interceptions.

In the second quarter, Ethan Ward on the blitz comes up with the sack of the quarterback. Still 8-0 Genesee County at the half.

In the third quarter, Genesee County takes the kickoff and moves down the field for the touchdown: 15-0 Spartans on top.

Now late in the 4th quarter, it was Nick Cavallier with a desperation pass to Chris Furr who makes the catch in the end zone. The two point conversion is no good though, 15-6 Genesee County.

That’s the way it ends, Genesee County over Watertown 15-6.

“We didn’t play well on either side of the ball. We made just too many mistakes. We were very flat all night. It hasn’t been exciting too much so we’ll practice Tuesday and Thursday and hopefully do better next week,” said Coach George Ashcraft.

In North American Box Lacrosse League action from Alexandria Bay, the Thousand Islands Spirits hosted Utica.

The Spirits get on the board first when Zach Hopps dents the back of the net: 1-0 Spirits.

Moments later, Jake Rice takes the feed on the doorstep and connects: 2-0 Spirits.

With the score 2-1, Camden Smith sneaks one past the goalie: 3-1 Spirits.

Thousand Islands was up 3-2 when Skylar Thomas makes the nice moves for the tally: 4-2 Spirits.

Now 4-3 Spirits, Tarylie Thompson tickles twine upping the Spirits lead to 5-2.

With the score 5-3, Skye Sunday buries the blast.

The Spirits go on to beat Utica 29-9.

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