Hobart and William Smith Colleges

I am so impressed with the leadership and character of our team. You performed at the highest level throughout the year, thanks to great coaching and athletic grit! Time after time, you toed the line and delivered.

As you played, you had 60 years of Hobart Hockey alums cheering you. In the final game, you carried humble beginnings to new heights with courage, determination, and style . Your accomplishment puts a stake in the ice that says: Follow Me!

We are so proud.

Henry (Hank) R. Holden ’63, P’84, P’89, GP’20, First Team

Coach Taylor - at long last! A much deserved triumph for all you have done - year in and year out - for our program. Your commitment to excellence, both on and off the ice, has produced many exceptional teams and young men, and you have now vaulted Hobart Hockey to being formally recognized among the sport’s elite. All program alums share in your achievement and owe you a debt of gratitude.

Team - what an exceptional season and magical finish. Relish the moment and relish your teammates. The bond you share is unbreakable and the memories will carry you for a lifetime. AND with so few graduating, do what only three programs have ever accomplished and Adrian couldn’t - I don’t even need to state it…

James T. Lilly, Jr. ’83

Congratulations to Coach Taylor and the entire team. We’ve been so close multiple times to winning it all and it feels great to finally see these guys make it over the hump! Coach Taylor was the best coach I ever had; I’m especially proud to see him with the trophy, it’s well deserved. I was able to attend the semi final and finals – this team is the real deal and I’m looking forward to next year!

Michael J. McCarthy ’07

Congratulations men!! Coach Taylor, I’m so thrilled for you. I was over the moon to watch you all pull it off. What an exciting game.

I’m so impressed not only with the skill of the team in every position, but also the winners’ mentality and “team first” attitude that the guys have clearly adopted.

Enjoy every bit of it!

Keith A. Longo ’09

Congratulations! The Hobart Hockey program was started as a Club in 1963 by myself (Si Anthony ’63), Joe Mechem ’64 and Jim Anderson ’65. We had no rink and had one practice on Odell’s Pond when it froze one time. We joined the Thruway Hockey League with Syracuse, Rochester, RIT, Ithaca and Buffalo. Our jerseys arrived the afternoon of our first game which was at 11 p.m. at RIT. A thousand people attended and we lost 7-4 having organized our lines in the warmup before the game. We went on from there and our record was 4-7-1 our first year. We all had a lot of fun that year and the program went on from there!

Silas R. Anthony, Jr. ’63, Former Captain

Speechless! To say how proud my family and I are to see Mark and this team accomplish his 23 year labor of love has no words. As he quoted Rulon Gardner, planting the seeds and finally harvesting them is and has been a dream for this program. I’m proud to be a Statesmen but even more proud of Mark, the team, and the HWS and Geneva community that has supported Hobart hockey all these years. Thank you for bringing a well-deserved and earned championship to The Cooler and HWS.

Scott J. Mason ’81, P’19, Trustee

Coach Tayls and team. You guys did it! Your hard work and sacrifice for the team paid off in the greatest accomplishment possible. You brought many generations of Hobart alums back together to celebrate your success. I cannot tell you how incredibly proud we all are of what you have done. Tayls, you continue to produce not only great teams but great men. The lifelong bonds that have come out of the Cooler certainly do last a lifetime. Congratulations and thank you, as once again it is a great day to be a Statemen!

Adam Scott ’07

Incredibly Proud of Coach Taylor and this group of Men!! I have always been honored to call myself a Statesmen, but especially so this week as our Hobart family rallies around the amazing achievements of this team. We were blessed to be one of Coach Taylor’s first recruiting classes, watching him put the foundation in place with the program’s first ECAC West Victory, then NCAA quarterfinal and semifinal appearances. He has dedicated so much to Hobart Hockey, carrying on the legacy that pre-dated our time, while building his own centered on excellence and growing the character of his players on and off the ice. This team has brought years of Hobart Hockey alums back together and we couldn’t be prouder of Coach Taylor, this group and our program!

Will Brame '06

Congratulations on an outstanding season, culminating in a well-deserved national championship win. Your hard work, dedication and perseverance has paid off, and you should be proud of all that you have accomplished. As a fellow Statesman, I know firsthand how much this program means to us all. Throughout my four years here, I learned invaluable lessons on and off the ice, including the importance of discipline, passion and honesty. Coach Taylor has instilled a culture of excellence that requires every player to show up and give their all, every single day. I am honored to have been a part of this incredible team, and to have contributed to the program's success. Seeing how far we have come is truly inspiring, and I know that even greater achievements lie ahead for this program.

Alec C. Robitaille ’21

What a season, what a game, what a wrist shot in overtime to hoist the trophy. There is no feeling like being a part of the team that is the last one remaining at the end of a grinding, physical season. The outcome is awesome, but more importantly, watching Coach Taylor and his staff over the last 20 years build this loyal and prideful group of Statesmen, who place team in front of self, is what it is all about. So proud and honored to be a Hobart Statesman alum!

Matt Kerwick ’90

Congratulations!!! What a well-earned and exciting accomplishment. As I watched from my den in Buffalo, pacing in front of my TV for the last hour of the game, I thought back to my experiences as a Statesmen, all of my teammates, and all the hockey alums I’ve had the pleasure to meet over the years. What a wonderful display of determination, skill and hard work you have shown us all this year. As we all know, nothing’s ever easy playing hockey for Hobart, and you showed heart and resiliency throughout the season - and especially in the final game. I’m proud to be a Hobart Hockey alumnus, and so proud of your group and your National Championship. It’s taken a long time and a lot of hard work by hundreds of players - but you guys have made it to the top and we all are so excited for you and the program.

Congratulations again.

Hobart Hockey - National Champions!!!!

Sure sounds sweet!!

Brian M. Duffett ’90, Captain

Dear Mark, Tom, Players, Trainers and the rest of the staff behind these great champions,

Congratulations on your unforgettable and well deserved 2022-23 national title! Wish I could have been there with you on the North Shore but circumstances proved otherwise. Every one of your remote supporters was glued to their screen at home with knees bouncing fast and fists clenched with you into the OT. I've been on the phone with my teammates and other hockey buds non-stop for the past week. Studs of great character like John Shane '83, Scott Liming '83, Pierre McGuire '83, Bo Buck '82, Scott Mason '81, Rob Coxe '83, Dave Steigerwald '83, Jim Lilly '83, Josh Bressler '84, Greg Pippert '83, Courtney Weymss '82, Sandy Pegram '79, Andy Brennan '09, Jason Merritt '09 and Ryan Adler '09, We are all incredibly proud of Hobart College Hockey.

Every step of the way your hockey alumni brothers have been there with you, this season and beyond. You will be there too, sooner than you can imagine; suddenly your post-college mens' league career will kick in. Some of you will skate in Europe, and maybe in the pro game here, but most of us will skate in the legendary beer leagues and if we're lucky outdoor pond hockey tourneys for the next few decades. We've chosen a unique sport: how many other elite athletes get to play high tempo team sports into their 40s and 50s and beyond? All roads lead to mens' league fellas, and you gotta love that!

And we all love The Cooler. Imagine ancient history when our team opened the place in December of 1978. No cell phones, no computers. The same hard and fast ice but roof only with no sides. Drinking age still 18 so students had no trouble marching 1/4 kegs of beer into the rink to keep warm! So freakin' cold. Other teams hated it and we loved it. Cotton underwear, Sherwood 5030 lumber, and CCM Tacks with no socks. Freezing wind howling off Seneca Lake so hard during practice we convinced Coach Turner to trade our helmets for hockey socks over our head and ears so we could finish practice. A few of us froze too many times and got gangrene in our toes that first winter.

And then one day Coach Mark Taylor took the reins. And look what he's done, and the reputation he's earned. I've said many times that if my son played college hockey, Mark's the one guy I'd want him to play for. He's a leader, a builder, a developer, a winner, and a role model for us all. You guys named your trophy Perseverance. Who embodies perseverance over the decades more than Tayls? Thank you, Mark, for all you've taught us. Also, how about a shout out to Tom Fiorentino, your assistant coach who busts his ass on the road with endless recruiting trips far and wide to bring exceptional men like you into Hobart. Tom must share the limelight, too.

So champions, enjoy your spring in Geneva. Take a break. Read a book. Interview for a job. Then drink some beer and play some softball on the Quad. You guys have earned it.

Cameron Lochhead ’82

Congratulations to Coach Taylor and the 2023 National Championship team. As a hockey alum, I am in awe of this team and proud to have witnessed the journey the team made to capture the title. To see the evolution of the program from my playing years to what it is today is nothing short of amazing. Coach Taylor and this team have built a foundation for Hobart hockey’s success for years to come.

Celebrate and savor it, you have earned it!

James Hannon ’86

Congratulations to Coach Taylor and the team! What an accomplishment. You are National Champions. It must feel incredible to say that. When I came to Hobart, there were no walls on the Cooler. We now have a National Championship banner to hang on them thanks to you guys. Embrace this moment, bottle up the feeling and let's do it again next year!

Andy Brennan ’09

Mark, - First, Congratulations to you and the team on this significant achievement. It is truly a milestone event. And things don’t just happen, people make them happen. So, kudos to all of you – I’m running you up the flagpole and saluting!

Second, and of lesser importance, I played in the very first game in which Hobart fielded a hockey team (1963) – not a varsity sport, but several individuals who loved to play hockey and were proud to wear a Hobart jersey, even though we did it all on our own funds. We drove our own vehicles to each game and, if recollection serves me correctly, we never won a game, but we started something. Charlie Boswell was our coach and team members that I recall playing that first game included: Si Anthony, Joe Mechem, Steve Brown and me, all Sigma Phi brothers; Tracy Johnson, Dave Gibson and Jock McQuilkin, all Kappa Alpha brothers; and Ted Stock. There were a few others, but I can’t remember their names.

You might also be interested in digging through old issues of The Herald and finding a picture of President Hirshson and myself putting spades in the ground for a planned hockey rink at the Colleges. We actually had metal side supports for the boards fabricated and delivered, but that’s as far as it went. We were not good fund raisers in those days.

Hope the above is of interest to you. It pales in comparison to what you have accomplished!

James F. Anderton IV ’65