NCAA Success for Jr Wing Welch

[JohnHopkins]

Thought I'd pass this on...

Chris Welch, perhaps the most talented player on the Buffalo Mission Junior Wings, was named MVP of the Syracuse Invitational Tournament over Thanksgiving Weekend.

Welch led the Niagara College Purple Eagles to the tourny title as the Eagles defeated Cornell, 4-3 in the championship. The day before, they dropped Colgate, 4-2. Both Cornell and 'Gate are expected to be contenders in the ECAC this season.

Welch scored two goals in the title game and was also named to the all-tournament team. He had a goal and an assist in the Colgate game.

Niagara, a member of College Hockey America, is 4-7-3 this season and made it to the second round of the NCAA D-1 tournament last season. This is a rebuilding year for the program.

On Monday, Welch was named co-offensive player of the week in CHA, along with a player from Bemidji State. Welch has five goals on the season. Chris played Junior B ice hockey in St. Catharines last season.

Niagara has come a long way in a short time. This is really only their third full-fledged season in D-1 and 5th in D-1 overall. The first two seasons saw a fairly heavy dose of D-3 teams on their schedule.

The University is located just north of Niagara Falls. The program should only get stronger, with its proximity to the metro-Toronto area. Nice recruiting point: "Do you want to play hundreds of miles away in Minnesota, or play at Niagara, where your family and friends can make an easy 1-hour trip down the QEW to see you play top-level college hockey?"

Sincerely,

John Hopkins
Buffalo Wings

[Roman]

Hi John, my name is Roman. I read what u had posted and though I would reply. Can u send me some more info on that college u were talking about in your last paragraph, the one that is around Niagra Falls. I am graduating next year and want to play college roller hockey. I have played for the Tornto Tigers Major Jr. A team these past two years. I was the youngest on the team at 16 for my first season and 17 for my second. During my two years there the team won Narch at the 18 and under platinum div in '99 and the league playoffs in Buffalo in 2000. I am turning 18 very soon and I would like to play some roller hockey in the states. If u know of any tourny teams that play at high calibure tournys like winternationals, Narch or Koho cup or any teams at all let me know please. I also would like to take a trip upto Niagra and watch a college roller hockey game if possible, maybe if u could help me out and let me know when the next one would be great. Also maybe I could come out for one of the teams practises or something like that if possible. Anyways I hope u write back, I could be reached at [email protected]
Thanks for ur time and hope to hear from u soon!

[JohnHopkins]

Niagara University has ICE hockey. Some area colleges have club roller hockey programs, but none are varsity status.

Not long after I posted the original message, I ran into Welch at a local ice rink. He tore the MCL and was expecting to miss a month of action.

Sincerely,

John Hopkins
Buffalo Wings