E-mail this pageMeet the Men's Ice Hockey Staff
Bob Emery, Head Coach
Entering his 21st season behind the Plattsburgh State bench with the 2009-10 campaign, Bob Emery has established himself as one of the nation's top head coaches in all of NCAA college men's ice hockey. His resume speaks for itself: two national championships, 13 NCAA tournament appearances including eight trips to the Division III semifinals, 12 State University of New York Athletic Conference championships and 16 All-Americans. Emery's 446-140-44 career record makes him the winningest coach in the program's storied history, and his .743 winning percentage ranks in the Top 5 all-time in the NCAA. He ranks sixth among Division III active coaches with 446 victories.
During the 2007-08 season, Emery picked up career win No. 400 with an 11-1 victory over conference rival Potsdam on Oct. 26, becoming the sixth coach in Division III history to reach the milestone. He led Plattsburgh to four titles in 2007-08: Primelink Great Northern Shootout (5-3 over Norwich), Cardinal Classic (3-2 over St. Scholastica), SUNYAC regular-season (14-2/1st place) and SUNYAC tournament (4-3 over Oswego, the 2007 NCAA and defending conference champion). The Cardinals also made their NCAA-record 16th Division III tournament appearance, advancing to the national championship game against top-ranked Saint Norbert. The team tied a school record with six all-conference selections, including USCHO All-America defenseman Nick Rolls who was on the first team and SUNYAC Tournament MVP Bryan Hince who made the second team as a freshman goaltender.
In 2006-07, the Cardinals became the first opponent to beat Oswego in its new building, a 4-1 triumph on Feb. 10. Rolls and SUNYAC Rookie of the Year Pier-Luc Belanger both made the all-conference team. Plattsburgh, which was nationally ranked as high as No. 12, advanced to the SUNYAC Finals for the 16th straight year.
Plattsburgh ended 2006 with its 15th-consecutive berth in the SUNYAC Tournament championship (series), a No. 14 national ranking in the final regular-season poll and a 19-12-1 record. Kevin Galan led the nation with 15 power-play goals as a freshman, Nick Rolls made the USCHO.com East All-Rookie Team and five Cardinals were selected to all-conference and all-SUNYAC tournament teams.
Emery's teams have won 20 games in a season 14 times, including a 32-2-2 campaign in 1992 when
Plattsburgh captured its first NCAA title with him at the helm. The Cardinals recorded a trifecta of championships that season, adding crowns in the ECAC West Division and SUNYAC.
Emery was named the SUNYAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in 2004 after the Cardinals won the conference championship, when they went 23-5-3 in NCAA play, 12-0-2 for first place in the SUNYAC, defeated Oswego 2-games-to-none in the conference tournament series and reached the NCAA semifinal round.
Emery and company won their second NCAA championship in 2001, upsetting previously-undefeated and top-ranked Rochester Institute of Technology 6-2 on the Tigers' home ice in the finals. The Cardinals went 29-5 in NCAA competition and swept the SUNYAC regular-season and tournament titles.
Since Emery took over the Plattsburgh reins in 1990, he has amassed over 55 percent of the program's victories in the 33-year-history as a varsity sport. He won his 300th career victory against Colby Jan. 22, 2002 and picked up No. 350 over Oswego in the SUNYAC championship series on March 6 two years later.
Arguably the most decorated coach in the SUNYAC with 11 league championships in 18 tournament appearances, Emery has mentored five SUNYAC Players of the Year, seven SUNYAC Rookies of the Year, 11 SUNYAC Tournament MVPs and over 100 All-SUNYAC and conference all-tournament selections. The Cards have won eight of the last 12 SUNYAC championships, including a six-year string from 1997 to 2002.
During Emery's very first season as Plattsburgh's head coach in 1989-90, the Cardinals (22-10-3) earned the SUNYAC title on Geneseo home-ice after blanking Fredonia 6-0 in the semifinals and edging the host Knights 5-4 in the championship game.
Emery actually began his Plattsburgh career the previous season as an assistant coach under Steve Hoar. He helped the Cardinals to a 20-5-1 record, which included a 15-game unbeaten streak late in the schedule.
He is a past chair of the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship Committee that is responsible for selecting teams and administering the NCAA Tournament.
Before his Plattsburgh arrival, Emery was a head coach in the six-team New England College Developmental League, a prep league for high school athletes with aspirations of playing at the collegiate level.
Emery was a 10th-round pick and No. 208 overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1982 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Instead of signing professionally after high school, he became a Hockey East All-Star and alternate captain by his senior year at Boston College. During his four years there, the Eagles made three NCAA Division I tournament appearances and won the prestigious Beanpot Championship in 1983.
After his college playing career, Emery was invited to the Montreal Canadiens training camp. Then he joined the Quebec Nordiques organization and played for their American Hockey League affiliate Fredericton Express for one season, and ended his professional career with the Boston Bruins' minor league affiliate Maine Mariners.
Emery attended Matignon High School in Somerville, Mass., leading his team to three consecutive state championships while earning Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic honors.
A 1986 graduate of Boston College as a marketing major, Emery earned a master's degree in leadership administration from Plattsburgh State in 1990.
Steve Moffat, Assistant Coach
Steve Moffat enters his 9th year on the Plattsburgh State men's hockey coaching staff, and his 6th season as Bob Emery's top assistant, in 2009-10. Moffat's chief responsibilities include recruiting, game-film breakdown, assisting with game and practice preparation, monitoring academic success of student-athletes and team travel. In addition, he serves as an event manager for men's lacrosse and organizes the Cardinals' annual benefit dinner for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"Steve is a great asset to our program," Emery says. "He knows Plattsburgh hockey from all angles, having been a recruited student-athlete, a Cardinal player, a graduate assistant coach and assistant coach. There is no better person selling the program than Steve. He has the privilege of selling a product that he bought into years ago."
A two-time All-American, including first-team honors in 1997-98, Moffat finished his stellar career at Plattsburgh with 106 goals, which is third all-time in school annals, and 203 points, sixth all-time. He was a back-to-back honoree for the Plattsburgh State Male Athlete of the Year in 1997 and '98 during his junior and senior seasons.
After his college graduation, Moffat played professionally in the East Coast Hockey League for the Northeast Division champion Columbus Chill in 1998-99. The following season, he helped the Florida Everblades with the ECHL's best record and 2000 Southeast Division crown.
A 1998 graduate of Plattsburgh State with a bachelor's degree in sociology, Moffat earned a 2002 master's degree in school counseling, also at the College.
He had worked at Seton Catholic High School in Plattsburgh as a counselor before joining Emery's staff full time.
An avid golfer, Moffat is a member of the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Contact Information
For more information about Men's Ice Hockey at Plattsburgh State, please contact:
Coach Bob Emery
Phone: (518) 564-3607