Bob Emery wrapped up his 29th season as the Plattsburgh State men’s ice hockey head coach following the 2017-18 season. Emery, who is the program’s longest-tenured and winningest coach, is 611-203-63 since taking the helm for the 1989-90 season. He has coached Plattsburgh State to NCAA Division III national championships in 1991-92 and 2000-01, while also leading the Cardinals to 16 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship titles, 18 NCAA Division III Championship tournament appearances and 10 NCAA Division III Final Fours. Twenty-two Cardinals have reached All-America status under Emery’s watch.
Emery is an eight-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year honoree, with the most recent coming in 2016-17. He ended the 2017-18 season with the second-most career wins among all active Division III men’s ice hockey coaches and became the 12th head coach all-time and across all divisions to reach the 600-win plateau when the Cardinals defeated Morrisville State College, 3-0, on Nov. 4 in front of a home crowd on Hall of Fame Night.
In 2017-18, Plattsburgh State won its sixth-ever PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut championship and its 21st Cardinal Winter Classic title, including its second under the current W.B. Mason sponsorship. The Cardinals knocked off defending national champion Norwich University on the opening day of the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut, and they defeated rival Oswego State on the road on the final day of the regular season to lock up the No. 4 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.
Plattsburgh State finished the 2016-17 regular season by going unbeaten in 10 of its last 11 contests, including three wins against top-10 nationally-ranked teams, to clinch the SUNYAC’s second seed. The Cardinals beat third-seeded SUNY Geneseo, 5-2, in a semifinal home game and then knocked off top-seeded Oswego State, 3-2, while on the road in the final tilt. Plattsburgh State’s season ended with an NCAA Division III Championship first round road loss to eventual national runner-up, Trinity (Conn.) College, on March 11. The Cardinals sat 11th in both the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) and D3hockey.com final national polls. Junior defenseman Ayrton Valente was tabbed as a CCM/AHCA Third Team All-American while also grabbing SUNYAC All-Conference First Team honors. Sophomore forward Cole Stallard and freshman defenseman Philip Middleton were both chosen as SUNYAC All-Conference Third Team players.
Plattsburgh State won the SUNYAC regular-season, PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut and W.B. Mason Winter Classic titles in 2015-16, going 20-4-3 overall and 12-1-3 in SUNYAC play. The Cardinals knocked off rival Oswego State, 4-3, in overtime in the SUNYAC Tournament semifinals before falling to SUNY Geneseo in the championship game.
In 2014-15, Emery guided the Cardinals to a 20-6-2 record, earned the SUNYAC regular season title and make an NCAA tournament appearance. In the SUNYAC tournament, Plattsburgh defeated Oswego 2-1 in the finals to earn a conference-high 23 titles. Emery would go on to earn SUNYAC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his tenure.
During the 2011-12 season, Emery was named as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year in the same season as he picked up his 500th career victory. Emery guided the Cardinals to its 21st SUNYAC Championship and second in as many years. After a 19-5-4 season, Emery's team was awarded a bye in the NCAA tournament where they made their fifth straight appearance. Emery coached two players to All-America honors in 2012, Mathieu Cadieux and Mike Grace.
He led Plattsburgh to three titles in 2010-11: PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut, Cardinal Classic and SUNYAC Championship. The Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals, marking Plattsburgh’s fourth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
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 St. 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 16 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 60 percent of the program's victories in the 39-year-history as a varsity sport. Arguably the most decorated coach in the SUNYAC with 13 league championships in 23 tournament appearances, Emery has mentored six SUNYAC Players of the Year, eight SUNYAC Rookies of the Year, 14 SUNYAC Tournament MVPs and over 100 All-SUNYAC and conference all-tournament selections. The Cards have won nine of the last 16 SUNYAC championships while Emery's tenure also included a six-year string of titles 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.
