Nearly four decades of professional hockey futility for Broome County ended in June as the Binghamton Senators won a Calder Cup championship to cap a roller coaster 2010-11 season.
The B-Sens captured their city's first pro hockey title with a 4-2 finals victory over the Houston Aeros. Binghamton had been home to a professional team for 38 years, and a member of the American Hockey League for 29.
To welcome the players' return, an estimated 5,000 people turned out for a championship parade downtown and rally outside the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, celebrating the title run that was chosen as the top local sports story of 2011.
After struggling for much of the regular season, the B-Sens finished strong to earn an Atlantic Division playoff spot through the AHL's crossover rule.
As the fifth seed from the East Division, they rallied for a historic series win against the Manchester Monarchs before knocking off the Portland Pirates and sweeping the Charlotte Checkers to reach the finals.
The B-Sens were led by first-year coach Kurt Kleinendorst and assistant Steve Stirling -- who underwent emergency quadruple bypass surgery the day before the team traveled to Houston for its championship-clinching Game 6 win.
Robin Lehner became the second rookie goalie to capture the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as MVP of the playoffs, going 14-4 with a 2.10 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in 19 postseason starts after taking over for regular-season team MVP Barry Brust.
Late-season trade acquisition Ryan Potulny led the league in playoff scoring with 26 points. Captain Ryan Keller finished with 25, including two series-winning goals to end the championship run.
The rest of the best, as voted on by the Press & Sun-Bulletin sports department:
2. Jon Jones captures UFC title: Jones, a Union-Endicott High graduate, became the youngest champion in UFC history when, at the age of 23, he defeated Mauricio Rua by third-round TKO on March 19 to win the light heavyweight title. Jones subsequently defended his title twice, improving his career record to 15-1.
3. Football title to M-E: A rousing second-half rally to a 27-20 victory over Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake attached an exclamation mark to a 12-0, Class A state-championship football season for Maine-Endwell.
After claiming a second consecutive Section 4 title, the Spartans played some of their best football of the season in state-playoff victories over East Syracuse Minoa and, in the semifinal round, a 19-16 conquest of top-ranked Rochester Aquinas Institute on one unforgettable night in East Syracuse.
Seventeen of 22 M-E starters were underclassmen.
4. Queen of the Court: During a dominant senior season in which her 30.6 points per game led Harpursville to a berth in the Class C state championship game, Hannah Kimmel rewrote Section 4's basketball record book.
Kimmel finished with 2,692 varsity points, No. 7 all-time among New York females and No. 1 in Section 4, gender notwithstanding.
She moved on to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., but is sitting out her freshman season as result of a knee injury.
5. Greene Flash: In a senior year unprecedented in Section 4 distance running annals, Chad Noelle of Greene established Section 4 records in five outdoor events, won the Millrose Games high school mile in Madison Square Garden, broke Alberto Salazar's 36-year-old meet record in winning the Loucks Games' 3,200, repeated as Division II state champion at 3,200 meters, and captured the overall state title at 1,600 meters. He moved on to the University of Oregon.
6. CV wins first state baseball title: Chenango Valley capped a 20-2 season with a 7-4 victory over Section 1's Briarcliff in the state Class B title game, a game played over two days and two different fields -- Binghamton University, then NYSEG Stadium the following day -- due to inclement weather. Pitchers Austin Lewis and Mike Fillers earned first-team nods and catcher Mike Fernald a spot on the second team of the State Sports Writers Association's Class B all-state team.
7. Coaching legend passes: Richard E. Dick Baldwin, who coached basketball teams for 40 seasons at Broome Community College and five at SUNY-Binghamton to 961 victories, died in December at age 90. Mr. Baldwin in 1987 passed former University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp as all-time winningest college coach.
8. Windsor claims title: Windsor High claimed the program's third state softball championship in eight years with a 3-1 win over Rhinebeck on a soggy June Saturday at Queensbury. Upon completion of a 20-4 season, Black Knights pitchers Cara Martin and Leslie Dempsey were recognized as New York's co-Players of the Year in Class B.
9. Kelly, McCormick among 5 state wrestling champs: Johnson City's Sean McCormick and Chenango Forks' Kyle Kelly won Division I state titles at the state wrestling tournament at Albany, McCormick in the 112-pound weight class and Kelly at 96. Winning state titles in Division II were Tioga's Derak Heyman (140), who won his second title, Marathon's Lucas Malmberg (96) and Lansing's William Koll (103).
10. Dick's Open welcomes Watson: Thirty-five years after his last Broome County visit, Tom Watson -- winner of 39 PGA Tour and 14 Champions Tour titles -- teed it up for the Dick's Sporting Goods Open at En-Joie Golf Course. Before some of the largest galleries that week, he shared 38th place on rounds of 72, 67 and 74. "Nice to be here," he said upon exiting, "enjoyed the spiedies."
Source: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20111231/SPORTS/112310326/1112/
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