NEWBURGH — The Adirondack ice hockey team skated off the ice in dejection.

The players had battled back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to tie the Hudson Valley team. And then they watched their hard work fall away as Hudson Valley scored two goals in the final period to break the tie and come away with the win.

At that moment, it did not matter that being selected to take part in the Empire State Games was in itself a big achievement, and it was not good enough to play against the best in the state. A lost opportunity was all that was on the players’ minds.
"We had the tie," said Guilderland resident Joe Buicko. "It just got away from us at the end."

Buicko is one of three local skaters to play for the Adirondack team. He is joined by Matt Tyksinski of Altamont and Tim Montgomery of Guilderland. Montgomery is on the team for the second time.
"We came back and tied it up," Tyksinski said. "It’s tough to lose that way. But it’s been a good experience so far. There are a lot of good players and we are doing our best out here."

Tyksinski is a life-long resident of Altamont; he has attended Albany Academy since he started school.

Playing tough competition has led him to stay at the school.
"It’s hard to gauge the two," Tyksinski said of comparing prep-school hockey and the ESG competition. "They are both good quality."

The Adirondack team faced a 1-3 of good competition and struggled finishing with a 13-1 record. The team tied Long Island in its first game, 2-2, and beat New York City, 5-4.

Adirondack dropped games to Hudson Valley, Western, and Central. Western won the gold medal and Long Island took home the silver.

Buicko scored a goal against Hudson Valley and had a pair of assists against New York City. Montgomery finished with an assist against Western.

Buicko travels a little further than Tyksinski to get to school. Buicko attends the Hotchkiss School, a prep school in Connecticut.

Montgomery will be a senior at Guilderland High School.

Buicko and Tyksinski will be juniors at their schools.

"Tough to gel"

The team is diverse in its mix of prep school, public school, and junior players as evidenced in the three players from one town, Guilderland, representing three different schools.

The Adirondack squad had players from the Albany Junior River Rats, the Capital District Selects junior team, and the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid as well as the kids that represented school teams.
"It’s fun playing with kids from different places," Montgomery said. "I’m friends with a lot of the guys. I played with a lot of them when I was younger."

Last year, Montgomery was joined by three other players from Guilderland High School.

But, it is still hard to get a team of players ready for a tournament like the Empire State Games.
"You have 20 different guys and play four games," Montogmery said. "We had practices and a mini-camp but it’s tough to gel as a team. But we’ve done a great job."

Montgomery is familiar with the coach. It’s his high school coach, John DeRubertis.

Montgomery is also the veteran on the team.
"It’s nice to know what to expect," he said. "At the first game, I talked to the coach and tried to help the guys who had first-time jitters."

Tykinski and most of the others play hockey all summer and play in tournaments, so most of the kids on the Adirondack team know each other.
"A couple of kids go to my school and some I’ve just met for the first time," he said. "It’s just kind of hard to find time to practice. We have summer tournaments. It’s not that bad; these are all good kids."

Hockey is a big draw for Tyksinski and Buicko and that is why they have chosen to go to prep schools.
"I stayed there for hockey," Tyksinski said of Albany Acadmey.
"I went for hockey and good academics," Buicko said of choosing Hotchkiss. He will be going into his second year at the school.

Buicko started playing hockey when he was four years old for the Albany Storm.

Tyksinski started playing for the Capital Youth League and played until he was in eighth grade; then he started playing at Albany Academy. He made the varsity at Academy last year as a sophomore.

Springboard

Buicko and Tyksinski are hoping to use the Empire State Games as a springboard to play hockey in college.
"I would like to play in college," Tykinski said. "I have one or two years to prove that I can. Then we’ll see what happens."
"There were definitely scouts here," Buicko said. "You never know; you just have to play your best."

Montgomery is not as focused on hockey as his two teammates. He is actually focusing on playing football at Guilderland — he hasn’t played since the eighth grade.
"I’m keeping my options open," he said. "I’ve looked at different schools. I’m not expeting many offers for hockey. I’m playing football in the fall and we’ll see how that goes. It should be fun."