Sachem Hockey Celebrates Alumni Night

Sachem hockey held its annual alumni night Monday evening at The Rinx in Hauppauge.

Former players, coaches, and parents gathered on the ice for a family skate, and eventually to watch a game between older players.

During the evening, Todd Keleman's No. 9 jersey was retired. Championship trophies from the program's state titles in the early 1990's were on display, as well as old journals and other team memorabilia.

Also, during the National Anthem, the stereo skipped and stopped working. In typical Sachem hockey fashion, one player picked up where the lyrics left off and the entire arena followed in harmony.

"That's just a sample of how the entire evening went," said Sachem hockey president Neal Greenburg. "A good tme was had by those who did attend."

Multiple players hung out at Bruno's in Lake Ronkonkoma after the game. From Roy Palaez (Class of '78), Phil Cohen (Class of '77) and Art Weingartner (Class of '78) to Scott Weber (Class of '81) and Chuck Breese (Class of '78), they all relived memories from the ice.

"We enjoy this as much as the games," said Rich Augustine, who was also there.

"Next year give us another line of varsity players and we will win it," said Palaez of the actual game action.

Rich O'Mack, Sachem's current coaching coordinator said, "the fewer people actually made it easier to really talk to the ones that were there and we haven't seen."