POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men’s ice hockey team tied for seventh in the State University of New York Athletic Conference pre-season coaches’ poll. The Bears were 6-17-1 last season with a league mark of 4-12-0.

Oswego State, last year’s SUNYAC regular season champion, topped the poll with 63 points, including seven first place votes. The 2010-11 tournament champion Plattsburgh State Cardinals received 54 points and one first place vote. The Bears, the College at Brockport and SUNY Cortland each got 16 votes to tie for seventh place.

Potsdam enters the 2011-12 campaign with a lot of new faces and the most geographically diverse roster in the program’s history. Senior forward Sy Nutkevitch (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec/Cornwall Colts) will captain the Bears this season with junior defenseman Brett Waters (Uxbridge, Ontario/Markham Waxers) and junior forward Matt Viola (Toronto, Ontario/Vaughan Vipers) serving as assistant captains.

Potsdam opens the season when the Bears travel to Morrisville State on Friday, Oct. 28, for a 7 p.m. SUNYAC showdown with the Mustangs.

See the complete coaches’ poll below:

2011-12 SUNYAC Men’s Ice Hockey Pre-Season Poll

1. Oswego 63 (7)

2. Plattsburgh 54 (1)

3. Geneseo 53 (1)

4. Fredonia 44

5. Buffalo St. 33

6. Morrisville 29

7. Potsdam 16

- Brockport 16

- Cortland 16