The Niagara University Purple Eagles have cut former Vernon Vipers forward Christian Cakebread.
Cakebread had spent the past two seasons with the Purple Eagles collected (1-goal-7-assists-8-points) in 22 NCAA games.
Cakebread played parts of two years in Vernon (2015-2017) after signing with the Vipers October 16 2015. Cakebread joined the Vipers after starting the 2015-16 season with the NAPHL Arizona Bobcats. Cakebread left the Vipers January 4 2017 to join the NCAA Niagara University Purple Eagles. In 70 games with the Vipers Cakebread collected (21-goals-29-assists-50-points).
Christian Cakebread's Player Profile:
This was in the Niagara Gazette Newspaper:
Lammers cuts eight from Niagara hockey
NCAA HOCKEY: Wheatfield native Kuhn, former starting goalie Therien among the cuts.
By Nick Wojton scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com
Apr 19, 2018
LEWISTON — The Niagara University hockey team got off to a hot start in its first year under head coach Jason Lammers, earning a national ranking (No. 20) early in the 2017-18 campaign. But then, the Purple Eagles went ice cold, finishing the year with an 11-22-3 record overall.
It appears the Purple Eagles are attempting to do something about that finish. Lammers confirmed Thursday that the program cut eight players from last year's roster.
Most of the cuts have one thing in common: the players were recruited by former head coach Dave Burkholder, Lammers’ predecessor. Nearly all were under scholarship, according to a source within the program who wished to remain anonymous. Some of the players once held prominent roles, like junior goaltender Guillaume Therien, sophomore forward Derek Brown and junior forward Ryan Kuhn, a Wheatfield native.
“Really hard decisions, but decisions that we felt that we needed to make. Our job is to move the program forward and we believe that we’ve chosen the guys that can help us do that to the best of our ability,” Lammers said.
Also cut were forwards Sam Fuss, Christian Cakebread and Sam Rennaker, defender Andrew Pizzo and goaltender David Krejcik. With Niagara also graduating four seniors, the Purple Eagles could be looking at double-digit new faces next season.
That exact number of new Purple Eagles will depend on where the outgoing land. Niagara Director of Athletics Simon Gray said Thursday that the university would honor the scholarships of any players who decided they wanted to finish their academic careers at NU.
The scholarships of any players who choose to remain at NU will still count toward the hockey program's total, which is 16 full scholarships in Atlantic Hockey. Because hockey is an equivalency sport under NCAA rules, not all scholarships are full. Instead, for example, Niagara could choose to give out 32 half-scholarships.
"We will be compliant, even if those guys are on aid," Gray said.
Krejcik, a junior college transfer, was the only player among the cuts who was not under scholarship, according to the source. Lammers said releasing the group had nothing to do with scholarships.
"We were working really hard to make our organization better," he said. "The financial piece does not play a piece to that.”
Lammers declined to specifically say why the players were dismissed, adding that he did not want to affect their chances of catching on at another program. He simply said he wants to make NU a “tough team to play.”
He did, however, say he expected more growth.
“Again, playing at Niagara University is hard and we expect a lot. We expect to see growth, and we’re certainly not perfect, but we expect to see growth,” Lammers said.
Lammers said the team decided to make the cuts early in the offseason to give the players an opportunity to find another team.
“I like all those guys," he said. "We wanted to give them an opportunity to find a new home if they chose that."
Niagara is unable to confirm who will be on its new roster just yet due to NCAA rules, but Lammers did say he likes his team’s chances next year.
“I’m excited about the energy we’re going to add and the skill we’re going to add. Really excited about the leadership we’re going to add and the effort,” Lammers said.
Sports editor Mike Meiler contributed to this report.
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