Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame Committee Announces Class of 2022 Nominees

GLENS FALLS, NY – Ten candidates have been nominated and are being considered for the 2022 Class of the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame based at the Cool Insuring Arena. The group is comprised of eight players – Scott Drevitch, James Henry, Dave Korol, Michael Leighton, Claude Loiselle, Geordie Robertson, Stacey Roest, Gary Shuchuk – and two builders - Mike Kane and Joe Vogel. The inductees will be chosen by the AHHOF selection committee in December and will be formally welcomed into the AHHOF during the Adirondack Thunder’s game vs. the Reading Royals on Friday, April 15, 2022. Each of the players being considered this year were significant contributors while members of teams based in Glens Falls. The “builders” had an impact off the ice to the birth and growth of hockey in the region. A fan vote will commence online to assist the committee in making its final decision on who will be honored this season.

Click HERE to vote! The complete list of the Class of 2022 candidates:

The Players:

Scott Drevitch – A relentless competitor and sturdy defenseman, Scott Drevitch played three seasons in Glens Falls. In 2003-04, he played in 76 games for the Adirondack IceHawks, scoring 10 goals and adding 48 assists for 58 points.

The following two seasons, he played 150 total games for the Adirondack Frostbite, recording 27 goals and 92 assists for 119 points.

A standout at UMass Lowell, Drevitch played 19 seasons of professional hockey, suiting up in the AHL, IHL, ECHL, WCHL and UHL along with several teams in Europe. He also played five seasons of major league inline hockey with Roller Hockey International in the 1990s.

Married to Megan Vogel of Glens Falls, Scott runs a series of hockey camps in Upstate New York and Massachusetts.

James Henry – If any player can claim to have been the face of the Adirondack Thunder, it’s James Henry. The franchise leader in games played (303), points (230) and assists (161), Henry played six seasons with the Thunder.Named the fourth captain in the franchise’s history before the 2018 season, Henry served in that role for his final two seasons of playing professional hockey.Now an assistant coach for the Reading Royals, Henry won the 2018-19 ECHL Community Service Award, recognizing his involvement in many organizations, including Mission 22, a non-profit group fighting veteran suicide.In 441 ECHL games, he recorded 309 points and was named to the ECHL All-Star Game in 2017.

Dave Korol – During his four full seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings, the defensive defenseman became a fan favorite and was a member of the two Calder Cup-winning teams: 1985-86 and 1988-89.

Korol is one of three Wings, along with Glenn Merkosky and Greg Joly, to play for two AHL championship clubs. He is third on the playoff games played list: 44.

The Winnipeg native played in a total of five games late in the 1983-84 season. He was a regular, playing in 74 games during his rookie pro season in 1985-86. Korol completed his Adirondack career in May 1989 ranked 11th overall and fourth among defensemen on the career list of regular-season games played, 251.

Korol is married to Cindy Ash of Glens Falls and their family has lived in Queensbury since 2010. He has been a volunteer coach in Adirondack Youth Hockey.

Michael Leighton - Played two seasons in Glens Falls with the Philadelphia Flyers AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms. Was 42-38-4 with Adirondack, appearing in a league-high 56 games in 2011-12. Is the AHL’s all-time leader in shutouts with 50 and is one of eight goalies in AHL history to have appeared in over 500 games (507) and holds the AHL record for saves in a game with 98.

Played in 13 AHL cities, spent one season in the KHL and played for four NHL teams in his 18-year pro career highlighted by three shutouts amongst his eight post-season wins while leading the Philadelphia Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup final.

A five-time AHL all-star, Leighton was a member of the AHL’s All-Rookie team in 2003 and he was the AHL’s Baz Bastien Award winner in 2008 honoring the league’s top goaltender.

Claude Loiselle – A deft centerman who averaged over a point a game in parts of four seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings, he was a productive member of the 1986-86 AHL championship team.

In 21 regular-season games in 1985-86 he totaled 15 goals and 26 points. During the run to the playoff title, he contributed five goals and 10 assists in 16 games.

Loiselle had 51 goals and 114 points in 103 regular-season games with Adirondack and had seven goals and 21 points in the playoffs. He played with five teams in a 13-season NHL career, scoring 92 goals and 209 points in 616 regular-season games.

Following his playing career, Loiselle earned a law degree and worked in management positions with the NHL, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Arizona, and the New York Islanders. He is married to JoAnn Sipowicz of Queensbury, and they have lived in her hometown since 2010. Loiselle is a member of the Facilities Committee of the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition, which operates the Cool Insuring Arena, as well as the Adirondack Hockey Coalition. He helped negotiate the purchase of the Adirondack Thunder’s ECHL franchise from the Calgary Flames.

Geordie Robertson – The leading regular-season scorer on Adirondack’s 1985-86 championship team, Robertson spent parts of 10 seasons in the American Hockey League.

During his time the AHL, Robertson played in 531 regular season games and 73 postseason contests, averaging 1.10 points a game. In ‘85-‘86 season, his first with Adirondack, he racked up 92 points (36 goals, 56 assists) in 79 games.

Prior to his time with Adirondack, Robertson was a member of the Calder Cup Champion Rochester Americans in 1982-83.

Robertson played 172 games in Glens Falls and recorded 187 points in his two and a half seasons. He stands 11th on the Red Wings’ career scoring list.

Stacy Roest - Was one of the Red Wings top scorers during his three years in Glens Falls. Totaled 214 points (75-139-214) in 239 career games which ranks seventh on the AWings' all-time scoring list. He led Adirondack in scoring and finished fourth in the American Hockey League scoring race with 92 points in 1997-98. Tied for the team lead in scoring with 66 points in ’96-’97 and tied for second in scoring with Adirondack his rookie season in the AHL in 1995-96.

Went on to play 244 games in the NHL with Detroit and Minnesota and played eight years in the Swiss Elite League with Rapperswil-Jona. During his time overseas, Roest represented Canada in the Spengler Cup seven times, captaining the Canadian team on two occasions.

Since his retirement, Roest has been a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. He’s in his third year as the Lightning’s Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Development. Roest is also the General Manager of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.

Gary Shuchuk – After a standout collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin, Shuchuk joined the Red Wings organization and was a member of Adirondack’s fourth and final AHL title.  While with the Badgers, the Edmonton, AB native was part of the 1989-90 NCAA National Championship squad and also earned first-team All-American honors.

Shuchuk played the majority of three seasons in Glens Falls where he recorded 204 points (79 goals, 125 assists), making him the ninth-leading scorer on the franchise points list. His 185 games played is the fewest of any player in the top 10. He collected 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) in 19 games during the Red Wings’ Calder Cup run in 1991-92 and was second on the team in regular-season points. Shuchuk went on to play 136 NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings following his time with the Red Wings.

The Builders:

Mike Kane – As a journalist in Glens Falls and Schenectady, Kane covered the founding of the Adirondack Red Wings and reported on the team throughout its 20 seasons. He is the author of the book Minor in Name Only: The History of the Adirondack Red Wings, published in 1994.

Kane is the only three-time winner of the James Ellery Award presented by the AHL for outstanding coverage of the league, winning it in 1982-83, 1987-88 and again in 1989-90. The award has been presented annually in some form since 1964-65. He also covered many non-Red Wings hockey stories during his long newspaper career in the Capital Region.

A graduate of Queensbury High School and SUNY Potsdam, Kane was a sports writer and editor at the Post-Star for three years and moved to the Schenectady Gazette in 1979, a few weeks before the Red Wings’ training camp opened in Glens Falls. He is the only writer to cover the Red Wings from their debut to their move to Grand Rapids, Mich.

Kane also served as the AHL correspondent for The Hockey News from 1982-1990.

Joe Vogel – Though Glens Falls native Joe Vogel never played the game on a competitive level, he was one of the founding fathers of the program that became the Adirondack Youth Hockey Association. When the Adirondack Red Wings arrived in 1979, he began a long career as an off-ice official.

Vogel and Tom Kean helped form the Glens Falls Hockey Club in 1977, which began play outdoors. At the suggestion of Ned Harkness, the organization adopted a more regional approach as the AYHA. Vogel served as president, scheduler and coach in the AYHA. He was part of the group that advocated for the construction of the Fire Road Rink in Glens Falls.

One of the young players who learned the basics in the AYHA was Vogel’s son, Jason, who became a hockey player at Glens Falls High School, Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan and Cornell University, where he skated on a line with Joe Nieuwendyk. Jason Vogel is now Vice President for Sports Team Operations at Madison Square Garden.

With the Red Wings, Vogel, who died in 2012, was a goal judge, and then moved upstairs with Lou Dufresne and John Pohl as part of the official statistics crew.

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