With a little help from the Massena Raiders on Friday night, the boys varsity hockey team landed in first place in Section X Division I for the 2025-26 season. The regular season title punches the Bears’ ticket directly to Cheel, where they await the winner of a semifinal matchup between Potsdam and Massena.
The Bears will play in the late game matchup at Cheel Arena this year for Section X glory. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Monday, March 2.
Canton will take a week of practices to fine-tune its structure and allow some injured players time to heal. Several Golden Bears have spent time out of the lineup this season due to injury, but the roster looks to be whole going into the Section X title game.
Both in the scoring column and in the net, the Golden Bears sit atop the individual statistics table for Section X Division I.
Junior Owen Logan led Division I in points this season, with 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points. Junior forward Robert Palmer matched Logan’s goal total for the season at 16, and added 8 helpers. Senior defender Jack Brandy and senior forward David Seymour both contributed 12 points, while senior forward Caleb Briggs rounded out the Bears’ top five points leaders, with four goals and seven assists for 11 points.
In goal, senior Gavin Schryver posted the best goals against average at 2.51, and the best save percentage at .921.
Potsdam will host Massena on Wednesday night at Pine Street Arena to determine who will occupy the visitors bench at Cheel.
On Wednesday, the Raiders rallied from a 4-0 deficit to overcome the Sandstoners at the Massena Arena, 5-4. This victory allowed Canton to leapfrog Potsdam in the standings based on a tiebreaker, which gave Canton the advantage based on its 3-1 Division I record this season. Potsdam finished the season 2-2 in Division I play.
Canton swept Massena this season, winning 5-1 at the Pavilion and 5-2 at The Arena just last week. Potsdam earned a season split with the Bears, defeating Canton 5-1 at Pine Street after a 6-3 Canton victory at the Pavilion earlier in the season.
The semifinal matchup at Pine Street is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
