White Plains Hockey Senior Night, Rubenstein Wins 250th

The White Plains High School Hockey Team celebrated “Senior Night” with a 4-0 win over Pelham High School, on Thursday, Feb. 12, at Ebersole Ice Rink. The Tigers victory over the Pelicans had a special significance for Head Coach Howard Rubenstein, as he won his 250th career-game.

Rubenstein has been leading the Tigers Hockey Program for 18 years. In celebration of this season’s “Senior Night” Rubenstein and his trusted Assistant Coach David Lynch printed 25” x 20” action photographs of each senior and presented the pictures to them in the locker room before the game.

Rubenstein also spoke individually to each senior and thanked them for their commitment to White Plains Hockey. The parents of each senior were presented flowers during a pregame ceremony, as the mothers of each graduating senior were donned in a special Tigers hockey jersey made for the occasion.

White Plains will lose all three of their Team Captains after this season, including goalie Chris Stangarone, forward Michael Carrier and Defenseman Matt Conroy. Also celebrating “Senior Night” were goalie Teddy Buck, forward Nico Mancini, Defenseman Jarrett Sannerud and forward Anthony DeMaria.

After shutting out Pelham, 4-0, the Tigers concluded their 2014-15 campaign with a, 13-6 overall and 2-2 Section 1 AA record. Stangarone had 27 saves in the game against Pelham, which boosted his total saves to 511 this season.

Stangarone has played varsity hockey since seventh grade and Rubenstein will surely miss him next season. “Chris has been the face of our team for the last five years. I could not have asked anybody to do anymore than what he has done for us. I am really proud of him and will miss him,” said Rubenstein.

Freshman James Carrier led the scoring against Pelham with two goals, while his older brother Mike Carrier, who was celebrating “Senior Night,” added one goal. Mike leads the team in scoring this season with 17 goals. “Mike is a four-year starter and has had a really great season this year. He works as hard has anybody and he is our leading goal scorer, so we will miss him too,” Rubenstein added.

Conroy shifted from offense to defense this season and has 64 block shots. Conroy also leads the team in assists. The defenseman added three assists against Pelham to bring his total this season to 21 assists.

Although, all seven seniors will be missed by Rubenstein and Lynch, it is really a special departure for Stangarone, who grew-up in the program while playing six years of varsity hockey. “It is a big thing after six years and every group of guys I played with has been amazing. For this to be my last year is a little weird but you have to finish it off strong and do what you have to do,” said Stangarone.