The path to getting an NCAA College Commitment can be a road full
of peaks and valleys for a young hockey player, but if they stay the
course and continue to work hard they know good things will happen.
That was the case for Amarillo Bulls defenseman Geoff Fortman
who announced his NCAA College Commitment to Canisius College, an NCAA
Division I school located in Buffalo, NY that plays out of Atlantic
Hockey. The young defenseman becomes the 10th Bulls player to announce
his NCAA plans.
Fortman said the hardest part was watching other players get spoken to by NCAA Scouts, and waiting for your turn to get noticed.
“It’s hard when you have a great game and you know scouts were
there,” Fortman said. “You’re looking forward to talking to scouts and
none of them come up to you. It’s tough and you wonder is someone going
to say anything or notice you. I know every hockey player goes through
it at times, but I finally got to that point. I owe most of the credit
for sure to Coach (Dennis) Williams and Coach (Rocky) Russo for all of
the hard work they have done on my behalf. This year has started to pay
off, and I really excited about this opportunity.”
Fortman, who hails from Crystal Lake Illinois, is having another
excellent year for the Bulls with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points
in 39 games. He is plus 21 and has two power play goals. The 6-2, 210
pound defenseman and an Assistant Captain followed up a terrific rookie
year in the Texas Panhandle where he had 12 points in 52 games was third
among NAHL players with a plus minus rating of plus 45.
Fortman, who will join former Amarillo Bulls forward Cody Freeman
who is into his second full season with the Golden Griffins, said the
two talked by phone about the school.
“Cody said it was a small school and a real tight-knit community
and personal with the professors,” Fortman explained. “He said if you
are looking for a bigger school this may not be the place, but I told
him I have been looking for a smaller school from the start, and it
really felt like the fit for me.”
Amarillo Bulls Head Coach Dennis Williams said he is thrilled to
see Geoff get this opportunity and is impressed by his calming demeanor
on the ice. “Geoff isn’t afraid to mix it up on the ice and stand up for
his teammates,” Williams said. “He is so steady on the back end and
defends with the best of them. I haven’t seen too many guys in this
league let alone the South Division that is a better stay at home type
defenseman than he is. From his rookie campaign last year to now, he has
made huge strides.”
Williams said the Canisius coaching staff of Dave Smith and BJ
Adams is going to be happy with what Geoff brings to the team. “He will
listen to what the Head Coaches and the Assistants have to say, but is
also the type of guy that when you leave that locker room and some of
the players brush off what the coaches have to say that he will make
sure they are all on the same page,” he said.
Geoff Fortman joins John Rey (Robert Morris), Garret Peterson
(Army), Tyler Deresky (Bentley University), Hampus Gustafsson (Merrimack
College), TJ Sarcona (Niagara), Tyler Rostenkowski (Air Force), Kyle
Plageman (Army), and Joe Grabowski (Princeton), Ryan Cole (Trinity
College), as Amarillo Bulls to announce their NCAA Commitments.
(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)
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