Skip To Main Content

Scoreboard

Clarkson University Athletics

CON14

Men's Hockey September 5, 2014

Con Elliott, Voice of Clarkson Hockey (1955-87), Passes

Con Elliott, legendary North Country radio announcer and Voice of Clarkson Hockey passed away on September 4 in Ogdensburg at the age of 85.
 
Friends may call at the Garner Funeral Service on Monday, Sept. 8 from 3-7pm. A mass of Christian burial will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 11am at St. Mary's Church in Potsdam.

Con was Clarkson's hockey play-by-play announcer from 1955-87 and also broadcast several area high school games. After his retirement he was a regular attendee at local high school games and went to nearly every Clarkson home hockey game up until the past few seasons.

Con was born on May 25, 1929 and graduated from Potsdam High School in 1947 and is a member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. The press box at the Potsdam High School turf field is also named for him.

Con Elliott: He was a north country original

During his time announcing Golden Knights Hockey, Con was considered the Dean of College Hockey Broadcasters and the Ambassador of North Country Athletics.

Since getting his broadcasting start while an undergraduate at Potsdam College in 1950, Con was the Voice of Clarkson Hockey for over three and a half decades. Through 38 years of announcing college hockey, Con witnessed close to a 1,000 Clarkson Hockey games and saw most of the Green and Gold's great teams and great players skate on the Walker Arena ice.11080

When Con first started his play-by-play duties on the radio, Walker Arena was still know as Clarkson Arena. Chain link fence, instead of glass protected the fans from errant pucks and sticks. Instead of a Zamboni buzzing around between periods, the ice was cleaned by three to six men with shovels, one behind the other.

Bill Harrison was the head coach behind the Golden Knights' bench in Con's first Clarkson Hockey broadcast. Altogether Con announced Clarkson Hockey through five different eras. He saw teams of Len Ceglarski win for 14 seasons, Jerry York's squad skate for seven campaigns, Bill O'Flaherty's chargers battle for six years and Cap Raeder's team play for two seasons.

He saw his share of Clarkson Hockey teams and rated the Undefeated 1955-56 squad as the best he saw. "That team had some really good guys with players like Jack Porter, Eddie Rowe, Don Williamson and the others. They could have beaten some NHL teams," said Con during a ceremony at Walker Arena in 1987.

Con also saw a lot of very talented Golden Knights under the Walker Arena rafters. Among the players that stood out in his memory were Dave Taylor '77, Dave Fretz '85, Eddie Rowe '57, Bruce Bullock '71, Colin Patterson '83, Craig Laughlin '80, Marty McNally '78, Don Seale '57, Eddie Macdonald '58, Al Ziebarth '56 , Bill Munro '52, Mack White '51 and Steve Warr '72, just to name a few.

Exciting games were also a staple of Con's broadcasts at Walker. One of the more memorable games he remembered took place during the 1971-72 seasons when an undefeated Boston University team came to Potsdam. "BU had an undefeated team at the time and I remember talking to Lenny (Ceglarski) in the lobby when BU came sauntering into the arena real confident. There was this goalie that was from Canton, who was real cocky saying they were going to kill Clarkson. Well the Knights won (6-2) and I remember Steve Warr had an excellent night."

Con Elliott was as much a part of the Clarkson Hockey tradition as the winning teams, talented players and successful coaches that he so adeptly broadcast for, for so many years. Clarkson was honored to have Con Elliott associated with the hockey program and deeply appreciative of all his years of loyal support. The University held "Con Elliott Night" at Walker Arena on November 27, 1987.
 
 
 
110781107911076
photos by Chris Lenney

 
Print Friendly Version