The New York Apple Core are a Tier III Junior A ice hockey team from Brewster, New York, playing in the Eastern Hockey League. The team plays home games at the Brewster Ice Arena. The Apple Core organization is based out of

Long Beach, New York Long Beach is an oceanfront Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County in New York (state), New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the weste ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, however, their top level junior team has played in Brewster since the start of the 2011–12 season. The Apple Core organization also fields a Tier III team in the Eastern Hockey League-Premier Division, as well as youth hockey select teams at the Bantam, Peewee, and Squirt and other various levels.

History

The franchise was a full-time member of the

Eastern Junior Hockey League The Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior A ice hockey league. Founded in 1993 by Dan Esdale, the EJHL had fourteen teams from across the Northeastern United States. The EJHL champion then competed for th ...

(EJHL) from 1998 to 2013. The team was originally formed in 1993 in the Junior B Metro League. In 1997–98, they played a handful of games against the EJHL, and became a full-time member a year later. In 2003, the Apple Core won the Triple Crown EJHL Championship, finishing as regular season and post-season champions. In 2013, the various Tier III junior hockey leagues in the north east went through a re-organization, which included the Apple Core joining the

Atlantic Junior Hockey League The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. The Atlantic Junior Hockey League then re-branded itself as the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) after the dissolution of the former EJHL. Since joining the EJHL in 1998, the organization has also fielded multiple Tier III Junior B/C teams in the

Empire Junior Hockey League The Empire Junior Hockey League (EmJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league. The league was classified as Tier III Junior B until the 2011–12 season when USA Hockey combined the Tier III Junior A and Junior B classifi ...

Eastern States Hockey League The Eastern States Hockey League (ESHL) was an American Junior ice hockey#United States, Tier III Junior ice hockey league. It stated goal is that it develops high school age players to hockey skills needed for higher levels of Junior, College i ...

, and

Metropolitan Junior Hockey League The Metropolitan Junior Hockey League was an American Tier III Junior ice hockey league with teams throughout the eastern United States. The MJHL was part of the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League organization. Founded in 1966 by New York Rang ...

, and the United States Premier Hockey League - Empire Division. In 2016, their developmental team (formerly known as Tier III Junior B/C) moved from the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League to the EHL's Elite Division (and then called Premier Division since 2017) and continues to play home games in

Season-by-season records

Alumni

Apple Core has produced a number of alumni playing in higher levels of junior hockey, NCAA Division I and Division III, and ACHA college programs, and professional hockey, including: *

Anthony Bitetto Anthony "Tony" Bitetto (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey Le ...

- New York Rangers (

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

) *

Erik Burgdoerfer Erik Lawrence Burgdoerfer (born December 11, 1988) is an American former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. Playing career Burgdoerfer attended Ward ...

- Buffalo Sabres (

) * Mark Eaton - Pittsburgh Penguins (

) * Rich Hansen - Rapid City Rush ( CHL) * Mārtiņš Karsums -

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga ( lv, Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LLU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of ...

( KHL) *

Ryan Cruthers Ryan Cruthers (born July 4, 1984, in Farmingdale, New York) is a former professional ice hockey player. In 2019, he became the assistant coach of the NCAA Robert Morris of Atlantic Hockey. During Cruthers' pre-collegiate career he won an Easter ...

Orlando Solar Bears The Orlando Solar Bears are a professional ice hockey team that plays their home games at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning of t ...

( ECHL) * Doug Murray - Montreal Canadiens (

) * Eric Nystrom - Nashville Predators (

) * Jekabs Redlihs -

( KHL) *

Steven Santini Steven Michael Santini (born March 7, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing for the Springfield Thunderbirds in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the St. Louis Blues of the Nationa ...

- St. Louis Blues (

) *

Kevin Schaeffer Kevin Schaeffer (born October 16, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey player who last played for the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL. He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the 6th round (193rd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry ...

- Charlotte Checkers ( ECHL) *

Rob Scuderi Robert John Scuderi (born December 30, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman, currently serving as an assistant coach for the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators. Known as a stay-at-home defenseman, he played i ...

- Pittsburgh Penguins (

) *

Ryan Vesce Ryan Joseph Vesce (born April 7, 1982) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the San Jose Sharks. Playing career Vesce was born in Lloyd Harbor, New York. As a youth, he played i ...

- San Jose Sharks (

) *

Matt Gilroy Matthew J. Gilroy (born July 20, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who last played for the SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the National League (NL). Gilroy played in National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers, ...

- New York Rangers (

) In 2005, the Apple Core became the first junior team to be represented by all four competing schools in the Beanpot hockey tournament. Representing the Apple Core were Kevin Schaeffer and Jekabs Redlihs of Boston University, Mike Brennan of

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, Jon Pelle and

Bill Keenan William Howard Keenan III (born April 15, 1986 in New York, New York) is an American author, screenwriter, and former professional ice hockey player who last played for IF Sundsvall of HockeyAllsvenskan. As of February 2019, he has served as chief ...

of Harvard University, and Louie Liotti and Steve Birnstill of

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Apple Core Website
Ice hockey teams in New York (state) Sports in Long Island