On the Ice Again: Scott Dunham’s Journey Across The Country
By Bobby Colla
Scott Dunham made his way from Wisconsin to Oregon to New Mexico, playing the sport he loves all along the way before finding himself on the ice hockey team at Hudson Valley.
“He’s having a good experience here at Hudson Valley, and he’s good to have around,” said Matt Alvey, head coach of the ice hockey team.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s nice,” said Dunham.
He is currently finishing his first semester as an individual studies major.
Dunham came to Troy after playing in a junior hockey league on the west coast.
“One of my coaches in Southern Oregon used to play at Hudson Valley about six or seven years ago and he got me hooked up over here,” Dunham said.
“I recruited him,” said Alvey. “Scott did go to high school in Wisconsin and was playing out west last year with a junior league program. I connected with one of the coaches I know out there and I got to meet Scott. He came to work out with us over the summer and stayed.”
Dunham has played hockey in a few different states. After attending Appleton High School in Appleton, Wis., Dunham went to play in the Western States Hockey League in Oregon.
In January, Dunham was part of a 14-player trade between New Mexico and Oregon where seven players from each team were swapped.
“My coach for the Southern Oregon Spartans was fired and then he took a job with the New Mexico team,” Dunham said. “He got the deal done for a trade for half the team from Southern Oregon and half the team in New Mexico went to Southern Oregon. I had already been with the staff for two years, so it fit.”
“It was weird, but we all got to take a huge caravan down there and finish the season in New Mexico,” Dunham said. “We had fun.”
“Scott’s got a lot of talent. He skates very well as well as shooting the puck very well. He’s also physical,” Alvey said. “He’s getting more involved now in the program he’s showed a lot of presence on the ice. He’s now getting some good playing time.”
Dunham has played as a forward in all nine of the Vikings games this season. In those games, he’s had two goals and an assist.
Dunham has also had a low number of penalties for his high physicality on the ice. He has been penalized just three times in the nine games Hudson Valley has played this season.
“I grew up in Wisconsin in the Midwest and was just raised to play physical blue collar style hockey,” Dunham said. “My coach was real big on physical play and he liked fast, physical and hard hockey. Playing for him really got me prepared to where it was just instinct to play hard nose hockey.”