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O'Kane commits to SUNY Cortland

By Anthony DiPaolo, 09/08/22, 5:15PM EDT

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Chicago native will play at SUNY program following an impressive year in NJ

The New Jersey 87’s are proud to announce that Devlin O’Kane has committed to play Division III hockey at SUNY Cortland for the 2022-2023 season.

O’Kane, a 20-year-old forward from Chicago, Illinois, played for the 87’s EHL team in the 2021-22 season. He recorded 35 points (16g, 19a) in 36 regular-season games while notching eight points (4g, 4a) in nine postseason games.

Head coach Adam Houli spoke about O’Kane coming into the organization thanks in part to former players, and how the Chicago native ended up becoming one of the top contributors offensively.

"Devlin came to us on a recommendation of fellow players that really spoke about who he was as a person first, and they thought he would be a good fit and we fell in love with that,” Houli said. “He came to New Jersey and worked his tail off. He was a very hard worker who bought in to everything we did, wanted to do it the right way and gradually his game kept getting better, and by the end of the year he was a dominant force on the ice. When the puck was on his stick, any time he had a chance to shoot the puck, there was a chance of it going in. He was very dynamic in that sense and he's ready for the college game, maturity-wise, physically, everything you want to be ready for when going to college, he has now."

SUNY Cortland is a Division III program located in Cortland, New York. Competing in the SUNY Athletic Conference, the Red Dragons are led by head coach Joe Cardarelli.

O’Kane spoke about his commitment, and how it added to an already exceptional season by winning the EHL title earlier this spring.

“I feel like it couldn't have summed up the season we had any better,” O’Kane said. “With everything that group went through and winning the championship, it felt very rewarding to end on a note like that. Now I get to follow that up by playing college hockey in the fall.”

As the season progressed, O’Kane became one of the more feared goal scorers in the league. He finished the regular season with an eight-game point streak and recorded 19 of his 35 points in the final 13 games. In the first round of the postseason, he put up six points (4g, 2a) in a two-game sweep over the Protec Jr. Ducks.

“We're super excited to see him move on,” Houli added. “Obviously we're sad to see him go a year early, but we're still excited to see him start his college career and we think he's going to have a great career there. We can't wait to see what he can do."

While the Chicago native only played one season with the 87’s, O’Kane gave the team credit for getting him ready for the NCAA level.

“Coach Houli helped break bad habits and harped on the little things, so that kind of stuck with me throughout the year. With all the film we watched and the specific on-ice stuff we did, it definitely helped with my development,” he said.

The 87’s organization would like to congratulate Devlin and his family as he advances his hockey career to the Division III collegiate level.