USPHL Commitment Profiles: Blazers’ Dixon Commits to SUNY-Morrisville
By Joshua Boyd / USPHL.com
A three-year junior veteran, Emmett Dixon knows he made the best decision of his hockey career by playing for the USPHL Premier’s Bellingham Blazers. After a strong season with a winning record and a .916 save percentage, Dixon will be moving on to NCAA hockey with SUNY-Morrisville.
“It was a grind for me to find a spot that worked for me in all areas. I was really hoping to go to the NCAA Division III level, so when I got contacted by the coach, I knew it was something I had to jump on right away,” said Dixon.
“Morrisville works for me on so many levels. Being in D3 and the SUNYAC, I know the competition is going to be high level, especially with [defending National Champion] Hobart joining the conference,” said Dixon. “Coming off the way I ended my season this past year, I knew I was capable of making the jump, so it’s a challenge I really look forward to. Morrisville being a smaller school is going to help me back into school full-time. The smaller classrooms will allow me to get more familiar with teachers and classmates. Being on the East Coast will give me to opportunity to fully be away from home for the first time.”
He finished the season with an 11-8-1-0 record, including a massive 2-1 victory over the Seattle Totems on Feb. 22, defeating a team that boasted the all-time leading scorer in USPHL Premier history (Roman Wolynec).
Morrisville Coach Kevin Krogol liked his willingness to compete, his character, and skill set.
Dixon had taken the 2023-24 season off, but he was not quite done with hockey yet.
“After taking the year off, Bellingham allowed me the opportunity to step back in and prove myself as a capable goaltender. I think despite the unfortunate events that led to the year off of hockey, I was able to take something from it to improve myself this season,” he said. “Coming off of not playing, being on the ice every day in Bellingham helped my game get back to where it needed to be for the start of the season. The Bellingham coaches made it clear that they had confidence in me from day one.”
Throughout the season, Bellingham tangled several times with Seattle, and also faced the eventual National Champion Vernal Oilers. This all helped sharpen Dixon’s game throughout the year.
“The ceiling on the level of play in the USPHL is very high, especially, having the top two teams in my division,” said Dixon. “I saw a lot of guys over the course of the season that could make that jump up to Tier 2.”
The Blazers also got a chance to face non-divisional teams at the USPHL Vegas Showcase.
“For me, the Vegas Showcase was not a part of my recruitment, but I know a lot of my teammates got a lot of interest from schools from the showcase,” Dixon added.
He still has over a month before reaching the Morrisville campus, so he knows there is still a lot of work to be done to become the best NCAA player he can become.
“The two biggest things I’d like to work on are my skating and my flexibility. The standard at the next level is going to be that much better. So in order for me to continue success at the next level, I have to continue to improve with it,” said Dixon. “I think gaining better flexibility will allow me to do things I previously wasn’t able to do. At every new level, the speed will always increase, so to be able to keep up, I have to keep improving my skating.”
The USPHL congratulates Emmett Dixon, his family, the Bellingham Blazers and SUNY-Morrisville for his commitment.