THOROUGHBRED'S STARTING GATE IS THE BLUE LINE.(SPORTS)

Byline: ALAN HART Staff writer

Many an ice hockey player, no matter what the age, from time to time closes his eyes and pictures himself skating the length of the ice and firing in a shot for a game-winning goal.

Not Neil Bryant.

The Skidmore College sophomore, a native of West Sand Lake, instead when he shuts his eyes and thinks about hockey will paint a mind picture where he is killing off a penalty. He will intercept or stick a shot aside, then send the puck back down the ice out of harm's way, denying the opponent a score in a crucial situation.

``I've always been that way. I just prefer playing defense,'' Bryant said before a recent …