Hockey is the Terriers’ Summer Job

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August 24, 2009

For Boston University students, summertime is a time to rejoice. It’s a time of doing nothing on the beach, porch or couch. It’s a time of “No more teachers, no more books, blah, blah, blah” and “Mom, can I borrow the car (and $20)?”

And for the drained (bank accounts and bodies of the) academic denizens of lower Commonwealth Avenue it’s a time of serious R&R.

Even those students who stay on campus the months of June, July and August (and, let’s face it, pretend) to take summer classes will probably remember roof decks, fireworks on the Esplanade and the sounds of Sweet Caroline cascading over the Green Monster at Fenway a little easier than they recall the key points of their 8 a.m. lectures.

But that doesn’t apply to the fraternity of student athletes, and most particularly the Terriers hockey team, who spend their summer vacation working or, more specifically, working out.

However, you would think that past Terriers hockey teams might have had a bit more relaxing respite than the current players are enjoying at the moment.

You would think, wouldn’t you?

“Well, I think most of us still had part-time or summer jobs,” said a chuckling Mike Bavis of the minor difference between the Terriers teams of his playing era and today’s ice-bound BU students. “Not many of [the current] guys are doing that!”

Summer jobs aside, Bavis made it clear that Jack Parker’s prized athletes have always concentrated on keeping in shape and continuing the regimen designed by BU’s strength and conditioning guru, Mike Boyle.

“Obviously, the training has changed to some extent, but the commitment — the time commitment — and how important it is to our players to be physically prepared, it’s almost as if it is a given,” Bavis said.

Clearly, the former BU skater turned BU assistant coach turned Terriers associate head coach knows of what he speaks. On the ice, Bavis was a key member of four outstanding Boston University teams — he appeared in four NCAA tournaments, one national championship game and had a 123-43-15 record over four winters.

Bavis played both sides of the puck effectively and was voted New England’s top defensive forward in 1992 and 1993. He had a 34-48-82 line in 159 career games. Following three professional seasons and three years away from the rink, Bavis returned to Commonwealth Avenue in 1998-99 as an assistant coach.

“When you get back in September you are going to be as physically fit as you possibly can,” Bavis said of a BU player’s summer. “You’re going to have made positive gains, real positive gains, not just token gains in your condition. You’re going to be in a level of condition that we’ve established that we think we have to have across the board.”

Mike Boyle

And thanks to the man behind the “Body by Boyle” T-shirts seen in BU locker and weight rooms over the years, several generations of Terriers have made those strides. Boyle, of course, is a fixture within the Boston sports scene and has worked with the Bruins (NHL), Blazers (MLL), Celtics (NBA), Revolution (MLS) and Breakers (WUSA), and as the Terriers strength and conditioning guru he has presided over two NCAA championships.

Bavis pointed to the athletes’ commitment, in conjunction with Boyle’s programs, as an important building block for the Terriers’ success.

“I don’t know how much that’s changed over the last 20 years,” Bavis said. “Mike, as good as he is, he’s always evolving. I think our [workouts] have changed or our focus has changed from when I was doing it. But you probably have to go prior to me.”

Boston University is not the only school to employ such an intense program and you would be hard pressed to find any Division I program in the NCAA that does not employ a rigorous training system.

“The margin between us and other schools, in that area, has probably drawn closer because other teams have become, [not only] aware of our success, but certainly aware of how important that area is in championship success,” Bavis said. “But that doesn’t make it … any less a part of our success.”

Already one of the most storied programs in college hockey, the Terriers added a fifth national championship last season. Even so, Bavis and the coaching staff understand the unique problem they will encounter as the Terriers return to school.

“April 20, we were already training for [next season],” Bavis said. “And I know that it was said by Mike Boyle and it was said by Jack Parker that we’re no longer national champions.

“We’re defending national champions.”

After all, what do you want to do when you win it all? Well, basically, you want to win it all again.

BU repeated as champions in 1971 and 1972, but did not in 1978 in 1995. This season, the Terriers will look to follow the example of the ’70s skaters.

“People whose seasons had ended earlier than ours had already refocused their energies on getting a chance to do what we did this year,” Bavis said. “We won it this year and Boston College won it the year before. Michigan State won it the year before that. There are a lot of teams that won it once.

“Something that is very hard to control from a coaching standpoint is human nature. Human nature is a very powerful thing.

“Hopefully we’ve got guys on our team that their nature is to win and win again and win again. There are people out there that feed off the need, not the want, to keep winning. And we believe have guys in our leadership who have the ability to bring that to the rink every day.

Every day — even during the summer.

“Having said that, I think our goal as coaches is to keep their focus on the fact that the only way that this team is ‘one for the ages’ [will depend] on if we can do what the ’71 and ’72 Terrier teams did, or, again, what the Minnesota or the Denver teams did.

“So, we’re very aware as coaches and we’re working very hard at that.”

And so, no doubt, are the members of the Boston University hockey team.

Fenway Games Set; Dreams Become Reality

By Scott Weighart

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August 20, 2009

Hockey East on Thursday announced what surely will be the coolest game in league history — a doubleheader of outdoor college hockey action at Boston’s hallowed Fenway Park on Friday, Jan. 8.

At 4 p.m., Northeastern will face New Hampshire in what is believed to be the first outdoor women’s hockey game in the sport’s history. At 7:30 p.m., the last two national champions will play in a chilly nightcap, as Boston College plays archrival Boston University under the lights.

Although a BU-BC matchup at Fenway Park has been discussed for several years, recent renovations at the venerable stadium thwarted early efforts. Now the National Hockey League’s decision to set up a Boston Bruins game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 1 made it relatively easy for Hockey East to make these games happen.

The sunny, muggy weather for a morning news conference — held in foul territory on the first-base side of the field — matched the fever pitch of all parties involved. “Growing up here, I always thought I’d make it here as a shortstop,” BC coach Jerry York said. “But the pitchers got a lot better, and I’m awful glad to be here coaching. When I speak to [Boston Herald writer] Jocko Connolly and other sportswriters, I always say that BU and BC could play on Victory Field in Watertown and have a great crowd. I never quite envisioned that we’d come here to Fenway Park. We’re very excited about it. It’s a terrific opportunity for our coaches, fans, and players to take part in this spectacle. It’s going to be outstanding.”

“We’ve been talking about this game for any number of years,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “We’re very, very fortunate that the NHL is coming here because that allowed us to come on their coattails and make this game together. I know it will be quite a show for our fans and the city of Boston, but I think the greatest thing of all will be for the players involved to play here in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in a venue that we all know and love so much.”

Diminutive UNH women’s coach Brian McCloskey joked that the microphone should have been set at “Pedroia height” for him, alluding to the Red Sox second baseman. “If you told a western Canadian boy that he’d be coaching women’s hockey for a living, I’d probably think you were drinking. But if you told me I’d be doing it in Fenway, I know you’d be drinking.”

The players all expressed near disbelief as to how fortunate they are for this event to occur during their playing careers. “It’s unbelievable,” said Northeastern senior Lindsay Berman, a defenseman on the women’s team. “I’m so glad I’m still here for it. The exposure we’re going to get, the opportunity. ? I can’t really believe it. It started as a rumor, and we were hoping it was true — didn’t want to get our hopes up too much — and then we heard it was going to be announced today. Now it’s real, but it’s still kind of surreal. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like on game day.”

Given that women’s teams typically play in front of modest crowds, it should be a stark contrast on Jan. 8. Fenway holds roughly 35,000 fans. Even if only a third of those fans are in attendance for the early game, it would be the largest crowd ever to see a women’s college game.

“We usually play in front of a couple hundred at Matthews, and that’s exciting to us,” Berman said. “It definitely will be the biggest crowd ever for us — and maybe for women’s hockey. The national championship brings a lot of people, but I think this will beat it.”

“I’m ecstatic,” UNH senior Micaela Long said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and great for women’s hockey. The adrenalin will be pumping, so I’m not sure how much we’ll be thinking about the crowd or the ice surface. I think we’ll be just focusing on the game. The opportunity is unbelievable.”

Although the men are more accustomed to large crowds, they seemed no less awestruck about the opportunity. “Growing up in the Boston area and being a Red Sox fan, I don’t think words can express how excited I am about being part of this atmosphere,” BU sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky said.

“I think we’re all excited,” Eagles goalie John Muse said. “Growing up in Boston as a huge Sox fan, playing at Fenway has always been something that you’ve heard about, so to have it happen is a dream come true.”

The weather is already the most intriguing topic to mull. For once in their long careers, York and Parker will be poring over weather forecasts as part of their strategic preparation. Not everyone is on the same page as to what they hope the conditions will be. “I don’t know what I’m hoping for,” Muse said. “I think it’s going to be cold just because it’s a night game. I hope it doesn’t snow because that would be kind of difficult to play if it’s snowing. Hopefully the weather’s good and we get the game in.”

“Wind’s going to be a factor, but I picture a crystal-clear January night, 15 degrees,” York said. “Both Jack and I will have our tuques on.”

“I think the worse the weather is, the better it will be,” Parker said. “We need snow. The game at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo with Pittsburgh was fabulous when it started snowing. That’s how we used to play hockey — that’s how the game started.”

“I’d like for it to snow a little bit in warm-ups and then clear up,” Berman said. “I think we’ll wear a little extra clothing underneath. I think my hands will be cold. The only thing I really worried about it is my face. There’s no real way to keep that warm, but I think the adrenalin will take over.”

“35 would probably be ideal,” Long said. “Not too hot, not too cold.”

“I think snow would be fun,” Warsofsky added. “Obviously it will be cold, but it will be fun whatever the weather is.”

It certainly will be fun for college hockey fans as well. Tickets will go on sale to the general public at Noon on Thursday, Sept. 17. Prices will range dramatically, starting at a mere $5 for bleacher seats and going up to $90 for seats in the private suites or on top of the Green Monster. The field itself will feature one goal in shallow left field and the other in shallow right field, with the center-ice faceoff landing right around second base.

The games will count in the league standings, and the men’s game will be broadcast on NESN. This will be third men’s college hockey game to be held in the outdoor area. Michigan played Michigan State on Oct. 6, 2001, and Ohio State faced off against Wisconsin in Green Bay on Feb. 11, 2006.

Wisconsin is planning a doubleheader for Camp Randall Stadium on Feb. 6. Its men’s team will play Michigan; its women’s team will face Bemidji State.

CCHA Decision Represents ‘A Lot Of Moving Parts,’ Anastos Says

By Paula C. Weston

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August 19, 2009

One week after the CCHA rejected Alabama-Huntsville’s application for membership, one thing is still clear: There is much more to this situation than has been made public.

Said CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos, “There are a lot of moving parts.”

The vote on Huntsville’s application was somewhat surprising, both in its timing and its format. The league hadn’t indicated that it would vote on Huntsville this month, and the acclimation vote — one by which no roll is taken — leaves each member’s vote anonymous and leaves many people speculating about the CCHA’s reasons for its actions.

In the league’s press release about the vote, Anastos said, “At this time we have chosen to maintain our membership at its current level. The CCHA will remain focused on maintaining and strengthening our existing members to ensure the conference’s continued success and long-term viability.”

Later in the week, Anastos elaborated on his comments. The timing of the vote, he said, shows that member schools “chose to make a decision” when they met last week.

“No one knew how the discussion was going to come out,” said Anastos. “We don’t really schedule votes. I wanted to make sure that we had an open discussion and dialogue in front of everybody.

“Right now, we don’t have a schedule for 2010. We had Bowling Green’s situation with no conclusion yet. I told everybody that we may vote … but at the same time a lot’s happened since April.”

"Why would you ever close the door? I wouldn’t understand that."

— CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos

April was when UAH made its original pitch to the CCHA Council. Since then, speculation about the future of Bowling Green’s program has intensified, with the departures of head coach Scott Paluch and ice arena director Buddy Powers in addition to the school’s commitment of $4 million for maintenance of the arena. Also, Nebraska-Omaha has opted to leave the CCHA in favor of the WCHA beginning with the 2010 season.

“I wanted everyone, including Huntsville, to know that there was a chance that we’d come out with a vote [in August] because the landscape wasn’t shaped,” Anastos said.

Even though the league has voted against admitting the program for the immediate future, Anastos, who does not vote on the Council, said that last week’s vote wasn’t the final word. “Why would you ever close the door?” he said. “I wouldn’t understand that.”

One day after the vote, Lake Superior State coach Jim Roque told WKNW-AM radio in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., that he thinks UAH needs to be patient and that the league’s decision was one of a matter of timing. “Alabama did a good job,” Roque said. “I think they made a good presentation.”

Roque pointed to both the situation with Bowling Green and “pressure by the Big Ten Conference” to have Big Ten member teams from the CCHA and WCHA face off more during the season. “If anything, I think our league schedule is going to change here in the next year or two as far as a few less league games to allow those schools to play each other more,” Roque said.

He added, “Eventually, I do see them getting in. I think Alabama will become our 12th member.”

Roque and other CCHA coaches don’t vote in the Council, even though they can influence their schools’ votes. Those representatives of the schools from athletic departments who do vote are unwilling to reveal the specifics of what was discussed in last week’s meeting, but Notre Dame associate athletic director Tom Nevala said that there are two things that people need to keep in mind.

“First, there are larger issues out there that college hockey needs to address and some of them are truly economic,” Nevala said. “A lot of people think that economics is only ticket revenue and travel costs, but it’s not.

“Secondly, I would describe this as internal to college hockey.”

In other words, there’s more going on here than one vote about admitting one team to one league, but no one wants to say.

“Given today’s circumstances and where we are,” Anastos said, “people don’t have the opportunity to look at this from member schools’ perspectives. People look at it from the perspective of the program trying to get admitted.”

That there may be bigger issues at work beyond Alabama-Huntsville’s control is no comfort to the Chargers, who remain the only CHA team without a conference home after that league folds at the end of the 2009-10 season.

“We have to do something quickly,” said UAH athletic director Jim Harris, who is concerned about the viability of the program beyond this season.

UAH offered the CCHA a package to cover the cost of travel for other teams in the league, a lump sum that would be paid to the league by July 1 of every year, to be distributed to league members as the CCHA saw fit.

And after the CCHA expressed some scheduling concerns about the Chargers sharing the multipurpose Von Braun Center with the Huntsville Havoc (SPHL), the Von Braun Center “bent over backwards” to accommodate a more favorable CCHA schedule, said Harris — a moot point down the road anyway, since the university plans to build a convocation center within the next five years that will house a 4,000-seat ice arena.

Even though the 2010 CCHA schedule hasn’t been solidified, UAH offered to “plug in” where UNO was going to play, said Harris, in an attempt to create a seamless transition.

UAH has worked in recent years to reach out to southern areas where there is interest in hockey, particularly throughout Georgia and in Tampa, and in all the Southeastern Conference markets, as all SEC teams but one have club hockey teams.

On the strength of its proposal and willingness to accommodate the CCHA, the Chargers thought they were a shoo-in for league membership. “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Harris said.

In spite of an application that CCHA members agree was strong and their 20-year hockey history, the Chargers may be out in the cold for nothing they themselves have or have not done.

“Frankly, there are many items and decisions made far beyond just the applicant,” Anastos said. “There are a lot of issues that go into a decision on this.”

Anastos knows that the decision paints the league in a negative light, but that the image is unearned. “I don’t know how people can say that the CCHA hasn’t been hospitable, hasn’t reached out,” he said.

“As I can tell you, there’s not a person in the CCHA or its member schools who’s not aware that UAH may fold, who’s not conscious of what may happen. None of us wants that.”

Commentary: What’s Best for College Hockey

By Paula C. Weston

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August 19, 2009

So, what’s it going to be? The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, or the Lake Superior State Lakers? Alabama-Huntsville, or Ferris State — or St. Cloud State, or Minnesota-Duluth, or everybody’s current darling, the Bemidji State Beavers?

How would you like to have to make that choice?

After the CCHA rejected UAH’s application for admission to the league, many people were quick to condemn the league for allegedly not acting in the best interest of college hockey, my own excellent colleague and friend Jim Connelly going so far as to accuse the CCHA of long-standing elitism.

If columns, message boards, blogs and my own inbox are any indication, the league’s decision was overwhelmingly unpopular. For over a year, in my column I had advocated the admission of both UAH and Robert Morris to the league, something that would have — before the WCHA poached Nebraska-Omaha — brought the number of teams in the league to 14, perhaps forcing the league to move to two divisions or all of college hockey to consider some adjustments in alignment.

I, too, am disappointed in the outcome of the vote. I would have loved to have welcomed the Chargers and their enthusiastic fans into the CCHA fold, loved to have written about the program regularly, loved to have seen the CCHA expand into a more southern market.

However, I knew that there had to be more at stake than the preservation of one hockey program when the CCHA member schools voted rather unexpectedly last week. That the vote happened when it did was the unexpected part, and after giving the vote some time to percolate in my brain, I suspect that the outcome would have been different if two things weren’t occurring: The departure of Nebraska-Omaha, which will weaken the league in certain ways; and the growing influence of the Big Ten Network.

As unpopular as the CCHA’s decision was to reject the application of the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, perhaps the league is trying to keep intact more than its own soon-to-be 11 members.

The loss of UNO is a blow, both in terms of the CCHA’s footprint and revenue. The Mavericks are in the thick of USHL country, an area in which the CCHA recruits heavily. UNO is one of the bigger schools in the league, and the hiring of head coach Dean Blais is no doubt an indication that the program is on solid ground. Omaha is one of the bigger media markets in the CCHA. UNO’s decision to leave no doubt shook the CCHA member schools.

A weaker CCHA does college hockey no good, and the member schools may have been forced to circle their collective wagons when the WCHA actively pursued and won UNO’s membership.

Now, anyone who reads me regularly knows that I’m not the smartest chick around, but given enough time, I can connect dots when the numbers are clear enough. There was serious talk in college hockey circles that Penn State, a Big Ten member school, would make a decision to field a Division I team in May of this year. Obviously, that didn’t happen — but the talk was loud enough for anyone who knew the situation to hear it, and it’s still a strong possibility. The addition of Penn State would bring to six the number of Big Ten teams playing college hockey, six being the magic number to force the Big Ten member schools to vote on a Big Ten hockey conference.

There is pressure by the Big Ten Network for the current Big Ten member schools with Division I hockey programs — Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin — to play each other more regularly, so that the network can show the games and make more money. There’s even talk of having some sort of Big Ten hockey hardware, some sort of trophy for the member teams, which would require that each plays each other, every season.

In theory, more Big Ten hockey play has some merit; the name recognition of the schools involved could heighten the profile of college hockey. The scheduling, however, is difficult for all of the Big Ten schools involved, given their current conference obligations and the number of teams playing.

While heightening the profile of the sport through Big Ten Network exposure is something that may help all of college hockey, don’t think for a minute that the Big Ten Network — or the Big Ten, for that matter — gives a fig about anything other than its own bottom line. Go to the Big Ten Network’s Web site and find a press release dated Dec. 20, 2006, the release that talks about the Network’s offices and studios in Chicago. Accompanying the release is a photo of five executives, each holding athletic equipment: a soccer ball, a volleyball, a football, a basketball and a baseball glove. There is no hockey puck, no stick, no mask — natural, perhaps, because there is as yet no Big Ten hockey conference, but so metaphoric in terms of the sport we college hockey fans love.

There is no Big Ten hockey conference — yet. Make no mistake about how the Big Ten Network plays in this. While college athletics should be about student-athletes, and everyone involved in college athletics knows people — coaches, administrators, faculty — that do their best to make sure that college athletics is about student-athletes, it’s all about money, plain and simple, to the people who can profit from it, and the Big Ten Network would make much more money from a Big Ten hockey conference than it possibly can from two WCHA teams and three CCHA teams whose schools are otherwise affiliated with the Big Ten and who occasionally play each other.

And were the Big Ten to force its league on two current WCHA and three current CCHA members, the results would be detrimental to all of college hockey, make no mistake about that. For the two leagues where there are already haves and have-nots because of the differences in the make-ups of the schools, think of what would happen if the haves depart.

So, do you want to lose Laker hockey? Husky hockey? The Beavers? The Bulldogs? The Falcons?

If the only way to keep the Big Ten wolf at bay is to maintain the strongest possible CCHA, and the only way CCHA member schools thought that keeping their conference strong at this time was to reject Alabama-Huntsville, then the CCHA has made an unpopular decision that I have to respect.

Given the ripple effect that a Big Ten hockey conference could produce, I’d say that the CCHA just took one for the team — the entire college hockey team, not just its member schools.

So go ahead and get your hate on if you have to when the Chargers open their road season in South Bend and their home season against Western Michigan, even though the coaches and players had no say in what happened last week and are clearly happy to play you. Go ahead and get your hate on as your ECAC and Hockey East teams step up and give the Chargers weekend series this year … if you’re Clarkson and Mass.-Lowell. Go ahead and get your CCHA hate on as you welcome the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks into your league in 2010.

The CCHA has demonstrated throughout its history a commitment to building the sport of college hockey. All it takes is a little history lesson to see that the league itself was born from a love of college hockey and through the years did its best to nurture and foster blossoming D-I programs. Kent State, St. Louis, the University of Illinois-Chicago, Ohio University — all defunct CCHA programs that did not go under for lack of love from the league.

Other non-conference teams that are gone, like Findlay and Wayne State, benefitted from a close association with the league, and many CHA and AHA programs — Mercyhurst, RIT, Robert Morris among others, even Huntsville, if it’s honest — will tell you that they’ve benefitted from generous scheduling on the part of CCHA teams with whom they may not even have personal ties. I can’t tell you how many CCHA coaches have told me that scheduling up-and-coming programs is the right thing to do, and not just the guys who coach in the have-not schools of the league. I can’t tell you how many CCHA coaches reminisce about how their own CCHA teams, whether they were playing or coaching back in the day, had difficulty filling their schedules because other leagues didn’t want to travel or take them in for a non-conference game. They remember, and that memory colors how everyone associated with the actual game in the league does business.

Condemn the CCHA, if it makes you feel better. But if you want to do some good, direct your ire at a more accurate target, the Big Ten Network and the machine of greed that drives so much of our culture.

I’m the first to criticize the league when I think the league warrants it, so I’m not merely being a homer here. Nor am I suggesting that the CCHA voted last week in a completely altruistic manner; nobody does. Nor do I know anything concrete about why the member schools voted the way they did.

But maybe the CCHA is trying to tell us something and is not at liberty to say it out loud, in so many words.

If that’s the case, hear the message — but don’t shoot the messenger.

North Dakota Drops Frattin After Arrest

USCHO Staff Report

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August 19, 2009

North Dakota has dismissed junior forward Matt Frattin after his second run-in with the law this offseason.

Frattin, 21, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence on Wednesday, according to a team statement. Coach Dave Hakstol announced Frattin’s dismissal for a violation of team rules.

Matt Frattin

“This decision was made with the best interests of our program in mind, specifically the responsibilities to the program and what is expected of the members of our team,” Hakstol said in a news release. “But we also care about Matt Frattin and would like to put him in position to be able to live a healthy lifestyle and resume his hockey career.”

In July, Frattin and former North Dakota teammate Joe Finley were arrested for disorderly conduct after campus police observed them throwing cups, plates, a kitchen table and a lawnmower from a residential garage.

The team suspended Frattin for two games and reduced his scholarship money after that incident.

On Wednesday, Hakstol said Frattin’s status with the team may be revisited before next season.

Commentary: More Than Meets The Eye in CCHA’s Huntsville Decision

By Dave Starman

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August 13, 2009

The CCHA told Alabama-Huntsville to point its charge toward respectability elsewhere. That’s interesting.

More than a few former college coaches (now coaching professionally) have mentioned on many occasions that the appearance given by the college hockey world is that there is no urgency to grow Division I college hockey. Yes, there are Web sites and campaigns to keep elite-level American hockey players out of Canadian Major Junior and in U.S. college programs. While we all know there was more to this decision by the CCHA to exclude Alabama-Huntsville than meets the eye, you do have to openly wonder about the growth of the sport at the NCAA Division I level.

Don’t mistake this as an open campaign for the Chargers to be in one of the Big Four conferences. When you take a look at the program you do have cause for optimism as a CCHA team. You have a CCHA alum in Danton Cole as the head coach — a guy who played at Michigan State under college hockey’s all-time wins leader, Ron Mason, and was a member of the 1986 national title team.

The guy has a Stanley Cup ring as a player with the New Jersey Devils. How many college hockey programs boast a bench boss with those credentials? To review for a moment, a national title ring in college, playing for an elite NCAA program, playing in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup. Say what you want about Massachusetts, but it has an assistant in Red Gendron who also has a Devils Stanley Cup ring, and that just lends credibility to your program, folks.

Not that any of that makes you a good coach, but Cole is currently with USA Hockey coaching the Under-18 select team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tourney in Slovakia. That lends credibility.

Travel was put out there as a possible reason why UAH was excluded. Jim Connelly, my colleague from Boston, described the travel as being no worse than it was to Omaha and just as demanding as going to Alaska.

You want to ask if Huntsville will draw fans at the arenas of the big CCHA programs?

Michigan would sell out if it was playing St. Norbert. That is just a rabid fan base that loves its team. Notre Dame is turning away people at the doors every night due to its resurgence and it actually has a history with Huntsville from their epic double-overtime win in the NCAA tournament a couple of years ago.

Miami loves its hockey and that building filled up on a freezing cold Saturday night against Bowling Green last season. Ohio State has its share of attendance challenges with the big building but it is supportive especially as the season winds down and hockey becomes more prominent on the sports calendar. Michigan State has had some attendance issues lately, but will Huntsville attract less fans than Western or Lake State?

Huntsville is actually an interesting hockey market. During my time as an assistant coach in the Central Hockey League, the Huntsville Channel Cats played to very full buildings. The fact that they had a good squad reminiscent of the Charlestown Chiefs didn’t hurt but they were a good franchise that won titles at the single A level (Southern Hockey League) and the AA level (Central League). The year they won the SHL title the Chargers won the Division II national title and Huntsville branded itself the “Hockey Capital of the South.”

The Von Braun Center is a great building for hockey and in the CCHA it would be in the upper echelon of facilities. Being in the CCHA would help recruiting as it offers a nice campus, good facilities and a strong tradition similar to Bemidji State at the D-II and D-III level. I wonder if some of the more remote schools in the CCHA expressed concern in that area.

It would make sense and if I coached at Northern Michigan or Ferris State I’d be worried that a potential recruit might say he’d rather leave the rink in February when its only 40 degrees in Alabama as opposed to walking out into the Marquette or Big Rapids night air where it’s minus-10 with a foot of snow. How could that thought not cross your mind? Then again if you are Michigan or Miami or Northern Michigan (which keeps finding its way into the CCHA’s final four) do you worry about a kid you are recruiting for a third-line role his freshman year who decides he’ll get first-line minutes at Huntsville a lot faster with a little less depth on the roster. Also food for thought.

Look at the changing landscape of college football. With all due respect, the Big Ten has suffered as a football conference and the SEC and Big 12 have become elite conferences because they offer warm weather all season, a chance for a passing QB to show off his arm in great weather conditions, and play wide open offensive styles because they don’t have to deal with snow, high winds and biting cold. Northern kids are going south to play. Or west — USC’s resurgence isn’t an accident either. Good weather makes for a long fall, a nice winter semester and an early spring.

The real issue here is growth; the other issues are just speculation. If Huntsville goes the way of Iona, Fairfield, Kent State, Findlay and Wayne State, it is another program at the Division I level that will never return, and that means 25-28 less roster spots for American kids wanting to play college hockey.

Or do we look at it like we do GM, Chrysler and Ford? All three struggled for various reasons and only Ford seems to have found itself. We live in a capitalist society of survival of the fittest, and if the market of Huntsville, Ala., isn’t fit to survive in the landscape of Division I college hockey, maybe it is best for the overall good of the game to let it slide back to D-III. That is for Bruce McLeod, Tom Anastos, Steve Hagwell, Joe Bertagna and the rest of the NCAA folks who govern college hockey to decide.

The International Hockey League was a great AAA league in the 1990s — it was in awesome markets and was like a mini NHL the way it was run. However, it grew way too fast into markets that couldn’t support it and eventually, like the old World Hockey Association, it folded and saw some of its teams merge into its rival league, in this case the American Hockey League.

The CHA also is departing but its member clubs like Bemidji, Robert Morris and Niagara are all safe. They are also in conferences that geographically work for them to create natural rivalries. Bemidji should thrive as the fifth WCHA team in Minnesota and have a great rivalry with Michigan Tech and North Dakota.

So what happens to Huntsville?

It seems odd that a team whose nickname is also a model of car would be excluded from a league run out of Detroit. Looks like the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers will go the way of the Dodge Charger.

South.

Commentary: CCHA’s Thumbs-Down To Huntsville Reeks of Elitism

By Jim Connelly

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August 12, 2009

It appeared to be one of the best-laid road maps.

The solution that seemingly was brokered between all college hockey conferences and the 58 member institutions that would find homes for the four “homeless” members of the CHA looked almost too good to be true.

Thanks to the CCHA, looks certainly aren’t meant to be deceiving — this deal certainly was far too good to be true.

In June, when the WCHA announced that it would admit both Bemidji State and CCHA member Nebraska-Omaha, the road was clear for the CCHA to take the final step in displaying solidarity. Atlantic Hockey got the ball rolling when it agreed to take in Niagara and Robert Morris. The final piece of the puzzle lay in Alabama.

The CCHA could admit Alabama-Huntsville, a program with a rich hockey history at the Division II level and a successful member of the Division I ranks in the CHA, and push together the final piece to college hockey’s jigsaw puzzle.

Alas, the CCHA turned up its noses at lonely Huntsville, denying it like an ugly stepchild. The reasons aren’t rising to the surface just yet, but what has been said to this point seems like nothing but college hockey’s version of elitism.

Yes, the CCHA is loaded with some college powerhouses: Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame. But there are also some members whose “gear” can’t be bought at your big-box retailers or the commercial sporting goods stores. These schools like Lake Superior State, Alaska, Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan — where were they when it comes to saving a small-school program?

Truth is, they might have fought long and hard for Huntsville. We may never know. The CCHA’s bylaws required nine of 11 members (Nebraska-Omaha wasn’t allowed a vote as it’s on the road to WCHA-ville) to vote in favor of UAH’s admission for it to happen. Enough members turned up their noses at the Chargers, and now this once-proud hockey power might be writing its swan song as it sails toward extinction.

A day later, not a lot has been written, which is expected when offseason news comes about. But Danny Martin of the Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks, Alaska, shared some views from Alaska athletic director Forrest Karr, who had one of the 11 votes in the decision.

These views truly bothered me.

Said Karr, “Some people had concerns about a lack of commitment.” Really? This school has had to survive for more than a decade since the NCAA demolished Division II hockey and it has done so admirably. UAH was a founding member of the CHA, the conference for the programs that just didn’t seem to fit the existing landscape geographically, academically or financially. As CHA members dropped programs, UAH, along with Niagara, Robert Morris and Bemidji State proudly stayed the course. How’s that for commitment?

He also noted that the institution “isn’t in a major recruiting market.” Wow, I didn’t know that Fairbanks, Alaska, was such a hockey hotbed. How about South Bend, Ind.? That market didn’t seem to hurt Notre Dame when it played for the national title in 2008.

A final argument was that student-athlete welfare was a concern because of the “missed class time due to long bus trips.” This one is a real laugher. For starters, Huntsville, Ala., is closer to or about equidistant to Omaha, Neb., for most CCHA schools. That hasn’t destroyed student-athletes to date, has it? Heck, what’s the impact of these same student athletes having to take 10-plus hour plane rides to Fairbanks, Alaska?

When push comes to shove, it’s hard for anyone to substantiate why the CCHA members voted down UAH’s application other than to revert back to my original cry of elitism. The united cry from college hockey over the past few years has been that every conference, every school, should do anything possible to save the current programs that exist. Somehow that message didn’t get to the CCHA.

One final quote from Mr. Karr: “I hope this is not a death sentence for them, and I hope it’s not the end of their program. The last thing anyone wants to see is the loss of any Division I college hockey program.”

OK, so maybe the party-line message did reach the CCHA. Just seems that the membership was too high on their horses, though, to really listen.

Lowell Goaltender Hamilton Cleared of Drug-Possession Charge

USCHO Staff Report

-

August 11, 2009

Mass.-Lowell goaltender Nevin Hamilton has been cleared of a drug-possession charge stemming from his July 24 arrest in Ashland, Mass.

Hamilton, 24, had been charged with possession of a Class B substance.

“Nevin was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald said in a news release. “Fortunately, justice has prevailed and he has been exonerated of all charges.”

Hamilton is entering his senior season at Lowell. A criminal justice major, he was 10-7-1 with a 2.15 goals against average and a .925 save percentage as a junior last season for the River Hawks.

CCHA Denies Huntsville’s Application For Admission

USCHO Staff Report

-

August 11, 2009

The CCHA has denied Alabama-Huntsville’s application for admission, putting the program’s future in even more jeopardy.

The Chargers are members of the CHA, which is set to disband after the 2009-10 season. The three other members have found other conferences, and UAH targeted the CCHA.

But the CCHA Council, a body made up of athletic administrators and faculty athletic representatives, on Tuesday voted by acclamation to deny UAH’s application for membership.

“The league completed its due diligence of the application for membership submitted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville with careful consideration and discussion of various issues,” CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said in a news release. “At this time we have chosen to maintain our membership at its current level.

“The CCHA will remain focused on maintaining and strengthening our existing members to ensure the conference’s continued success and long-term viability.”

The CCHA is set to drop to 11 teams in 2010, when Nebraska-Omaha is moving to the WCHA along with CHA member Bemidji State.

Robert Morris and Niagara are moving to Atlantic Hockey.

Alabama-Huntsville expressed disappointment in the decision in a news release, and it did not say what its next course of action will be.

“We are certainly disappointed in the decision and feel like our program has a lot to offer to any league,” athletic director Jim Harris said. “We are going to have a cooling-off period and then look at other options that are available to us and then move forward.”

Chargers coach Danton Cole said: “I do not know what the future holds for the program, but we will be looking at our options and move forward in the best interest of the university.”

Former Boston College Captain Cleary Dies

USCHO Staff Report

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August 5, 2009

A funeral mass was offered Wednesday for former Boston College captain Joe Cleary.

Cleary, who captained the 1992 Eagles team and was a four-year letterwinner at the school, was found dead on July 30. He was 39.

Cleary was a member of the Eagles from 1988 through 1992. During those years, Boston College appeared in three NCAA tournaments and advanced to the Frozen Four in 1990. The Eagles won three regular season Hockey East titles (1989-1991) and beat Maine 4-3 to win the school’s second Hockey East Tournament title.

A defenseman, Cleary registered 19 goals and 67 assists in 145 career games at the Heights. He was a fifth-round selection of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1988 and after leaving Boston College played two professional seasons in the International Hockey League.

Cleary leaves behind his wife Tracy Anne (Costello) and his son Christopher.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Educational & Health Fund for Christopher J. Cleary, c/o Bank of America (858 Washington St., Dedham, MA 02026) are being accepted.

Western New England Tabs Fredonia Assistant Heffernan

USCHO Staff Report

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August 4, 2009

Western New England has named Fredonia assistant Greg Heffernan as its new head coach.

He replaces Chris Bernard, who left for the top job at Potsdam.

“We’re very excited to have Greg on our staff,” Western New England athletic director Mike Theulen said in a news release. “He has the experience necessary to take our program to the next level and we’re very much looking forward to having him in our athletic family. Greg brings a tremendous background not only athletically, but academically, which makes a good fit for the college.”

Heffernan was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Fredonia from 2006 to 2009.

“I’m extremely excited to join the Western New England College coaching staff,” he said in a release. “We got a lot of work ahead of us. My expectations are to come and create a successful program and it’s a great opportunity. I think it’s going to be a great fit and I am looking forward to spending many years of my life developing a top notch hockey program.”

Heffernan also served as head coach and general manager of the Cleveland Barons Under-19 AAA team before joining Fredonia.

BU Adds Powers to Coaching Staff, Elevates Bavis to Associate

USCHO Staff Report

-

August 4, 2009

Defending national champion Boston University has elevated Mike Bavis to associate head coach and added former Bowling Green and Rensselaer coach Buddy Powers as an assistant.

Bavis, entering his 12th season with the Terriers, takes over a spot vacated when David Quinn moved to head the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL.

Bavis, Powers and BU coach Jack Parker all graduated from prep hockey powerhouse Catholic Memorial in West Roxbury, Mass. Powers also played at BU.

“I’m proud to announce Mike’s well-deserved promotion and welcome Buddy back to BU,” Parker said in a news release.

Bavis played for the Terriers from 1989 to 1993, then joined the staff in 1998.

“Mike has been a dedicated assistant for more than a decade and took great pride in helping his alma mater earn another national championship,” Parker said. “During his time here, he has recruited some great players to our program and coached others to become great players.”

Powers was working as the director of the BGSU Ice Arena and a TV analyst at Bowling Green, where he was head coach from 1994 to 2002.

He coached Rensselaer from 1989 to 1994 following a season at RIT.

“For Buddy, it’s kind of come full circle, and I’m certainly looking forward to having another former player return to BU,” Parker said. “I think highly of him as both a coach and as a person and his head-coaching experience in two of the nation’s best conferences [CCHA, ECACHL] speaks for itself.”

UMass-Lowell’s Hamilton Faces Drug Charge After Arrest

USCHO Staff Report

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July 30, 2009

Massachusetts-Lowell goaltender Nevin Hamilton was arrested last Friday in Ashland, Mass., on a drug possession charge, according to published reports.

Hamilton, 24, was charged with possession of a Class B substance, the MetroWest Daily News reported.

A Lowell spokesperson confirmed to the New England Hockey Journal that the arrested party was a student at the school.

Class B substances include cocaine, opium and methamphetamines, but there was no indication which drug Hamilton’s charge involved.

Hamilton, a criminal justice major, was 10-7-1 with a 2.15 goals against average and a .925 save percentage as a junior last season for the River Hawks.

Bowling Green Gets $4 Million For Arena Renovation

USCHO Staff Report

-

July 30, 2009

One of the elements critical to Bowling Green’s longterm survival is closer to reality.

The school is committing $2.5 million in capital improvement funds toward the renovation of the BGSU Ice Arena, and the state of Ohio is kicking in an additional $1.5 million for the project.

“These funds are clearly needed to keep the facility viable,” school president Carol Cartwright said in a news release. “That is important for the Bowling Green community and the University.”

The future of the Bowling Green program was put in doubt when the planned renovations to the 43-year-old arena were postponed. Earlier this offseason, coach Scott Paluch left the school for a new position at USA Hockey.

But the funding for the arena renovation and the potential for a fund-raising campaign to endow hockey scholarships are signs that the team isn’t imminently fading away.

“I believe this is an important show of good faith,” Cartwright said. “I am confident that the funds necessary to ensure the future of the arena and BGSU hockey can be raised. I want to make it very clear that we want this effort to succeed.”

There was no timetable for the project released by the school.

1...1,1101,1111,112...1,531 Page 1,111 of 1,531

Former UMass Coach Canniff Dies

Guentzel Leaves CC for USHL Head Coaching Position

Framingham State Names New Head Coach

Weslosky Won’t Return to St. Cloud State

13 of 23 on Women’s National Team Played Collegiately Last Season

Hockey is the Terriers’ Summer Job

Fenway Games Set; Dreams Become Reality

CCHA Decision Represents ‘A Lot Of Moving Parts,’ Anastos Says

Commentary: What’s Best for College Hockey

North Dakota Drops Frattin After Arrest

Commentary: More Than Meets The Eye in CCHA’s Huntsville Decision

Commentary: CCHA’s Thumbs-Down To Huntsville Reeks of Elitism

Lowell Goaltender Hamilton Cleared of Drug-Possession Charge

CCHA Denies Huntsville’s Application For Admission

Former Boston College Captain Cleary Dies

Western New England Tabs Fredonia Assistant Heffernan

BU Adds Powers to Coaching Staff, Elevates Bavis to Associate

UMass-Lowell’s Hamilton Faces Drug Charge After Arrest

Bowling Green Gets $4 Million For Arena Renovation

Whittet the New Top Bear

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