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The Kid Who Wore Number Three

September 10, 1996

He began playing hockey at the age of two. A natural athlete, he competed primarily against older players until he was selected to the national Select-16 and Select-17 teams, beginning a streak during which he made every national team he tried out for. Recruited by all the top schools, he selected Boston University, in part because coach Jack Parker “really gets players ready for the next level.” He already had his eye on his ultimate dream, to play in the NHL.

Chris O’Sullivan will now get that opportunity. A second round draft pick of Calgary in 1992, O’Sullivan signed with the Flames in late August, forgoing his senior year at Boston University.

“I just thought it was the right point in my career,” he said. “I need the challenge of going up to the next level and getting used to the competition. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of doing….

“My number one [goal] is to make the Calgary Flames. I’m not going there to go to the minors or sit in the background. I’m going to go there and make that team. [After that] I would love to play in the NHL as long as I can.”

Although he is leaving, BU still holds a place near to his heart. “I’m going to miss those guys,” he said. “Boston University was my greatest experience. I can’t say enough good things about the place and about the people I’ve met there.”

Perseverance In The Face Of Adversity

Although at first glance Chris O’Sullivan’s career has been one smooth stride from one level to the next, that hasn’t always been the case. Part of a family with eleven children, Chris remembers their father “making three or four trips a day going back and forth to the baseball field or hockey rink or football practice or my sister’s field hockey. It was tough when I was in high school when my father first got sick and ended up passing away from cancer. That’s when I decided to come home from prep school and go to Catholic Memorial. The first month I enrolled at CM in the fall, that’s when my mother was diagnosed with brain cancer.”

The O’Sullivan clan, led by oldest brother Shaun, then twenty-seven, circled the wagons. Shaun, who had played at Northeastern and in the pros, supported the family. “We all pulled together,” said Chris, “and everyone pitched in doing their share.” Neighbors and teammates helped out with rides and somehow the dreams stayed alive, not only for Chris but also for his sister Stephanie, who has since gone on to be 1995 ECAC Women’s Player of the Year and is now looking towards competing in the 1998 Olympics.

At Catholic Memorial Chris found a different high school environment than he had experienced while away at Governor Dummer. “Governor Dummer was more of a prep school where hockey was secondary,” he said. “CM always pushed you to get your education, but the hockey was so important for them. Winning was such a big tradition.” That suited Chris just fine as he led them to yet another state championship.

During these years he was also earning berths on the national Select teams. “One of the highlights of my career was to participate in USA Hockey. They have such a great program and develop kids at such a young age.” A year after playing in a local tournament with the Select-16 team, Chris tried out for the Select-17 team. “I made that team and we got to travel to Japan. That was a great experience.”

Even after entering college, Chris’s links to USA Hockey continued. “When I was 19 I made the national junior team and we played in Czechoslovakia for two weeks. Then when I was twenty I went to the world championships in Stockholm, Sweden. I’ve been very fortunate to make those teams at every level that I’ve tried out. They’ve given me different life experiences that I’ll probably never get to have again.”

His experience with the Select teams, combined with his play at high-profile Catholic Memorial, made him a highly sought-after recruit.

“BU was always my number one choice, but I wanted to make sure. I never wanted to go to BU and then maybe look back and wonder about what the other schools had to offer,” he said. Boston College, Maine, Michigan, and Wisconsin were among the other possibilities.

After trips to BC and Maine he considered his choices. “I wanted my family to be able to see me play around Boston so that eliminated Michigan and Wisconsin. So it came down to Maine, BU, and BC. I just felt that all-around BU would be the best place for me. I’d grown up watching them and had admired the guys who had played for them and then gone on to have great NHL careers. So I thought that would be the best step to reaching my ultimate dream, which would be to have the opportunity to get to the NHL.”

Over Before It Started

Chris didn’t enroll at BU until midway through the 1992-93 season since he was completing his high school coursework at CM during the fall semester. Even though he was joining an established Terrier squad in mid-season, Chris still felt immediately at home.

“I was fortunate enough to grow up with, and have as one of my close friends, Kevin O’Sullivan who was captain at BU that year.” Kevin O’Sullivan, no relation to Chris, was one of many BU players who had also gone to CM. This list also included Mike Prendergast, Michael and Mark Bavis, Stephen Foster, and Dan Donato.

“All those guys played at CM before and so we’d always had that connection. That’s why I was always comfortable around the locker room even before I got to BU because I had known those guys. I wasn’t walking into a locker room where no one knew who I was or I didn’t know much about them.”

While making a smooth transition off the ice and in the locker room, Chris was immediately tested on the ice. “Coach Parker gave me a great opportunity in the five games I did play before I got injured. He had me playing the power play. He threw me into the fire to see what I could do. I felt I was ready and he felt I was ready. It worked out pretty well. It was just unfortunate that the injury happened.”

In his fifth game Chris broke his neck, ending his season. Although comparisons to Travis Roy’s injury are inevitable, Chris’s injury was quite different. Although he lost feeling for a few seconds after hitting the boards, he was able to get to his feet with the help of the trainer and actually didn’t get X-rays until two days later. Five weeks after the accident he had surgery, which fused a bone graft from his hip into his neck to stabilize the shifting vertebrae. The surgery has left him with an eight-inch scar rising up from the base of his neck, but the ensuing eight months of rehab and continued attention to stretching and massage have resulted in a pain-free outcome.

Only In Horseshoes And Hand Grenades

After redshirting his abortive 1992-93 season, Chris began the 1993-94 campaign part of a deep crew of Terrier blueliners that also included eventual All-Hockey East first team selection Rich Brennan as well as Kaj Linna, a second team All-American the previous year, Dan Donato, Doug Wood, and freshmen Jon Coleman and Shane Johnson. BU was again a league and national powerhouse, due in no small part to this group.

As the Beanpot neared, Chris had established himself in most observers’ eyes as one of the top three Terrier defensemen along with Brennan and Linna. Then, injury struck once again. “Four days after I did an interview about how excited I was to play in the Beanpot, I separated my shoulder and was unable to play,” Chris recalled. “That was one of the toughest situations I’ve been in as an athlete. I grew up watching the Beanpot. Playing in it is such a big thing.”

Without both Linna and O’Sullivan, BU was dominated in the opening round by Harvard 4-2, a deceptively close score in a game totally controlled by the Crimson. “It was frustrating to have suffered back-to-back injuries in January that kept me from playing in the Beanpot [two years in a row].”

Although he had again missed a Beanpot opportunity, Chris soon returned to the lineup. As the playoffs approached, the Terriers had earned their first regular season Hockey East title. As the number one seed in the league playoffs, however, they encountered an unlikely first round opponent.

The Maine Black Bears, saddled with forfeits and a league playoff ban for violations involving ineligible players, had gotten a court injunction allowing them to play.

Maine’s fourteen forfeits had transformed them, however, from a number two seed in the tourney to its lowest seed. Rather than breezing past easy pickings in the opening round, the Terriers were instead matched up against a top rival that was eager to save playoff face.

“At first when we found out [that we were playing Maine] we were really questioning it. They had a great team,” said Chris, “…[but] we just took that as a challenge. We had a team meeting and the guys, the older guys especially, said, ‘Let’s end their season legally now. No off the ice stuff. Let’s do it on the ice.'”

To make matters worse, they would have to face the Black Bears without Chris, J.P. McKersie, Jay Pandolfo, and Doug Wood in the first game of the best-of-three series. All four had been involved in a brawl near the close of the final regular season game against Providence. Ironically, the BU players had rushed into the brawl in defense of Mr. Intimidation himself, Mike Grier, who according to reports had been tangling with two Providence players.

Coach Jack Parker had not been pleased with the fighting and resulting suspensions. Chris, however, saw things differently. “At the time it was the thing to do. I’d do it again if it happened again. I felt one hundred percent in the right. It didn’t really mean that much what the Coach thought about it. The Coach was disappointed in all of us that took part in it. He just thought it got out of hand, that the refs let it get out of hand. But when that happens to your teammate, you can never go back to the bench or into the locker room again if [you do] anything but [stand up for them].

“Those are the things you have to do sometimes. I think the Coach realized that. But I think he was only disappointed because he thought we should have been smarter with the playoffs coming up.”

As it turned out, BU and the suspended players dodged a bullet. They beat Maine 8-5 without the four players and then completed the sweep 4-3 the following night. They then went on to win the Hockey East championship, beating UMass-Lowell 3-2 in the finals.

What appeared to be a BU juggernaut rolled through the NCAA playoffs until the title game, posting convincing 4-1 wins over first Wisconsin in the regionals and then the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the semifinals. Only Lake Superior State, coached by Jeff Jackson, stood in the way of BU’s first NCAA championship since 1978.

Lake State, however, not only took the crown, they humbled the Terriers in the process, 9-1. It was a sobering, disquieting loss that would haunt the squad all summer long. Two years after the fact, Chris viewed that game from a perspective that was probably not possible at the time.

“Having played for Jeff Jackson last summer in Finland for the Over-20 Select Team, I realize now what a great system he has and how disciplined his players are. They didn’t have to have all the top talent in the country to go out and win the championship. I know we had the talent that year to win it, but they were more disciplined than [we were], especially in that game.

“They were just a great team. They didn’t have individuals who went out and scored forty goals, but collectively they were the best team in the country. You have to give them credit for being a great team and a great coach. But that lit a fire under us that summer.”

Chris had one additional source of summertime motivation. When Hockey East announced its All-Rookie team, his absence was conspicuous. Picked ahead of him were John Jakopin from Merrimack and Tim Murray of UNH. For a player who’d been selected to seemingly every team he’d ever tried out for, the snub stung.

“I’ve got to admit that I was pretty disappointed. I really thought that I might have deserved [to make the team]. But… you can use it for motivation or you can be bitter about it and maybe think you’re not getting the respect you deserve. I looked at it as motivational and that helped me come back the next year and do some things differently.”

Differently indeed.

Movin’ On Up…To A National Championship

When Chris returned to the BU campus in the fall of 1994 he found that Coach Parker “had a different agenda for me. We lost Mike Pomichter who signed with Chicago in August and we had lost two other left wings to graduation that year. So we were thin on left wing.

“He actually asked me how I felt about playing left wing but before I answered he said, ‘I’m just asking you out of courtesy because that’s where you’re playing,’ and he joked about it. He said, ‘That’s what the team needs. We’re going to try you there and see how it goes and if you don’t adjust well you’ll just go back to D.’ He was going to try it until December and see how it went.”

Paired with center Steve Thornton and right wing Mike Grier, the trio hit the ground running and never looked back. In no time they became one of the most feared lines in college hockey.

What was the key to the line’s success? “We had a great center in Steve Thornton. He was a great power play guy, a great shorthanded guy, a great regular shift guy. He was a skilled guy but he also worked his tail off…. He was a good skater. He was a great handler of the puck. He was a very smart player.

“Mike Grier brought a lot also, his size and his intimidation. It was just a great combination from the start. I couldn’t have asked to play with two better linemates.”

Although the Terriers, and especially his line, were playing well, Chris was still nervous heading into the 1995 Beanpot. Since he’d been injured the previous two years and been unable to play, this time he was taking no chances. “The few days before the Beanpot even walking around the campus I had to make sure I didn’t get hurt or have anything happen. I felt that unlucky about it.” As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about. Chris played and BU breezed to a 6-2 win over Northeastern, followed by a 5-1 win over Boston College in the final.

After tying Maine for the Hockey East regular season crown, BU took the Hockey East championship for the second straight year with three close wins: 4-3 over Merrimack in the quarterfinals, 4-2 over UMass-Lowell in the semis, and 3-2 over Providence in the championship game.

The Terriers parlayed their 28-6-3 record and Hockey East championship into a deserved ranking as the number one seed in the NCAA Eastern Regional.

So what easy matchup did that deliver into BU’s grasp?

In an irony lost on most BU fans, the Terriers, the number one seed, drew the hottest team in the country. And not just any old “hottest team in the country.” It was the boogeyman that had haunted their closets all summer long. Lake Superior State, the team that had humiliated them the previous year, had looked dead and buried halfway through the season before it had Bela Lugosi-ed itself into the NCAA’s with an amazing stretch run of 15-1-1. They were the last team anyone wanted to be paired against.

“When they came out with the pairings,” Chris recalls, “we weren’t happy about getting Lake State because we felt that we deserved a different team. But we definitely weren’t going to cry about it. We just felt that… we’d have to go out there and play hard.”

The Terriers didn’t just nudge the boogeyman back into the closet. They knocked him out cold and sent him to Hades while posting a dominating 6-2 win. “We had a great game as a team and everyone pitched in. It felt like getting a monkey off our back.”

From there the Terriers beat Minnesota 7-3, largely on the strength of a third period, four-goal outbreak. In the finals, facing Hockey East rival Maine, who had outlasted Michigan in a legendary triple overtime semifinal game, BU won all three periods on the way to a 6-2 win. “Playing three big schools with three big traditions [like Lake State, Minnesota, and Maine] made it that much sweeter.”

Chris’s three goals during championship weekend, one in the semifinals against Minnesota and two in the finals against Maine, along with his stellar all-around play, garnered him tournament MVP honors. “That was a great feeling for me personally, just the feeling of being able to contribute to a championship. The fact that we got to win the national championship was something I had dreamed about as a kid. Finally getting the ring meant so much to me as a player. Looking back on my career the biggest achievement so far has been winning the national championship and getting a ring with my teammates.”

Highs and Lows, Frustrations And Disappointments

“[1995-96] was a very emotional year for us as a team going through JP’s comeback and Travis’s injury. That’s where Coach Parker came in and did an exceptional job,” said Chris. “It was tough for us and maybe took us out of focus a little bit. Seeing something like that makes you appreciate life that much more and appreciate playing the game and seeing how lucky you are getting a scholarship for something you love doing. It just makes you think about life and the different experiences and different opportunities you can make of it.”

Would Travis’s injury make the Terriers more cautious and less aggressive? “When I look at that injury it’s a very scary thing. But you can’t be out there thinking about getting hurt or what might happen. You have better odds of getting in a car accident. If you’re out there to play, you have to do it 100% and play hard or it’s not worth being out there.”

As it turned out, the Terriers overcame their obstacles and raced out to a 15-1-1 start. They were ranked number one in the nation. “We had a great record, we had great team unity, and we were on a roll. But then we had a couple of bad games, got a couple bad bounces, and all of a sudden we had a few losses. That wasn’t something we’d been through in the past.”

The seeds of their eventual downfall began to be sown. “We weren’t doing the things we did in the past year. We weren’t beating teams coming right out of the gate. We weren’t scoring two or three goals quickly. We’d find ourselves down maybe one or two before we got going. I don’t really have an answer for what exactly it was, but that was the track record we got ourselves into. It ended up killing us in the end.”

After again taking the Hockey East regular season crown and then rolling over the UMass-Amherst Minutemen in the playoff quarterfinals, BU squared off against Providence. The Friars had slumped in the second half of the season, but had rallied to beat Boston College to advance to the playoff semifinals. Most observers expected the Friars to become dog chow for the powerful Terriers.

BU, however, dug itself a 5-2 hole in the first two periods, much like they had done to such a frustrating degree over the second half of the season. Although a furious third period rally closed the score to 5-4, the Friars hung on for the win. They went on to win the Hockey East tournament, a championship that BU felt should have been theirs.

“If we’d played the first and second periods like we played the third,” said Chris, “it wouldn’t have been a close game at all. I don’t know why we weren’t focussed. We paid the price in the Hockey East tournament.”

At that point Coach Parker had seen enough. The Terrier defense, a stronghold in previous years, was not collectively playing championship-caliber hockey. Although Jon Coleman would eventually earn All-American honors, the lower end of the blueline depth chart was not getting the job done. Since there was more than enough front line talent, Parker moved Chris back to defense prior to the Hockey East consolation game and kept him there for the NCAA playoffs.

“I was playing forward at the time and I wasn’t producing a lot. I was playing injured the last two months of the season. I tore a ligament in my thumb and I was playing with a cast for those two months. I thought I could help the team more if I played defense. That’s something that I [told] the coach, that if it would be better for the team if I played defense he could move me back. Whatever was best for the team. And that’s what he did after we lost to Providence.”

Although Chris personally played well after the position shift, the Terriers continued to play less than sixty minutes at full throttle. They played forty minutes of a sixty minute game against Clarkson in the NCAA regionals, nearly squandering a 3-0 third period lead.

Then came Michigan in the semifinals.

“Not to take any credit away from Michigan because they played a solid game with us, but we did the exact same thing. We got outshot 17-1 in the opening ten minutes of the game. You can’t expect to win a game, especially in the Final Four, getting outshot 17-1. Especially at the beginning. We never really got to recover from that and we ended up getting shutout.

“It was frustrating… that we just couldn’t get it together as a team. The effort was there…. I felt we were the best conditioned team in the country…. It was just that something wasn’t clicking…. You go through spells like that when you just don’t have the answer.”

The season, so full of hope on the heels of the 1994-95 national championship, had finished on a very sour note for the team. Individually, the year had also been a disappointment for Chris. After tallying 23-33–56 in 1994-95, earning him second team All-American honors, Chris had dropped to 12-34–46.

“I wasn’t scoring a lot at the beginning of the year but we were winning. So everything was fine. I was trying to contribute as much as I could. I just went into a scoring drought. As the year went on I didn’t think I played as much as maybe I should have or could have to be more effective. But that wasn’t totally my decision. I was able to talk about that with the coaches, but we were doing so well that it wasn’t that important. I wasn’t looking at pressure on the statistics.”

Then the injury bug struck again, insuring that no late season flourish would be in the offing to make up for Chris’s goalscoring drought. “I was told the week before the Beanpot when I tore the ligament in my thumb that I could be out six-to-eight weeks. But I saw the doctor and was able to get a playing cast so it could be protected. I probably did play at 80% for the rest of the season. But I was willing to do that because I couldn’t afford to take the six-to-eight weeks off to watch from the sidelines, especially after what I went through during my freshman year with my broken neck. As long as I could skate, I’d definitely be out there.”

“My assists were right up there with the year before but my goals were considerably down. That’s something I’ve been working on this summer, but I look back on and it’s frustrating. It was just something that happened and there’s no other excuse for it. I thought I was very prepared going into the season and I was happy at times with how I played but I think it came down to a little inconsistency. I guess that’s something I have to work on.”

Do What’s In Your Heart

After the 1994-95 season, Calgary had shown minimal interest in signing Chris, feeling that he needed an additional year at BU. They were singing a different tune this past summer. NCAA regulations prohibit a player from hiring an agent, so the feeling-out process must be handled delicately.

“I had a family advisor towards the end of the season. And towards the end of the season Calgary contacted him through my family lawyer. He, [the family lawyer], contacted him and told him they were interested in getting me out. [My advisor told Calgary], ‘If you’re real interested, you should think about how interested you are because of the strict rules in the NCAA about negotiating. So you should maybe come up with an offer and if we’re close we’ll come out and negotiate or whatever…. If it’s not in the ballpark, he’ll go back to school.’

Chris added, “But it really wasn’t about that. It was about opportunity. I turned twenty-two in May, and I just thought it was the right point in my career.

“Coach Parker advised me and said, ‘Do what’s in your heart. If you want to come back and play college hockey and have a great year, you can go out on a real positive note. Or… if you need the challenge, and you think it’s time to go, then do that.’ ”

Chris had always appreciated Parker’s interest in his players. Parker wasn’t just a coach who only saw his players at the rink and then forgot about them. He was involved in their day-to-day activities.

Coach Parker had commented about three specific players at the end of the year, giving his view of their turning pro early. “He said that maybe Mike Grier should leave school. That he’s the type of player that has to get ready for the next level. That Shawn Bates might need another year of school overall for his development. That it would be best for his career if he came back to school for his senior year. And that for me it was up in the air. It was up to me. He didn’t know what the best decision would be for me. He said, ‘It’s all in your mind. Whatever you think [the right decision] is. I don’t want you to coming back to school and maybe playing at 90% and thinking about what could have been if [you] had signed.’ I realized halfway through the summer that it was really time to go and time to take the challenge. That’s when I decided to talk to Calgary and it ended up working out kind of quickly.”

Chris still intends to get his degree. “The number one priority when we were discussing this was getting my schooling done. But I’m a hockey player and I can’t play hockey until I’m fifty or sixty years old. I want to have fun while I’m doing it and hopefully do it as a career.

“But also on the school end I’ve always wanted my degree and my parents always wanted me to get my degree. I have a few brothers and sisters who have earned their college degrees, so it’s definitely something that I want to get done. I have exactly one year left, and I’ve already talked it over with my advisor. I had it put in my contract so I’ll be pursuing that starting next summer, finishing my year up and earning my sociology degree.”

Chris still believes in BU’s chances this year despite their significant losses to graduation and Mike Grier’s and his own early departures.

“They have a great freshmen class coming in. And they have Bates and Coleman and Drury, who have proved to be great, great players at this level. And they’re going to have great careers when they get out of college because they’re very talented players and they’re also great leaders. So there’s plenty of talent there and Coach Parker is still coaching there. As long as he’ll be there they’ll have very competitive teams…. Everyone on the team is hard-working and the mentality there is to win. They don’t accept losing…. They may have lost some leadership with me and Mike, and maybe some points and some talent, but the kids will just have to pick up the slack because they definitely have the talent.”

“I Couldn’t Tell You The First Thing About Calgary…”

Chris’s life will now change in major ways.

In college, a hockey player’s schedule is typically geared towards preparing for games on Friday and Saturday night. At BU, coming off a weekend’s games, the team would take either Sunday or Monday off, using the other day for a light skate and light session with the weights. Tuesday mornings, from the beginning of the season until early February, the team would gather at seven for a three-mile run before classes. That afternoon, they’d reconvene for practice. Wednesday practices would focus on conditioning, with laps and a hard skate the norm, while Thursdays would be less physically demanding as time would be spent on topics like the power play.

Friday would usually be a game day. “Pregame skates were mandatory. We’d skate from twelve to one, then have a team meeting at twenty past one. [We’d have] a pregame meal at 2:30. After the pregame meal on Friday I’d go back and watch a movie. I shared a room with Shawn Bates and we’d get a few of the guys and sit around and watch a movie. Just to get our heads away from it for a little. Just be relaxed.

“Then around five o’clock [we’d] maybe have a little snack. That’s when you start getting focused. You get down to the rink a little early. You start thinking about the game and preparing yourself mentally, getting stretched if you have to see the trainer. That’s something I always did, especially with my neck.

“On Saturdays, if we had a game the night before, after the pregame meal I usually took an hour and a half nap to make sure I was rested, because I always felt that after playing a Friday night game it was tough to get to sleep that night with a game the next night. So I always took a nap the afternoon of the next day.

“That’s the week of an athlete. You’re so tired and you have school to worry about too. You learn so much there and you put so much effort on the ice and off the ice into school. And you have your social life, your friends that you see. You want to make sure you have a good time and hang out and be a regular college student also. It’s a fabulous experience that I had.”

In the NHL, the focus will not be on a full week’s preparation for two weekend games, but rather, with three or four games a week, constantly getting ready for a game only a day or two away. Chris has been working hard during this offseason to prepare himself for the more physically demanding rigors of professional hockey. In late August he participated in a two-week conditioning camp at BU along with pros like Kevin Stevens, Joe Sacco, Dave Sacco, Rick Tocchet, and Kyle MacLaren.

“We skate from eight to ten in the morning. We work out with [BU Strength and Conditioning Coach] Mike Boyle afterward for an hour to an hour and a half. So that gets us prepared physically….

“I’ve worked very hard this summer, especially the last few weeks. It’s very important for me to stay focussed and go up there and give it my best shot and not look back and say, ‘I should have done this, I wished I’d done that.’ ”

There will also be a major lifestyle change. Gone will be the days when he could hop on the T, Boston’s subway system, and eat at home with his family. Gone will be the familiar Boston surroundings. The big city kid from Dorchester will be going to what may feel like the boonies in comparison.

“It’s going to be very strange. I think that’s going to be my biggest adjustment and lifestyle change. I’ve already had some advice from some people, especially Mike Sullivan who played at BU. He’s a member of the Calgary Flames. He’s been out there for a few years. Hopefully he can help me adjust out there as far as [getting comfortable] during training camp with the city. He’s talked to me a lot about it. Knowing someone who is going to camp is pretty important. I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be good to get away from home for once and see how I do on my own.

“I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the city of Calgary,” Chris said, laughing. “The only thing I know about it is that they had the Olympics there. It looked great on TV back then but I don’t have the first clue as to what type of city [it is] or what the strengths of the city are. I know the taxes are pretty tough there for Canadians, but that’s about it so far….

“I’ve always grown up watching the Bruins. I’ve always said I would love to play for the Bruins. I think playing close to home was very comfortable for me, but at this age this is best for me and Calgary has been a great organization . They’ve been great to me while I’ve been in college…. They’ve been first class people. I’m really looking forward to playing for the organization and being a part of it for a very long time.”

Although the Flames drafted him as a defenseman, Chris isn’t completely sure whether he’ll be on the blueline or at forward. “I think they want me to play defense but we’ll see how I adjust to playing defense at that level. I still haven’t squashed the chances of coming back and also playing forward. That’s basically up to them. I can play both, I know I can play both…. So whatever I have the better shot at playing in the National Hockey League is where I’ll play.”

The Kid Bids Adieu

As he prepared for this next step in his career, he looked back on the college hockey game. “I’m going to miss those type of fans compared to the average pro fan who is up there screaming and yelling about people making money and that they’re not worth it. It’s definitely a different type of fan. I’m going to miss that game.”

When asked how he’d like those college hockey fans to remember him, he responded with a fitting epitaph for his career with the Terriers.

“I’d just like them to remember me as the kid who wore number three for BU and who was a national champion.”

Maine Hockey Loses Three, Retains All-Americans

By Deron Treadwell

August 31, 1996

Maine lost three players this week in the wake of NCAA sanctions against the program, but reportedly will keep two important All-Americans on the roster, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Brad Mahoney and Tim Lovell, both seniors, transferred to rival Hockey East schools this week. Mahoney transferred to Northeastern to play for Bruce Crowder. Mahoney cited ice time as his main reason for making the jump.

Lovell transferred to UMass where he will sit out the 1996-97 season to work on his academics before finishing out his college career at UMass in 1997-98. Lovell’s move surprised many, especially when it was found out he would have to sit out at least half a season. UMass has finished in 9th and 8th place respectively the last two seasons.

Brett Clark, a Hockey East All-Rookie Team selection in 1995-96 has elected to try out for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Major Junior A program, and Clark will lose his college eligibility by playing there. Clark was looking for more exposure to market himself as a player.

The good news for Maine, according to the Bangor Daily News, is senior goaltender Blair Allison, an All-American in 1994-95, and senior defenseman Jeff Tory, an All-American each of the last two seasons, have both decided to stay at the university. Both had considered trying out for the Canadian National Team.

To date Maine has lost seven players this off-season. Seniors Brad Purdie, Tony Frenette and Blair Marsh graduated, and forward Jamie Thompson left the team along with Lovell, Mahoney and Clark.

While it will help to have Allison and Tory back, Maine will miss Clark and will be thin on defense this season. Maine ended last year with only seven defenseman on scholarship, and with Clark leaving and no defensemen recruited on scholarship for Maine, it will be up to the six guys left to carry the load. Maine will return Tory, fellow senior Jason Mansoff, juniors Brian White, Jeff Libby and Leo Wlasow, and sophomore David Cullen on the blueline.

Maine was penalized on July 31 by the NCAA for numerous violations. Among those penalties against the program was a ban on postseason competition for Maine this season. Because of the sanctions, Maine seniors could transfer before the start of school without having to sit out the mandatory season.

Duluth AD McLeod Resigns

By Deron Treadwell

August 21, 1996

Bruce McLeod resigned his position as University of Minnesota-Duluth athletic director Wednesday, citing personal reasons, according to USA Today.

Minnesota-Duluth officials named Dr. Patricia Merrier, Duluth’s faculty athletics representative, as interim athletic director for the remainder of the summer. An acting athletic director will be named this fall.

“My decision to resign was all mine,” said McLeod. “It came after a lot of thought and contemplation. The bottom line for the decision is that I do think it’s best for everybody. I know it’s best for Bruce McLeod.”

McLeod, the WCHA Commissioner, has taken a lot of heat over the summer, much of it from local media, specifically the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

In June, the Star Tribune exposed McLeod for allegedly trying to pay off a woman to drop sexual harassment charges against a professional hockey player living on the Duluth campus. Reportedly no payments were ever made.

Recently, the Minnesota state legislature was looking into holding hearings this fall into a misuse of funds within the Duluth athletics department. Legislators are concerned with Star Tribune reports that say hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside by the legislature for women’s athletics, were moved into paying for other parts of the athletic department, including administrative salaries. Much of this money was reportedly not going to women’s sports, and at the same time women’s sports were being told there was no money available to them.

McLeod had been employed by the University of Minnesota-Duluth for over 25 years, and was the athletic director for the past 13 seasons.

O’Sullivan Signs with Calgary

By David H. Hendrickson

August 21, 1996

Boston University’s Chris O’Sullivan has signed a pro contract with the Calgary Flames, forgoing his senior year. O’Sullivan was drafted as a defenseman on the second round in 1992, prior to his attending BU.

In 1992-93 he redshirted after a neck injury felled him after only five games. The following year he was one of many excellent defenseman on a Terrier team that progressed all the way to the title game before falling to Lake Superior State.

BU’s strength on the blueline the following year, combined with O’Sullivan’s well-rounded skills, prompted his shift to left wing on a line with Steve Thornton and Mike Grier. The line immediately clicked and he went on to score 23 goals and 33 assists.

After BU won the national championship, O’Sullivan was named tournament MVP for his three goals and all-around play. He was also named a second team All-American.

Last year O’Sullivan was shifted back to defense near the end of the season and was named to the All-tournament team at the NCAA regional.

His skating, playmaking, and defensive skills have earned him berths on national select teams ranging from the Select-16 and Select-17 teams to positions on the US teams that have competed in the World Junior Championships.

CCHA Accepts Northern Michigan

By Deron Treadwell

August 19, 1996

The CCHA unanimously accepted Northern Michigan University’s application to return to the conference Monday. The Wildcats entered the CCHA in 1976-77, before leaving for the WCHA.

“We are very pleased to be accepted back in the CCHA for the fall of 1997,” said NMU athletic director and head hockey coach Rick Comley. “We [our administration and fans] are excited about renewing past rivalries with the members of the CCHA.

“I appreciate very much what the WCHA has done for us over the last 13 years and I wish them all the best in the future.”

Northern Michigan will begin CCHA play in 1997-98, and likely will fill the void left in the CCHA schedule when Illinois-Chicago dropped its hockey program this spring. The exact format will be decided by the CCHA council next month.

Maine To Keep ’93 Championship

By Deron Treadwell

August 12, 1996

The NCAA Executive Committee announced today that the University of Maine will retain their 1993 Ice Hockey National Championship.

Amid numerous NCAA violations, the one pertaining to Dunham was his acceptance of a stipend when he was the U.S. Olympic tean. The goalie was a member of the 1993 national champions.

The Executive Committee met and ruled immediately today that Maine had no knowledge with regards to the eligibility question of Dunham, and that Dunham and his family followed correct protocol in their decision making process. The NCAA termed Dunham’s family acted in “good faith.”

“We were very concerned,” said Maine sports information director Matt Bourque, “but what the NCAA went back to is that this student athlete [Dunham] and family had followed the proper channels and were misadvised by USA Hockey.

“The NCAA concluded that Maine had no knowledge.”

Since Maine reported numerous NCAA violations back in December, there had been many questions as to whether or not it would keep the title in light of eligibility questions for two players on that team, forward Cal Ingraham and goaltender Mike Dunham.

In the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions report, the NCAA threw out Cal Ingraham’s eligibility question. Ingraham sat out 14 games during the 1993-94 season, in effect, satisfying the NCAA in that regard. To penalize him again would be what is called “double-jeopardy” on the University of Maine.

The big question was Dunham, whose family accepted over $1,000 for his playing on the U.S. Olympic team in 1992. Dunham’s mother accepted a check from USA Hockey, and deposited it into Dunham’s account only after USA Hockey reportedly told Mrs. Dunham that the money was for expenses Dunham incurred, and was permissible under NCAA rules.

The key in this case hinged on whether or not Maine, as an institution, should be penalized for something they had no control or knowledge over. However, the NCAA is usually very cut-and-dry with regards to titles.

“It’s almost automatic,” said Robin Green of the NCAA Committee on Infrations with regards to the NCAA stripping titles from schools using ineligible players.

Bourque said that the Maine program finally had some positive news.

“It’s finally some positive news, not only for the program, but for the fans,” Bourque said.

The only issue left pending is Maine’s expected appeal of next year’s post-season ban. There is no word on a time-table for that at this time.

1995-96 ECAC Year in Review

By Jayson Moy

August 2, 1996

The 1995-96 ECAC season had all the elements that you would expect: surprises, disappointments, sadness, and of course jubilation.

Before the 1995-96 season began just about every team had a lot to look forward to.

Perhaps the Catamounts of Vermont had the most to look forward to. They returned 3 of the best players not only in the ECAC, but in the nation. Goalie Tim Thomas figured to be on of the top netminders in the country, and forwards Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin should challenge for the national scoring lead.

Some teams came into the season counting on the men between the pipes. Princeton was riding the high of a trip to the 1994-5 ECAC Championship Game, and also the confidence of a proven goaltender in James Konte. The Tigers would once again strive to surprise people.

Harvard was in much of the same boat. The Crimson returned their top goaltender, as well as some talented forwards as the season opened.

For others, it was the coach who would be most responsible for leading their respective club. The Yale Bulldogs had Tim Taylor back at the helm with his full efforts this season, while Cornell had a new coach in Mike Schafer and a renewed spirit at Lynah and Brown University had Bob Gaudet who was named ECAC Coach of the Year the previous season.

Still more teams boasted depth as they entered the season. Colgate had both a strong defense and strong group of forwards coming back after another trip to the ECAC Final Four. St. Lawrence not only had most of their starters back, but a good group of rookies to boot. Clarkson, while losing some starters, still had enough depth to field a great team.

Dartmouth had renewed energy and effort from a young squad, but would they be able to overcome inexperience? RPI were trying to build on their upset drive to the ECAC Tournament Championship in 1994-5 and Union was trying to continue to turn their program around.

Where do we start? The preseason poll of head coaches in the ECAC picked Vermont to win the ECAC regular season title with Clarkson and Colgate close behind. How would the season pan out?

Mid-November and the ECAC regular season began with the usual Harvard-Brown game. Harvard would jump out quickly on Brown and go up 1-0 in the ECAC with a 7-2 thrashing of Brown.

The following week the ECAC started a full slate of games and we started to see how close the ECAC would be this season.

Vermont started out with a sweep of RPI and Union, 4-3, and 5-2. Cornell swept Brown and Harvard, 4-1, and 5-3. Clarkson swept Princeton and Yale, 7-2, and 3-0. And St. Lawrence also swept Yale and Princeton, 7-2 and 6-4. Colgate wound up with 2 points tying Harvard and Brown, 2-2, and 4-4. RPI and Union also wound up with 2 points each, both defeating Dartmouth.

So early on the teams picked to finish near the top began there.

Some more action the following week and all of a sudden a team not figured to be in the hunt, was 3-0-1 after 4 contests, the Big Red of Cornell. A tie with Vermont at 2 and a win over Dartmouth 4-3, the early lead in the ECAC belonged to Vermont and Cornell with Clarkson close behind.

Cornell would continue unbeaten in the ECAC until Mid-December with a loss to RPI, but by this time they had built a 4-0-2 record in the ECAC and trailed only Clarkson. Speaking of Clarkson, they began the season in the ECAC at 6-0-1 and found a new hero: Todd White. White picked up where Robitaille, Morin, and Mueller left off.

Heading into the Christmas break, it was as the coaches began seeing it coupled with a few surprises. Clarkson was on top at 6-0-1, Vermont close behind at 4-0-1, and Colgate at 5-1-2. The largest surprises were Cornell at 4-1-3, and St. Lawrence at 5-1-1.

A few surprises also arose in the individuals. Along with White from Clarkson, Brad Chartrand of Cornell was spearheading the resurgence. The dynamic duo of Perrin and St. Louis in Vermont, Mike Harder at Colgate, and Burke Murphy of St. Lawrence were also exceeding expectations.

Brown and RPI were languishing in mid-pack, and Princeton was baffled by their poor start: 1-6-1.

The new year would bring a fight at the top for positioning as the stretch run of February drew closer.

January would prove to be an interesting month for a few teams. St. Lawrence began their run at the top with an undefeated January. With wins over Cornell, Colgate, Vermont, Dartmouth, and Clarkson, St. Lawrence was able take the lead in the ECAC heading into the stretch run with a 10-1-1 record.

Clarkson had the lead in the ECAC and saw it disappeared as they only managed one win during the whole month of January, that against Dartmouth.

Dartmouth got hot winning 3 in a row to try to climb into playoff contention. They also tied Vermont and found themselves with 7 points from the month and in the hunt.

Vermont also lost once, and tied once, and was in second headed into February with the 9-1-2 record.

The pack had begun to even itself out into 2 groups. The top of the ECAC would begin to pull away from the bottom pack. St. Lawrence, Vermont, Clarkson, Cornell, Colgate, and Harvard would begin to splinter themselves from the rest of the field, and begin to leave Brown, RPI, Dartmouth, Union, Yale, and Princeton behind.

The stretch run of February would begin. Five weeks to go for the playoffs and a few races were heating up, including home ice for the quarterfinals, a bye from the play-down round, and home ice for the play-down round.

The first week of February saw a couple big games between division contenders. Clarkson versus Vermont and St. Lawrence versus Vermont. The big winner of the weekend would be Clarkson as they destroyed Vermont 5-1 and beat Dartmouth to pull 4 points out. St. Lawrence and Vermont both picked up 2 points with Vermont defeating St. Lawrence, and St. Lawrence posting a win over Dartmouth.

Meanwhile, Cornell picked up 4 points over Princeton and Yale, Colgate picked up 2, and Harvard picked up 4 points as well over RPI and Union. After the first weekend of February, the lead in the ECAC belonged to St. Lawrence, and Vermont was still just 1 point behind. A three-way tie for 3rd between Clarkson, Cornell, and Harvard ensued.

The big match-up the following weekend would be Vermont versus Colgate and Cornell. The North Country duo was visiting in the Capital District, and Harvard would face last place Yale.

Vermont would take 3 points on the weekend with a win over Colgate and a tie with Cornell. Clarkson would sweep Union and RPI, and St. Lawrence would tie RPI and defeat Union for three points. Harvard in the meantime would lose to Yale. St. Lawrence would continue to hold first place with 25 points, and Vermont still there 1 point behind. Clarkson had closed the gap to 3 points with 23 points, and Cornell slipped to fourth. Some news lower in the standings as Brown was now only 2 points behind Harvard for 6th place.

Three weeks to go and St. Lawrence was hanging on to their lead in the ECAC but only by the thinnest of hairs. St. Lawrence would crush Yale 10-1 but then would be upset by Princeton at home. In the meantime Vermont would sweep RPI and Union to pass St. Lawrence for the lead. Clarkson would also sweep Princeton and Yale to move up. And Colgate and Cornell would both sweep Harvard and Brown. The separation was complete. There were now three tiers in the ECAC. The top 5, Harvard and Brown, and finally the bottom of the pack fighting for play-down round competition.

Vermont was in first, followed by St. Lawrence, Clarkson and then Cornell. These 4 teams separated by 1 point each. Colgate would trail Cornell by 2 points in fifth.

Meanwhile, Harvard trailed Colgate by 5 points, with Brown only 2 behind the Crimson. RPI would lead the bottom of the pack trailing Brown by 5 points. Three points separated the Engineers from their closest rivals, Dartmouth and Princeton with 9 points each.

Four games remained on the schedule and there were some dandies on the horizon. The second to last week saw Vermont sweep Yale and Princeton to maintain their ECAC lead. St. Lawrence would keep pace with a sweep of Harvard and Brown. Clarkson also swept the duo to remain only 1 back of St. Lawrence. Cornell would also remain 1 back with a sweep of RPI and Union. The same for Colgate. This week would provide sweeps for all of the top 5 teams.

The last weekend of the regular season came on the first two days of March. Where would things shape out? Could Colgate climb into the Top 4 to get home ice for the quarterfinals? Who would win the regular season title? Could Brown overtake Harvard for the last bye into the ECAC Quarterfinals? Who would get home-ice for the play-down rounds the following Tuesday? Who would be in the play-down round?

A lot of questions to be answered. Colgate managed 2 points with ties against St. Lawrence and Clarkson. But Cornell would defeat St. Lawrence to take the last home ice quarterfinal spot. This would end up being a key factor. Clarkson would clinch 2nd place when they defeated Cornell in overtime, and tied Colgate. St. Lawrence would tumble down to third with only 1 point on the weekend with a loss to Cornell and a tie to Colgate.

Vermont left no doubt. They clinched the ECAC Regular Season title with a sweep of Harvard and Brown. Brown had to beat Dartmouth to move out of the play-down round, but they could not do it as Dartmouth surprised all and swept Brown and Harvard and clinch only their second playoff appearance in 16 years. Brown would wind up in 7th, and RPI would finish 8th with a sweep of Yale and Princeton, and would host Tuesday night play-down games. Dartmouth’s sweep gave them 9th, and Princeton’s win over Union gave them 10th place. Union and Yale would be the uninvited this year finishing 11th and 12th respectively.

The play-down round featured 4 teams, including the 2 teams in last years ECAC Championship Game, Princeton and RPI. Princeton would travel to face Brown at Meehan Auditorium.

Princeton would come out with a lead, but the Bears overtook the Tigers and advanced to the weekend with a 4-3 victory.

In Troy, Dartmouth surprised RPI and took a 3-1 lead in the second period but RPI came back and took a 4-3 lead in the third. The Big Green would tie it at 4 and send it to overtime. Jon Pirrong would provide the game winner from the blue line, and RPI would advance to the following weekend.

RPI had the difficult task of travelling to Burlington and take on the 1st place Catamounts. RPI would jump out to a surprising 1-0 lead in Game 1, but Vermont’s big boys took over as Perrin, St. Louis, and Ruid capitalized and took Game 1 5-2.

RPI would also take the early lead in Game 2, but once again the big guns took over, and Vermont swept the defending ECAC Champions out 6-4 and advanced for the first time to Lake Placid.

Brown would find themselves in Potsdam against the Golden Knights of Clarkson. In Game 1, there was little doubt as Todd White and Dan Murphy held the Bears to only 2 goals, and cruised to a 5-2 victory. Game 2 would prove almost the same result as Clarkson would become the first team to go to Lake Placid for four consecutive years with a 5-3 series ending victory.

A battle of travel partners in Ithaca as the Big Red hosted Colgate. A lot of people thought this series would be close but Jason Elliot in goal, and Brad Chartrand on the ice swept out the Red Raiders convincingly 8-3 and 8-1 and Cornell was Placid bound.

In Canton, the Saints fell in Game 1 to the 6th seeded Crimson of Harvard 5-2 as Harvard pulled the upset. To stay alive the Saints needed Game 2 and they responded with a close 3-2 last period victory. It was on to Sunday for the right to go to Lake Placid. As RPI did the year before, Harvard as a 6 seed would take out the 3 seed St. Lawrence with a resounding 8-4 victory and a third trip to Lake Placid.

The Final Four in Lake Placid had 3 of the Top 4 teams, and the surprising Crimson of Harvard. Harvard continues their surprising play and shocked the regular season champion Catamounts 4-3 with solid defensive play, and doing their best to control the French Connection of Perrin and St. Louis.

Game 2 would pit Cornell against Clarkson. Just 2 weeks earlier Clarkson had defeated Cornell 2-1 in overtime. Cornell never let the Golden Knights close as Jason Elliot pitched the shutout in a 3-0 win and a trip to the Championship Game.

In the Consolation game, Vermont defeated Clarkson 3-1, and put a severe blow in Clarkson’s chances to gain an NCAA berth.

The Championship game was a classic. Harvard never had the lead, but they tried vainly to tie the game at 2 but fell short as Cornell skated to the 1995-6 ECAC Championship with a 2-1 victory. For the second year in a row a rookie head coach in the ECAC had won the Tournament. Mike Schafer led the Big Red back to the top of the heap and sent Cornell back to the NCAA tournament.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee deemed three ECAC teams worthy of the NCAA tournament: Regular season champions Vermont, ECAC Champions Cornell, and second-place Clarkson. All three ECAC teams saw action at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, NY for the East Regionals.

Vermont received a bye, Clarkson got Western Michigan in Round 1. Clarkson cruised to an easy 6-1 victory and advancement to face defending NCAA Champions Boston University in the next round. Cornell however was defeated in Round 1 by the Lakers of Lake Superior State 5-4 in a tight game.

The NCAA Quarterfinals saw Vermont face Lake Superior State, and hang on for a big 2-1 victory with Martin St. Louis’ goal in the last 2 minutes of the game, and with the win they advanced to the Final Four in Cincinnati.

Clarkson was not so lucky as mistakes cost them against Boston University and they were ousted 3-2. Boston University would join Vermont in Cincinnati.

Vermont would face regular season WCHA Champions Colorado College in the NCAA Semifinals. The game would prove to be a classic as Vermont skated toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the nation, but it was a controversial goal in the second-overtime that ended Vermont’s incredible season, 4-3.

The ECAC season was nothing less than spectacular. Parity said it all as the league split into three tiers. With battles from top to bottom the ECAC was intense and fun to watch. Here’s to hoping that the 1996-97 ECAC season is just as entertaining.

Watters Named MTU Coach

USCHO Staff Report

August 2, 1996

Michigan Tech named former Boston Bruins assistant coach Tim Watters to the vacant head coaching position Thursday.

Watters, a 13-year National Hockey League veteran, replaces Bob Mancini, who accepted a job at USA Hockey on July 14 after four years behind the Huskies’ bench.

“We’re very excited that Tim has chosen to move from the professional ranks back to college hockey to lead our program,” said Michigan Tech athletic director Rick Yeo. “He has been successful throughout his career and I’m confident he’ll continue to help build our program back to national prominence.”

Watters played three seasons with Michigan Tech scoring, 19 goals and 74 assists for 93 career points. Watters was a key player in Michigan Tech’s third-place finish in the 1981 NCAA Tournament. Watters was both a First Team All-American, and All-WCHA.

Following his Michigan Tech career, Watters spent seven seasons with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, then six seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. Watters served as a player-coach with the IHL’s Phoenix Roadrunners and then joined Steve Kasper in Boston as an assistant coach.

“I’m thrilled and honored to come back to my alma mater and coach,” said Watters. “It’s a great opportunity and I have no doubt we can be very successful at Michigan Tech.”

Watters becomes the 18th coach in Michigan Tech’s history.

Maine Responds to NCAA Ruling

USCHO Staff Report

July 31, 1996

It’s not over, yet.

During a press conference on the campus of the University of Maine on Wednesday afternoon, school president Frederick Hutchinson and athletic director Suzanne Tyler made it clear that, while, in many cases, the NCAA’s penalties are fair and necessary, the added year of postseason sanction is “excessive.”

“That punishment seems excessive, given the circumstances and the penalties the program has already received,” said Hutchinson. “It also seems excessive in light of the uncommon and impressive level of cooperation that the NCAA acknowledges it received from our student-athletes.”

“There may be some penalties that, while harsh, we nonetheless might choose to accept in order to move on,” Tyler explained. “However, there is one penalty which we find so excessive and unfair that the president and I feel obligated to appeal it, specifically another year’s prohibition on postseason play for ice hockey.

“Whether we decide to appeal other NCAA penalties will depend on several considerations, especially the issue of fairness to the students.”

Maine officials were pleased that the NCAA agreed with Maine on many of the facts surrounding the case, including suspended ice hockey coach Shawn Walsh.

The NCAA had accused him of unethical conduct but they were not able to prove that Walsh acted unethically, and therefore did not impose any further sanctions on him.

Both Tyler and Hutchinson cited their concern for the players who during the last three years have missed two postseason tournaments already and that it was these players’ cooperation that made this investigation complete and successful.

“I am especially disheartened that members of that team — the very students who volunteered much of the information on which many of the findings were based — may now suffer for their honesty by being denied a chance to compete in postseason tournaments once again next year,” Hutchinson said.

Maine officials did not entirely focus on the negatives. While disappointed with the decision on postseason play, Maine officials were very pleased that the NCAA agreed about Walsh’s conduct, especially with the “controversy” surrounding this, as Hutchinson said.

Tyler said she was pleased to have a compliance system in place that the NCAA has commended, and other institutions have cited as models for their own compliance systems.

It was also apparent that there is a sense of relief that things are all out on the table, and Maine knows what their penalty is.

Shawn Walsh was not in attendance, but will make his own statement. Tyler did say that Walsh reacted to the decision with disappointment.

Maine was not specific under what grounds they will use to appeal, or if they will appeal other areas. Maine officials did say that Maine would be willing to swallow some of the other penalties with a successful appeal on the main area of disagreement, the postseason ban.

NCAA Stings Maine

USCHO Staff Report

July 31, 1996

The NCAA handed down one of the most “severe penalties in the last few years” to the University of Maine on Wednesday.

The NCAA put Maine on four years probation, and banned the ice hockey team from competing in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA also banned Maine from being on television for the 1996-97 season.

The NCAA did not take any action on head coach Shawn Walsh, who will be allowed to return to his post December 24, 1996, following a one-year school-imposed suspension.

Walsh had been accused of unethical conduct by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. Maine was adamant in denial of this, and seemingly was successful, perhaps at the expense of the program as a whole.

The NCAA also added to Maine’s own scholarship penalties. The NCAA will force Maine to give up four hockey scholarships for the 1997-98 season and another two for the 1998-99 season.

Maine will also be forced to forfeit all games in which ineligible players competed in, but the scope of that is not yet known and will be provided by the University of Maine once the calculations have been made.

Maine must also continue to develop its compliance program, and all ice hockey coaches must attend one regional NCAA compliance seminar each of the next two seasons.

In addition, the Maine athletic department and its practices must be recertified by the NCAA.

Maine has scheduled a press conference for 2:30 p.m.

Hockey East Names All-Academic Honor Roll

By Mike Machnik

July 25, 1996

With 45 student-athletes named to its 1995-96 All-Academic Honor Roll, Hockey East established a new record for the most players named in a season. The Honor Roll was first instituted in 1989.

Leading the way was Top Scholar-Athlete Tomas Persson of Northeastern, who compiled a 3.918 GPA for the year in International Business and Finance, including a 4.0 in his second semester.

To qualify for the honor, a student-athlete must post a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale for both of the semesters during which he played hockey.

Persson, a senior, joins an elite list of Hockey East players to receive the Distinguished Scholar Award, given for being named to the Honor Roll all four years that he played hockey. Only 10 Distinguished Scholars have ever been named by the league. Persson is Northeastern’s third Distinguished Scholar, tying a record held by Merrimack.

For the fourth straight year, Merrimack led the league in having the most student-athletes named to the Honor Roll, and set a new record in the process. This year, 13 Warriors were named, breaking the record of 10 set by Merrimack in 1994-95. Merrimack had nine honorees in both 1993-94 and 1992-93.

Four 1996-97 returning seniors-to-be are eligible as Distinguished Scholars next year, having been named to the Honor Roll for three years straight. They are: Rob Beck and Tom Johnson (Merrimack), Craig Lindsay (UMass-Lowell), and Dan Shermerhorn (Maine).

The complete list of honorees:

BOSTON COLLEGE (6)
Brendan Buckley
David Hymovitz
Timmy Lewis
Chris Masters
Clifton McHale
Nick Pierandri

BOSTON UNIVERSITY (2)
Shawn Ferullo
Dan Ronan

MAINE (3)
Steve Kariya
Blair Marsh
Dan Shermerhorn

UMASS-AMHERST (3)
Jon Jacques
Steve MacKinnon
Blair Wagar

UMASS-LOWELL (4)
Ed Campbell
Craig Lindsay
Mike Nicholishen
Ryan Sandholm

MERRIMACK (13)
Rob Beck
Jason Feeley
Karl Infanger
Tom Johnson
Casey Kesselring
Daryl Krauss
Martin Laroche
Martin Legault
Claudio Peca
Kris Porter
Darrel Scoville
Eric Thibeault
Eric Weichselbaumer

NEW HAMPSHIRE (5)
Todd Hall
Jason Krog
Brian Larochelle
Chad Onufrechuk
Mike Sullivan

NORTHEASTERN (3)
Arttu Kayhko
Brad Klyn
Tomas Persson

PROVIDENCE (6)
Jon Coe
Mike Gambino
David Green
Mark Kane
Jay Kenney
Troy Lake

Whitehead Hired at UML

USCHO Staff Report

July 24, 1996

As first indicated here last Friday, Tim Whitehead has officially been hired as head coach at UMass-Lowell.

Whitehead was strongly endorsed by outgoing coach Bruce Crowder, and also received support of many fans and media personalities.

Whitehead, 35, was an assistant for five years at UMass-Lowell, and will fill the position vacated when Crowder jumped to Northeastern last month. Whitehead also served as an assistant at Maine in 1990-91 and at Middlebury from 1988-90.

Whitehead will inherit a River Hawks club that went 26-10-4 last season, finishing second in Hockey East. They went all the way to the NCAA Quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual runner-up Colorado College.

However, Whitehead will have his work cut out for him. His team is reeling from graduation and the early departure of defensive mainstay Ed Campbell.

Former Harvard Player Dies on TWA Crash

USCHO Staff Report

July 24, 1996

Former Harvard player Michel Breistroff was reportedly aboard TWA Flight 800 when it crashed last week and is presumed dead.

Breistroff, a native of Roubaix, France, scored four goals and 20 points in his 95-game career at Harvard, but was known more for his defense play.

The anthropology major was returning to France when the plane went down. He was considered to have a good shot at making the 1998 French Olympic hockey team.

“This is a very sad time,” said Harvard hockey head coach Ronn Tomassoni. “Michel was an outstanding young man who touched the hearts of many people at Harvard. He was very proud of being at Harvard and very proud of playing hockey at Harvard.

“He was an unselfish player who would do anything to help his team. He was the consummate team player. We who were fortunate to be part of his life at Harvard will miss him greatly.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with Michel and his family.”

Magliarditi and Thompson Leave Teams

USCHO Staff Report

July 17, 1996

Western Michigan goaltender Marc Magliarditi and Maine forward Jamie Thompson have both recently decided to leave their college teams.

Magliarditi, CCHA 1996 Rookie of the Year, has decided to go to Spokane, Wash., to play for the Chiefs of the Western Hockey League.

“It leaves a big hole to fill,” said Western Michigan coach Bill Wilkinson to USA Today. “But one person’s misery is another person’s opportunity.”

Magliarditi posted a 23-11-2 record for Western Michigan with a 2.59 goals against average and a sparkling .910 save percentage. Magliarditi was a key player in Western Michigan finishing tied for third in the CCHA.

Thompson will leave a troubled career behind at Maine. Following the end of last season, Thompson withdrew from school at Maine and began seeking a pro job, according to Tuesday’s Bangor Daily News.

This marks the second time Thompson has left the team. Following the 1992-93 season, Thompson left to go play junior hockey. When he returned, he had trouble with both school and substance abuse and did not play the first semester of last season. After cleaning up and improving his grades, Thompson had two goals and nine assists in helping the Black Bears to the Hockey East Championship game.

Maine interim head coach Greg Cronin said he was disappointed to lose Thompson after all he did to be able to play, but Cronin concedes that all Thompson wanted to do was play hockey and wasn’t really interested in school. Cronin says this will open the door for Maine recruits Cory Larose and Ben Guite.

USA Hockey Adds Mancini and Pedrie

By Deron Treadwell

July 17, 1996

USA Hockey has named Bob Mancini and Larry Pedrie to assistant coaching positions for the National Elite Development Program on Tuesday, and also named Scott Monaghan Program Manager.

Mancini resigned his head coaching position at Michigan Tech effective immediately to take the position at USA Hockey. While at Michigan Tech, Mancini compiled a 63-80-20 record, won two Ramada Cups, and went to the WCHA’s Final Five three times, including the championship game last season.

“Bob did an outstanding job for us and we’re certainly sad to see him go,” said Michigan Tech athletic director Rick Yeo. “He’s got a great opportunity we wish him and Laura the best in the future.”

Michigan Tech will begin a national search for a new head coach immediately.

Pedrie is the former head coach at Illinois-Chicago. UIC discontinued their hockey program following last season.

Mancini and Pedrie will assist USA Hockey head man Jeff Jackson in developing USA Hockey’s players from the junior hockey level (ages 19-and-under) on downward to the Select-15, Select-16 and Select-17 Festivals. They will also assist in coordinating the training of players in the USA Hockey program.

Monaghan will resign his job as assistant athletic director at Lake Superior State. Monaghan will handle administrative duties for the Elite Development Program, including travel matters, scheduling, league and conference relations, and the development of a print and video scouting library.

“I feel strongly about the talent, ability and expertise each of these individuals brings to our Elite Development Program,” said Jackson. “We’ve assembled a staff that I’m confident will contribute to the overall success of this program, and I’m proud to welcome each of them on board.”

The Best Coach in the Business?

By David H. Hendrickson

July 14, 1996

“My grandmother could recruit All-Americans for that school.”

Fans have been known to mutter such comments in reference to a rival where hockey has become a self-perpetuating institution. Western schools like Minnesota, home of the 9,305 automatic sellout and season tickets for standing room only seats, provide the best examples. But the shoe fits for some Eastern schools as well, albeit not as snugly.

The perception that such a coach can simply put his feet up on his desk and wait to select the prime applicants who all come begging for scholarships, and then just let the talent win championships, is admittedly an oversimplification. Witness Steve Cedorchuk’s dismal performance at Boston College. However, there is an element of truth in the hyperbole. As long as a coach at “An Institution” is merely competent, the bandwagon should still keep rolling.

Other schools, however, are not as lucky. Only a very special coach can breathe life into a program that lacks a rich history or state-of-the-art facilities. The very short list of active coaches who can perform this feat may begin with Bruce Crowder, with apologies perhaps due Don Lucia at Colorado College.

Crowder achieved exactly that in a mere three years at UMass-Lowell. He took over a program that had gone 31-67-5 the preceding three years and had just been slapped by the NCAA with two years probation and a year of post-season sanctions. Lowell turned the corner in his second year when they posted a winning season of 20-17-2. The following year they topped that with an NCAA bid and came within a double overtime loss of making championship weekend. For his achievements that year Crowder was named Hockey East Coach of the Year, the New England Hockey Writers Association’s Division One Coach of the Year, and was a national Coach of the Year finalist.

After an off-year in 1994-95 fueled by losses to graduation and goaltending woes, the River Hawks shocked the pundits and returned to the NCAA quarterfinal this past year, earning Crowder the Spencer Penrose Award as the NCAA Division One Coach of the Year, the lone coaching award that had eluded him in 1993-94.

In an interview with U.S. College Hockey Online, Crowder talked about his Lowell teams, his coaching philosophy, and his expectations at Northeastern University, with whom he signed a five-year contract in June, a story first broken on these pages.

Without question, the 1995-96 squad’s performance is the crown jewel in Crowder’s coaching crown. “This past year was even more special [than the 93-94 team],” Crowder said. “In 93-94 people expected us to have a pretty good team, but this year no one expected us to do anything. We were picked to finish sixth in Hockey East.”

The team began the year with the goal of returning to the NCAA’s, a possibility quickly dismissed by most insiders. But according to Crowder, “We had a great bunch of players. They came to work everyday in practice. As coaches we tried to keep the practices fun and exciting, but they were still ultimately responsible. We believed in the kids and they performed.”

To achieve their overall goal of reaching the NCAA tourney, Crowder established two intermediate goals: be the least penalized team in Hockey East and give up an average of fewer than three goals a game.

Although Lowell’s penalty minutes didn’t drop to the lowest in the league, they did go from being the most penalized team with 638 penalty minutes to the middle of the pack with 468. “That’s almost three full games of penalties that we eliminated,” said Crowder. “It meant more power play time, fewer penalty kills, plus you also had guys like Ed Campbell and Christian Sbrocca out on the ice more. A lot of people focused on Greg Bullock’s penalty minutes the year before, but Christian and Eddie were just as guilty.”

Bullock had, in fact, been a controversial figure in 1994-95. After a 1993-94 season in which he led Hockey East in scoring as a freshman winning Hockey East Rookie of the Year and helped a largely veteran squad to its first NCAA berth under Crowder, Bullock became a target in his sophomore year. Without the departed seniors around to deflect defensive attention, Bullock found himself being frequently shadowed and goaded into the penalty box. He became frustrated and appeared to lock horns at times with Crowder who felt compelled in some instances to exile his leading scorer to the fourth line and the bench in an attempt to keep Bullock focused on the ice and out of the sin bin. Things came to a head in the Hockey East consolation game when Bullock was left in the locker room for the third period after a particularly unfortunate temper explosion. Bullock soon left for the International Hockey League.

“I consider it more my fault than anything,” said Crowder graciously. “I believe you learn more from your failures than your successes. Things just kept snowballing with Greg. It became a great learning experience for me. I believe that Greg learned from it too.”

Crowder also learned that year from what he termed “my biggest mistake ever.” Following the graduation of All-Everything goaltender Dwayne Roloson, Crowder brought in freshmen Martin Fillion and Scott Fankhouser to battle with returning, but untested, sophomore Craig Lindsay. What resulted was the worst collective goaltending in Hockey East. With three goalies vying for time, the freshmen battled with their confidence, as freshmen goalies are wont to do, and no goalie had the opportunity to work himself out of a bad game or put together a string of good ones. To correct the problem, Fankhouser was sent to play this past year in the Saskatchewan juniors (“where,” Crowder joked earlier this season, “if the cable goes out, they just watch the Northern Lights.”).

Given the opportunity, Fillion did emerge as a solid goaltender, though not quite of the caliber of a Blair Allison, Greg Taylor, or Dan Dennis. This was a key element in addressing Crowder’s second point of emphasis for the year, allowing fewer than three goals a game. As with penalty minutes, the River Hawks also fell short of the goal, but did lower their goals against totals by almost a goal a game.

In this case, however, accepting more than three goals a game against was an acceptable tradeoff for increased offensive production. “I like to preach defense first,” said Crowder of his team’s success in wide-open games, “but if you’ve got a horse that can run, you let it run. We finished fifth in the country in scoring. If we can score five or more goals a game, I’ll take that. We even got over thirty goals from our defensemen.”

So while there may be offensive-minded coaches and defensive-minded ones, the Bruce Crowder style is to succeed one way or another. “I believe in a KISS style. Keep It Simple, Stupid. I don’t really get into line-matching much. What I try to do is make sure the kids have parameters as to what they can do. They do have responsibilities in the defensive zone, but beyond that I don’t want to restrict their offensive creativity. With players like Christian Sbrocca, who I considered to be as skilled as anyone in the country, I wanted them to have the offensive freedom to create.”

Crowder’s one other recurring theme is hard work. “What I learned from my playing career at UNH and the Bruins is the value of a work ethic. I’ve always been a blue-collar kind of guy. That’s how I approach a game and how I expect my players to play. Sometimes skill by itself will win out, but for the most part you’ve got to come to work.”

When Crowder did make the transition from player to coach he was first an assistant coach at Maine under Shawn Walsh from 1986 to 1990, and then associate head coach/head coach designee for one year at Lowell under Bill Riley. At each stop along the way, both while playing and then behind the bench, “I was a sponge,” according to Crowder. “I learned a lot while playing for Charlie Holt [at UNH] and Gerry Cheevers [with the Boston Bruins].”

Some things about the player-to-coach transition, however, were difficult. “Things I did naturally as a player, I had to figure out how to describe. Although today’s player is faster and quicker, sometimes they’ve been overcoached and don’t have as much hockey sense.” Communicating knowledge that had been instinctive wasn’t always as easy as he thought it would be. “Now I tend to use a lot of analogies.”

As he began his first season as a head coach in 1991-92, he wondered how he would handle success and failure. He had a lot more of the latter to deal with than the former as his team went 11-19-4. “When things are going wrong and it seems like everyone else is losing their head, you have to make sure you’re on an even keel,” Crowder commented, in reference to his baptism by fire and to tough times in general. He added, “I still was fortunate to be working with good people who had the same vision of where the program was headed.”

One of the major problems facing Crowder at UML was how to put fannies in the seats. “We figured that winning would eventually solve the attendance problems, but in the meantime we tried to get the local people excited about the team. We took the Burger King ™ and McDonald’s ™ approach and went after kids with our Youngstars program. Then we got the players involved in the community with things like Special Olympics.” Not only was this good for the players as individuals but, “we figured that people might feel that they were good guys and support them even if they weren’t winning.”

The team’s initiatives with the community did pay off and attendance began to climb, especially as the team quickly progressed from near-doormat to league power. Expectations mounted of building the same type of recruiting powerhouse Crowder had experienced firsthand as an assistant at Maine. These expectations, however, proved unwarranted.

“Recruiting is the name of the game,” according to Crowder. This was a lesson he learned under Shawn Walsh. Unfortunately, recruiting at UMass-Lowell was a tougher sell than for the Black Bears. Maine featured a rink on campus with over five thousand fans and was the only show in town. Lowell, by contrast, had an off-campus rink and no monopoly on the affection of the local populace. Even after aggressive marketing and becoming one of the top teams in Hockey East, attendance still averaged no more than 2200. Lowell also was a smaller school with perhaps more limited academic choices. “We lost out on a lot of kids,” said Crowder. “We weren’t able to out-recruit other schools. What we were able to do was develop the kids we got.”

Scheduling was another occasional problem. Each Hockey East team has ten non-league games to fill. Although Crowder tried to enhance the UML schedule, there were roadblocks. For example, Crowder pointed out, “We tried to get into the Great Western Freeze Out, but were told we didn’t have a significant alumni base.” As a result, empty game slots would go to Division One Independents like Army and Air Force. These teams did little for Lowell’s national reputation and likely formed another recruiting hindrance.

All of which paled to the sense of injustice felt when UMass-Lowell was sent to the Western Regional both in 1993-94 and 1995-96 despite being a high enough seed to stay in the Eastern Regional held in Albany, New York. “One of the NCAA’s stated criteria was to maximize the draw at the regionals,” Crowder said in resignation. “They were convinced we wouldn’t get the fans there.”

Even so, Lowell fans basked in the glow of the shockingly upbeat 1995-96 season and assumed a bright future ahead with a new rink on the way, two successful NCAA appearances in the last three years, and a long-term extension for Crowder all but signed, sealed, and delivered.

It was the best of times. Unfortunately, it would soon become the worst of times.

When Northeastern University coach Ben Smith left to coach the US Olympic Women’s hockey team, NU Athletic Director Barry Gallup had a very short list of who he wanted as coach. At the top of the list was one name: Bruce Crowder.

The contract extension that according to sources had been agreed upon between Lowell Athletic Director Dana Skinner and Crowder had been languishing on the desk of UMass-Lowell’s Chancellor Hogan for months. Crowder has since been characteristically gracious in referring mildly to the “stalled” contract talks, but many Lowell fans are willing to put the villain’s hat squarely on the head of Chancellor Hogan, the Grinch Who Lost The Best Coach in Hockey.

Initially Crowder wasn’t interested in Northeastern. But Gallup persisted, and with the Lowell contract extension stalled, Crowder listened. The more he listened, the more he liked what he heard. Eventually Crowder felt that the move was the right one for his family and, although it was a difficult decision, inked the five-year deal.

“They’ve really put a lot of things in place here,” Crowder said. “They’ve done a great job with Matthews Arena and just spent another million dollars on [the facilities]. They feel this is one of the few sports that they can win a national title in and are willing to do everything they can to achieve that. Everything that I said I needed, they agreed to.”

Crowder hopes to bring his entire coaching staff with him from Lowell. However, Tim Whitehead, his assistant, is also a finalist for the head position at Lowell that Crowder just vacated. Crowder has strongly and publicly recommended Whitehead for the position but if Whitehead is passed over, then Crowder will happily welcome him to Northeastern. Regardless of the Whitehead decision, the current Northeastern assistants will not be retained.

Crowder now faces his latest challenge realistically. “I’ve inherited a seventh place team that graduated both its goaltenders, an All-Hockey East defenseman, and half of its offense. Fill in the blanks.”

Crowder can’t say when the Huntington Hounds might become national championship caliber. “We’ll have to see what the kids we’ve got now can do and how well we recruit the next two or three years.”

Still, Crowder remains optimistic. “I think I have a few more things in my recruiting bag now than I did at Lowell. There may be kids we lost at Lowell that might have come to Northeastern.” Chief, though not alone, among these recruiting advantages is The Beanpot. “And I’m very confident that we’ll continue to successfully develop players.”

Some returning Huskies players and recruits will likely feel uneasy over playing for a coach that didn’t recruit them. “I’m going to tell them,” says Crowder, “‘We’re all in this together. You’re going to have to live with me and I’m going to have to live with you. A lot of Lowell players in the same situation went on to be pretty good players.'”

When asked what players he’ll be relying on, Crowder responded, “We’ll rely on the whole team. Whatever they’ve done before doesn’t matter. What they do now will count. Positions, power play time, and all those things will work themselves out.”

One thing Crowder is sure about is that he won’t repeat his goaltending trio mistake of 1994-95. He has returning third-string senior Kevin Noke as well as recruits Marc Robitaille and Judd Brackett. “I won’t go with three guys playing. It’ll be two guys and we’ll either split them or one will earn the bulk of the time.”

Crowder expects to incorporate at Northeastern many of the marketing ideas that proved successful at UML. A packed and festive Matthews Arena is part of his equation for Huskies success.

When asked if in the future any other school could potentially woo him away from Northeastern, he answered, “I like the challenge ahead of me. I like being in the Boston market. You never say never, but I would expect that if there is a next move it would be a pro move. But unless they fail to live up to their commitments here, I don’t see myself going anywhere. I like what I’m doing.”

Sooner or later Northeastern fans will probably like what Bruce Crowder is doing too.

UML Names Coaching Finalists

USCHO Staff Report

July 14, 1996

UMass-Lowell has selected Tim Whitehead and Blaise MacDonalad as finalists for the vacant head coaching position, according to the Lowell Sun.

Both Whitehead and MacDonald have ties to the program and to other Hockey East schools.

Whitehead, 35, has been an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell for the past five seasons. He was also an assistant at Maine in 1990-91 and at Middlebury from 1988-90.

MacDonald, 33, was named head coach at Niagara this past season as they look to establish a Division I hockey program. MacDonald was an assistant coach under Jack Parker at Boston University from 1990-95, and also served as an assistant at Middlebury and UMass-Lowell during the Bill Riley era.

Both will interview next week for the final time with a decision expected shortly thereafter.

Morrison: THN Player of the Year

USCHO Staff Report

July 14, 1996

Michigan forward Brendan Morrison has been named The Hockey News 1995-96 U.S. College Hockey Player of the Year.

Morrison, a native of Pitt Meadows, B.C., tallied 28 goals and 44 assists for 72 points in 35 games with the Wolverines last season. Morrison will long be remembered by the Michigan faithful for his overtime goal against Colorado College to win the 1996 National Championship.

Morrison was also selected as College Sports Magazine’s 1995-96 Men’s Ice Hockey Athlete of the Year, Titan West First Team All-American, NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player, CCHA Player of the Year, Great Lakes Invitational Most Valuable Player, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and was named CCHA Offensive Player of the Week five times last season.

Morrison, a senior this fall, has said he plans to return to Michigan to help the Wolverines defend their title.

UML’s Campbell Turns Pro

By Mike Machnik

July 11, 1996

UMass-Lowell defenseman Ed Campbell has signed with the New York Rangers.

The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Campbell, a native of Westboro, Mass., will thus give up his senior year at Lowell. He joins fellow Hockey East juniors Mike Grier of Boston University and Steve McKenna of Merrimack as seniors-to-be who have chosen to turn pro.

Campbell’s 326 career penalty minutes is a new Lowell team record, eclipsing the legendary Jeff Flaherty’s 298 PIM over four years.

Campbell was slated to be one of the top returning players for the Hawks, who were decimated by graduation. His departure will make things even tougher for Bruce Crowder’s successor. He leaves as one of the top two-way defensemen in Hockey East, despite never receiving any recognition for league honors.

Campbell’s career stats:

         GP  G  A  P PP SH GW PEN/MIN
1993-94  40  8 16 24  3  0  2  57/114
1994-95  34  6 23 29  3  0  1  47/105
1995-96  39  6 32 38  3  0  0  52/107
-------------------------------------
TOTALS  113 20 71 91  9  0  3 156/326

NCAA Selects Championship Sites, Recommends Changes

By Mike Machnik

July 10, 1996

The NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Committees met recently and agreed on several plans of action, some of which could have a dramatic effect upon the way fans have become accustomed to viewing the postseason tournaments.

SITES SELECTED FOR 2000 AND BEYOND

At its June 9-12 meeting in Hilton Head, S.C., the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee agreed to recommend four future sites for the 2000-2003 Division I championships. Previously, the NCAA had awarded the following championships (semifinals and final):

1997 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI (host: Wisconsin)
1998 FleetCenter, Boston, MA (host: Boston University)
1999 Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA (host: Alaska-Anchorage)

The following sites and hosts were also recommended by the Committee:

2000 Civic Center, Providence, RI (host: Providence College)
2001 Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY (host: Rensselaer)
2002 Civic Center, St Paul, MN (host: Minnesota)
2003 Marine Midland Arena, Buffalo, NY (host: Canisius, Niagara, and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)

Buffalo is the only one of the new sites that has not yet hosted an NCAA tournament. All of the host schools are classified as Division I, although Canisius and Niagara are considered to be Division I Independents. Niagara begins varsity play in the 1996-97 season.

The 1997 championship will be the 50th anniversary of the NCAA tournament, and will be held on March 27 and 29, 1997.

In addition to the championship sites, the Committee recommended the following regional sites for 1998 and 1999:

1998 East Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY (host: Rensselaer)
1998 West Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI (host: Michigan)
1999 East Centrum, Worcester, MA (host: Boston University)
1999 West Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI (host: Wisconsin)

Previously, the NCAA had selected the following regional sites for the 1997 tournament:

1997 East Centrum, Worcester, MA (host: Boston University)
1997 West Grand Rapids Arena, Grand Rapids, MI (host: Western Michigan)

The NCAA still has to approve the recommended sites, but it is anticipated that all will be.

The Committee also agreed on several other plans of action, many of which will have a long-reaching effect upon the game.

END SOUGHT TO CONFLICT WITH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Recognizing that the Championships has long been overshadowed by the Men’s and Women’s Division I Basketball Championships, the Committee agreed to recommend a change in scheduling.

Under the new plan, the semifinals and finals would be played on the 14th Friday and Sunday of each year. This would result in the event being held one week later than usual and one week after the conclusion of the basketball championships. Currently, the semifinals and final are played on the fifth Thursday and Saturday of March, or the first weekend in April if March has only four weekends.

The regionals would continue to be held on the 12th weekend of the year, or the third weekend of March.

The implications for such a change are many. Primarily, the event would have a chance to stand on its own as one of the top collegiate sporting events of the season, possibly drawing more fan and media interest. By playing the championship game on Sunday, the door is opened to attracting network television on a weekend normally devoid of interest in college sports.

However, the plan would also result in a ten day break for competing teams between the regionals and the semifinals. In the past, teams that have had to endure such a break have tended to not fare well. Yet, under the plan, all four teams would have the same break period. That means the same period of time to both recover from injuries and to stay on top of their game for the ensuing championships.

The Committee cited several other reasons for the proposed change, including a decrease in missed class time within a short time period, more time for the local organizers to promote the event to fans and media, and reduced air fare and travel accommodations due to the ten days off between the regionals and semifinals.

In all, the proposed change appears to be one that has been a long time in coming and one that could go a long ways towards enabling Division I hockey to stand on its own as a viable and exciting sport.

TWO AUTOMATIC BIDS PER CONFERENCE

The Committee also recommended that the four Division I ice hockey conferences (CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East, WCHA) receive two automatic bids each for the 1997 tournament. Currently, each conference receives one automatic bid, and that bid is awarded to the team that wins the conference postseason tournament. Each conference also is guaranteed a total of at least two bids under the current process.

However, in recent years, the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Selection Committee has voluntarily augmented the process by awarding an additional bid to the conference regular season champion in the event that the regular season and tournament are not won by the same team.

The policy was put into place following the 1993-94 season, in which Colorado College won the WCHA regular season title but was upset in the first round by Michigan Tech and did not receive an at-large bid.

The recommended change appears to be little more than a formality, as the current policy of ensuring that regular season and tournament champions receive bids likely would receive official recognition.

Yet, one big question remaining to be answered is how the second bid would be awarded in the event that the same team wins both titles. Several possibilities exist, including awarding the bid to either the regular season runner-up or the tournament runner-up.

REPLAY INSTITUTED FOR 1997

College hockey fans will notice several changes beginning with the 1997 championship. The Committee voted to use instant replay in the semifinals and final, which are all televised. It is unknown whether the use of instant replay could extend to the regionals, where some games have not been televised in recent years.

The decision comes just months after a controversial end to the Division I semifinal between Colorado College and Vermont, in which the Tigers posted a 4-3 win at 9:31 of double overtime on the strength of a goal by Chad Remackel. Replays appeared to show the goal being scored by Remackel on a hand pass from Jay McNeill, but replay was not available as a tool to the officials working the game.

The manner in which replay would be employed has yet to be determined. Several possibilities exist, including restricting the decision on whether to use replay to the on-ice officiating crew, having an off-ice official in the press box for the purpose of viewing replays, and disallowing replay in all circumstances except those concerning a goal.

Concerns include the ability of replay to adequately detail the actual circumstances of a play, the need to have enough camera angles to cover all possibilities, and the inevitable delay that would result when a replay is being evaluated. These concerns have been most evident in the use of replay in past years by the NFL and the NHL, and the NCAA will need to devise a plan that will address these and other stumbling blocks.

Hockey would be in the vanguard of collegiate sports in this area, as currently no other NCAA championship utilizes instant replay as an officiating aid.

OFFICIATING REDESIGNED; SLOGANS APLENTY

With the creation of the new three-man officiating system, the Committee voted to put the system into place for the 1997 championship.

Recently, the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee voted to employ a new officiating system designed to replace the previous two referee, one linesman system. The new system provides for one head referee and two assistant referees, with the assistant referees having additional but limited power to call penalties.

The system is designed to alleviate concerns with having complete on-ice power resting in the hands of more than one official, as well as keeping the strength of allowing more than one official to call penalties.

In recent years, the refusal of the CCHA to abide by the NCAA sanctioned two referee, one linesman system has meant that CCHA officials were not allowed to work NCAA tournament games. The CCHA had returned to the one referee, two linesman system after one year despite having been informed that officials working under that system would not be allowed to work the NCAA tournament. The decision means that officials from all four major conferences will once again be able to officiate in tournament competition.

In addition, the committee agreed to request permission to develop a slogan for the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship in order to help the event create its own identity and promote it. This will also allow the NCAA to protect the “Final Four” trademark of the Men’s and Women’s Division I Basketball Championships. A contest will be held throughout the collegiate hockey community to come up with slogans. Fans will have input and be able to submit ideas for consideration.

DIVISION III CONSIDERS CHANGE IN CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT

In a move that could signal a drastic change in the way that the NCAA Ice Hockey Championships are conducted, the Divisions II and III Men’s Ice Hockey Committee recently agreed to investigate the possibility of combining the Division III Championship with that of Division I.

The Committee met from June 3-6 in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and voted to send a letter to the chair of the Division I committee to ask about the interest they would have in such an agreement and the feasibility of the same.

The proposal was based upon the noted success of the combined Division I and III Men’s Lacrosse Championships. For the past five years, the Division III Lacrosse Championship Game has been held on the day between the Division I semifinals and final at the same site. The average attendance at the Division III game during that time has been over 12,000, with over 18,000 attending this year’s final.

It is not known what the Division I committee’s response will be yet. Certainly, such an arrangement would provide additional exposure for Division III hockey and would draw well, especially if tickets were sold in conjunction with the Division I championships. The Division III championships have also tended to be held at out of the way locations and have suffered from low attendance.

However, the proposed scheduling change in the Division I championships could result in the Division III championship being played two or three weeks later than usual. Currently, Division III conducts its semifinals and final on the same weekend that Division I holds its regionals. With Division III typically having a shorter length of season than Division I, there could be concerns with Division III teams playing into April.

An ideal site to begin such a combined championship event would be Boston, the site of the 1998 Division I championships. Besides being home to several Division I teams, Boston is a short drive from many of the current Division III schools, most of which are in the East region.

The Committee agreed to keep the same formats for the 1997 Division II and III Men’s Ice Hockey Championships. The 1997 Division II finals, which have been a best-of-two affair between the top two teams chosen to compete, will be held on March 14-15, 1997, at the campus site of the higher seed. There is no semifinal in Division II, which consists of only about a dozen teams at this time.

The 1997 Division III semifinals and final will be held on March 21-22, 1997. In recent years, the Division III championships have been conducted at a campus site, and this is not expected to change for 1997.

In addition, the Committee discussed automatic qualification and its impact on the Division III tournament, agreeing to award automatic bids for 1997 to three conferences: the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA), and the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). This is identical to last year.