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AHL’s Lowell Signs USCHO D-III Player of the Year

The AHL Lowell Lock Monsters have signed Norwich all-time leading scorer Keith Aucoin.

Aucoin was the 2001 AHCA college division player of the year, and was a first team All-American in both his junior and senior years. Aucoin was also USCHO Division III player of the year as a sophomore and senior.

“Signing Keith is great for our organization … and the fact that he is from this area [Chelmsford, Mass.] is great for the Lock Monsters fans,” said General Manager Tom Rowe.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Lesteberg Steps In at Bemidji

Bemidji State named Jason Lesteberg its new women’s coach Tuesday. He replaces Ruthann Cantile, who resigned following this past season due to personal reasons.

Lesteberg led Wisconsin-Stevens Point in its inaugural season last year, going 13-13-1. Against other first-year programs, the Pointers were 11-0-1.

Lesteberg was previously the assistant men’s hockey coach at Gustavus Adolphus from 1997-2000.

Bemidji State, which started its program in 1997-98, was 9-24-1 last season. Cantile was the only coach the program had ever known.

MSU-Michigan Agree to Play Outdoors

Michigan and Michigan State have agreed to take next season’s first meeting outdoors in an attempt to set the world record for hockey attendance, according to the Detroit News.

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The game, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6, will be played on a temporary ice surface at Spartan Stadium, which holds 72,027 for football. The teams are expected to hold a press conference on Monday to make the formal announcement.

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“Obviously, it has taken a great deal of cooperation to make this dream a reality,” said Michigan State coach Ron Mason to the Detroit News. “[Michigan coach] Red Berenson has been very supportive from the start.”

Reports estimate it will cost $100,000-$250,000 to install the ice surface.

Ostapina Leaves NEC for MSOE

After guiding New England College to its best season in his tenure, including a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament, head coach Mark Ostapina has resigned to become head coach at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

In six seasons at NEC, Ostapina guided the club to a 63-84-8 (.432) record. But this past year, the Pilgrims posted a 20-10-0 record and defeated the defending national champions Norwich, 2-1, to capture the ECAC East championship. NEC fell to Wisconsin-River Falls in the first round of the NCAA Championships.

Though MSOE is not known for being a national hockey power playing in the MCHA, a league that does not currently have an automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament, the move will bring Ostapina closer to his family. Ostapina is a native of Wisconsin and played for the University of Wisconsin in the late 1970s.

As for the challenge ahead, MSOE finished last in the MCHA last season with a 3-21-1 record, one year after setting a school record for victories with 13. Ostapina replaces Pat Hessenauer, who resigned from the head coach position in early April.

Ohio State Releases Ganga (correction)

Ohio State has released forward Nick Ganga from the team for undisclosed reasons. Head coach John Markell said the move was a “coaches’ decision” and would not elaborate on details.

Ganga, who would have been a senior for the 2001-2002 season, posted nine goals and 10 assists last season, and was named co-captain midway through the year after Andre Signoretti’s departure for academic reasons.

[Please continue to check with USCHO for more details.]

Miller Adds USA Hockey Award to Growing List

Michigan State goalie Ryan Miller, who recently won the Hobey Baker Award in just his sophomore season, was named winner of the USA Hockey College Player of the Year. He will be among 11 athletes, coaches, officials, administrators and volunteers honored at a banquet June 9 for their “excellence, dedication and contributions to the sport of hockey in the United States.”

Miller, who needed just two seasons to break the all-time career NCAA shutout record, was 31-5-4 this past season, with a 1.32 goals against average.

Other awards winners are:

USA Hockey Special Presentation
Gary Dineen, West Springfield, Mass.
Coach, Junior Coyotes (Eastern Junior Hockey League)

Dave Peterson Goalie of the Year
Jason Bacashihua, Dearborn Heights, Mich.
Chicago Freeze (North American Hockey League)

USA Hockey Women’s Player of the Year
Krissy Wendell, Brooklyn Park, Minn.
2001 U.S. Women’s National Team

USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year
Chris Fournier, Anchorage, Alaska
Lincoln Stars (United States Hockey League)

Bob Johnson Award (excellence in internation competition)
Darby Hendrickson, Richfield, Minn.
Eric Weinrich, Roanoke, Va.
2001 U.S. Men’s National Team

USA Hockey Distinguished Achievement Award
Herb Brooks, Shoreview, Minn.

Chet Stewart Award (officiating)
Robert Lilla, Northbrook, Ill.

Walter Yaciuk Award (volunteer service)
Dr. Alan Ashare, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Wm. Thayer Tutt Award (volunteer service)
Dan Kelleher, Belmont, Mass.

Conn. College Names New Women’s Coach

Kristin Steele is Connecticut College’s new women’s coach. She replaces Bernie Cassell, who served as the team’s interim head coach during the 2000-01 season.

Steele has spent the last three years as the assistant women’s ice hockey coach and recruiting coordinator at Niagara. She began her collegiate coaching career in 1997 an assistant for the women’s program at Colgate.

Before Colgate, she spent three years at her prep school alma mater, Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts. Steele has also served as a director and instructor for several ice hockey camps in Canada and the Northeast.

Steele is a native of Gill, Mass., and graduated from Maine in 1994. She played four years of ice hockey at Maine and was named to the AWCHA All-America team on defense.

The Connecticut College women’s program will begin its fifth year of varsity play in 2001-02. The Camels had an 8-14 record last season.

Minnesota’s Killewald Diagnosed with Brain Tumor

Minnesota women’s hockey senior goalie Erica Killewald has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and is scheduled to have surgery this week.

Killewald was a member of the first recruiting class in the history of the Gopher women’s hockey program, and a key element in building the program. She was one of eight players honored this spring as having been with the program from its opening night to the conclusion of this season.

The Troy, Mich., native finished her four-year career at Minnesota this March with a record of 73-23-9 (.738), a goals against average of 1.88 and save percentage of .923.

Killewald was named MVP of the 2000 American Women’s College Hockey Association national championship tournament after stopping 74 of 78 shots, leading Minnesota to its first national title in women’s hockey, just three years after the program was established.

2 Weeks After Stem-Cell Transplant, Walsh Progressing Well

Two weeks after undergoing a stem-cell transplant at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., Maine head coach Shawn Walsh is “feeling stronger every day” and continuing to make progress in his outpatient treatment.

His most recent round of treatments involved a week of chemotherapy, which began May 10, to suppress his immune system in preparation for the transplant, and the actual stem-cell transplant, May 17. Walsh was formally released from NIH this past Sunday, May 27, and underwent his first outpatient testing Tuesday. He will continue to undergo blood tests at NIH every Tuesday and Friday for several more weeks to monitor how his body is accepting the stem cells.

“One of the biggest things to me has been that this process usually involves 21 days in the hospital, but by day five (May 22) I was able to come home [his brother Kevin’s home in nearby Annandale, Va.] each afternoon and not return until the following morning,” said Walsh. “I’ve been able to keep up with the Stanley Cup, see my wife Lynne and enjoy some home cooking. It sure beats hospital living.”

Walsh compared his current treatment to the immunotherapy he underwent at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center nine months ago, saying, “It is not as intense, but is more of an endurance test. Fatigue is clearly the biggest by-product of all the chemotherapy they’ve given me, but each day I’m feeling better. My weight got down to 159 pounds during the first few days of chemotherapy, but have gained 12 pounds back already. I was able to walk a mile and a half this morning, and I hit some golf balls at the range two nights ago, so things are coming around.”

Coach Walsh was more interested in talking about hockey than his current medical treatments.

“I’ve been able to keep in contact with my office via the fax and phone. It has been different for me, experiencing life at a slower pace,” said Walsh. “It has given me a lot of time to think about and plan for next season. It’s been hard for me to contain my excitement for this coming season.

“I need to stay in the [Maryland-Virginia] area for a while, but I am hoping to get back to home for our hockey alumni weekend in early July, and be back in Maine for good by August 1.”

This past Tuesday provided even more excitement for Walsh as former Black Bear standout Bob Corkum scored the pivotal game-tying goal in the New Jersey Devils’ 2-1 Stanley Cup game two defeat of the Colorado Avalanche. In a live interview with ESPN following the first period, Corkum said, “Coach Walsh, I hope you’re watching. That one was for you.”

“It’s been fun to talk to Bobby throughout the playoffs,” said Walsh. “I actually talked to him that afternoon. I told him to quit playing safe, and see if he can give them a lift. And, what a lift he gave them! It certainly energized me when Bobby said what he did on national television.”

Dr. Richard Childs of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and Dr. David Schrump, Head of the Thoracic Oncology Section of the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), are overseeing Walsh’s treatment while at NIH. Childs is the primary investigator of the stem-cell study, which is a collaboration of the NHLBI and NCI.

Walsh successfully underwent surgery March 29 at NIH in preparation for the stem-cell procedure. The initial surgery, known as debulking, included a left pneumonectomy (removal of his left lung), and removal of cancerous tumors located under his breastplate. The debulking surgery Walsh underwent was essential in preparation for the stem-cell transplant because the number of cancer cells present at the time of the transplant is directly related to the success rate of the procedure.

Walsh, originally diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in early July of last year, underwent these procedures to eradicate cancer cells that have spread to his left lung and his sternum.

Stem cells are immature cells that develop into blood cells. If the transplant is successful, new cells will grow, multiply and attack the cancer cells. The procedure involves transplanting stem cells from someone who is cancer-free and a very close genetic match into the cancer patient. Walsh’s brother Kevin was the stem-cell donor for the procedure.

Prior to Walsh’s arrival at NIH for the stem-cell procedure, he remarked about his brother’s contribution, “The average person has 50-70 stem cells per measure of blood. Kevin has 290, which is by far the highest count my doctors have ever seen. My doctors were jumping with joy when they saw the count.

“What this means is that I will have the advantage of more cells to fight my cancer,” said an excited Walsh. “I’m ready and excited to get this process started.”

Expressing his excitement at being selected to be part of this treatment program, he cited the stem-cell transplant procedure as “the one treatment out there that has a better than 50 percent success rate.”

Walsh also expressed his optimism in his doctors, and noting that with the research being in its second phase, a lot of the problems encountered with the first group of patients have led to improvements that will further increase his chance of success.

Walsh had surgery to remove a cancerous left kidney at the Boston Medical Center July 7, and underwent immunotherapy cycles at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center in August and October.

After missing the first three games of last season during the second round of treatments, he returned to guide Maine to the NCAA quarterfinal game in which the Black Bears lost to eventual national champion Boston College, 3-1.

Trio of New D-III Coaches Announced

A trio of new Division III coaching hires were recently announced.

Lake Forest has tabbed Susan Bellizzi to lead the women’s program. Bellizzi replaces T.R. Bell, who resigned after the 2000-01 season. The Foresters finished last season with a 10-13-1 overall record, including a 4-11-1 mark and fourth-place finish in the NCHA. It was Lake Forest’s first varsity season.

Bellizzi spent last season as an assistant coach for Bill Mandigo at Middlebury, where she helped the Panthers to the American Women’s College Hockey Association (AWCHA) national championship, a 23-1-1 overall
record, and an ECAC championship.

Bellizzi is a 1999 graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. During her four-year hockey career, she set school records for career points, career goals, points in a single-season, and goals in a
single-season. Bellizzi was the ECAC Division III Player of the Year and a First Team All-American in 1999.

Plymouth State has named its sixth head men’s coach in the program’s 31-year history. Chris Hudon, a Plymouth State graduate and former Panther hockey player, takes takes over from former coach Mike Bonelli, who resigned after three years behind the Panther bench.

Hudon has been the head hockey coach at Dracut (Mass.) High School the past two seasons. He also served five years as assistant hockey coach at The Holderness (N.H.) School.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to become the hockey coach at my alma mater,” said Hudon. “I’ve wanted to be a coach since I was in college, and this is a tremendous opportunity for me. As a former player at PSC, I am eager to maintain the pride in wearing the Panther uniform.”

Hudon graduated from Plymouth State in 1992 and received his Masters degree in Health Education from PSC in 1996. He coached both football and hockey at Holderness Prep in the mid 1990s, and was also an assistant hockey coach at Amesbury (Mass.) High School in ’96-97 and ’98-99 before taking over the Dracut hockey program in 1999.

Last but not least, Trinity has hired Kate Busniuk as head women’s coach. The Bantams had a 1-19-3 overall record and a 1-16-1 mark in the ECAC.

Busniuk served as the co-head coach of the City of West Hartford High Schools team last season. She is originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and has played an active role in promoting and organizing women’s ice hockey camps throughout the Northwestern Ontario area since 1997. Her father, Mike Busniuk, is an assistant coach for the Hartford Wolfpack in the American Hockey League.

Busniuk attended Northeastern, and earned her degree from Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At Northeastern, she was a member of the Huskies’ 1997 ECAC Championship team.

ECAC Embraces Changes

The ECAC is not known for its radical change. And, the only known agenda item heading into the recent athletic director meetings, was an ECAC tournament expansion proposal that generated a lot of negative feedback.

So the final result — an approved increase in the games limit, a shift to a second postseason expansion proposal, and an administrative re-organization — came as a surprise to many. Judging from initial reaction, however, it was a pleasant surprise.

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The expansion of the tournament to include all 12 teams received the most attention, because it came first. However, the approval of an increase in the regular-season games limit, from 32 to the NCAA maximum of 34, was surely the most significant.

Going forward

No coach was ever going to be against a 34-game season, but if it were that easy, the increase would have happened years ago. Getting the approval always faced a number of obstacles that didn’t seem close to changing, most notably the Ivy League’s unwillingness to approve a 34-game season while their schools were still stuck at 29.

For whatever reason, however, coaches felt the time was ripe for a change, and pushed for it coming into the AD meetings. It started with them all being on the same page — the Ivy League coaches would go along with the increase, knowing full well that their own administrations would not allow anything more than their current 29-game limit.

They went along even though the league-wide increase creates a five-game gap (34-29), putting the Ivy League teams at more of a relative in-conference disadvantage.

“The coaches understand … [it’s] for the good of the league and the good of college hockey,” said Yale coach Tim Taylor. “We can be as competitive and as good as any league. We don’t want the limited games to hinder us, despite the battles we have to fight on the Ivy front.”

With the coaches on board, the athletic directors also saw the wisdom of the change, and approved it unanimously.

All of a sudden, it looked so easy.

“There’s always evolutions,” said Clarkson athletic director Geoff Brown. “Athletic directors change, so do [school] presidents.”

Perhaps having just one team in this past NCAA tournament frightened ECAC people into action.

“In the past, when there was a sense of crisis — such as when RPI threatened to leave the league — it served as a wakeup call,” said former ECAC and current Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna. “There’s been a sense of slippage lately. I know the coaches are very concerned.

“The Ivies recognize that, even though it might help the others more than them, it will also raise the whole ship.”

Princeton associate athletic director Jim Fiore said, despite the wider disparity in games, the ADs all listened to the coaches and saw the time was right to approve the increase.

“The coaches feel strongly that, the stronger the league, the better it is for all teams,” Fiore said. “We’re so restrictive in the Ivy League for a myriad of reasons. It’s time away from academics [for example].

“[But Princeton coach] Lenny [Quesnelle] figured that if the Clarksons, the Colgates the St. Lawrences can go out and play Michigan and Ohio State and schools from the WCHA, that will help their RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) so that when we play them, it will help us. It’s something the coaches really pushed for.”

There has been some talk that the Ivy League could approve a 30th game, by changing the allowance for what is now an exhibition game, into a regular-season contest.

“At Princeton, we tend to worry about Princeton first,” said Fiore. “We don’t have any illusions of grandeur to expand. The faculty is opposed to any kind of expansion.”

Tim Taylor

Tim Taylor

Said Taylor, “Ivy hockey always cued itself off basketball. They played 26 games, so that’s where hockey was. Basketball across the country doesn’t start until November 1, so that seemed like a good time to start. This goes back to the ’60s. So gradually we expanded under the Ivy umbrella. But we’re still operating under [many of] those restrictions.”

The change still faces approval by the “Policy Committee,” an oversight committee put in place by school presidents to deal with any change that would affect class time. That committee held a conference call today.

Brown expects their approval.

“Quite frankly, the decision seldom has been Ivy/non-Ivy,” he said. “Typically it’s not that way. Certainly there are those members of the Ivy league that have historically voted against expansion.

“All of the members of the league appreciate the limitations of all of the schools. We try not to take advantage of the circumstance. [Clarkson] could schedule 6-8 games before league play, which would be a significant advantage. But we don’t do that. And we try to pair up — Ivies play Ivies — for the first weekend.”

Bertagna, who enjoys a unique perspective on ECAC happenings — with a long-time affiliation as a player, administrator, and friend to many league coaches — said the ECAC has gotten into a particularly precarious spot in recent years.

“Before, when it was four leagues, we were compared to each other. We were all in the same basket,” Bertagna said, noting how reality can sometimes follow perception. “Now that there’s these other two leagues [MAAC and CHA], there creates a new possibility to be compared in that direction. So [the ECAC] wants to do something before someone starts lumping them with these new teams, which would be not fair.

“We [Hockey East] play so many games against the ECAC, we have an interest in their RPI being high. We play more games against them than anyone else. So, in a strange way, it’s in our interest too.”

The Road to Lake Placid

Also highly notable was the ECAC’s decision to expand its postseason tournament to include all 12 teams. The initial proposal — which was the same idea the CCHA approved in April — would have seen six first-round best-of-three series, with the winners advancing to a Final Six to be played in Lake Placid.

The idea, which came out of the coaches’ meetings in Naples, was met with philosophical resistance by the large majority of fans. Once the ECAC ADs met, the proposal also faced some logistical concerns.

Late in the AD’s meetings, a new idea was put forth that would expand the league’s playoffs by a week, giving the 1-4 seeds a bye while 5-12 played a first-round best-of-three series. Those winners would proceed to a quarterfinal series against the top four teams, with the winners meeting in a more traditional final four scenario at Lake Placid.

“It came from several sources, and we immediately saw the benefit of it,” Brown said.

Both proposals are still officially being studied by the league office, but the 3-weekend scenario seems to have more steam.

“I think that, as we looked at the 12-team format, the concept of having six teams go to the final weekend was problematic,” said Brown. “Issues with hotels and all of those things. So we were looking for a way to involve more of our student-athletes and more teams, but the tradeoffs were more administration and more hotel [needs].”

While this no longer directly addresses the desire to assist the top teams into making the NCAA tournament, nor provide more Lake Placid opportunities to the student-athletes, those were dubious goals to begin with. And, given the desire to allow all 12 teams in, the newly-proposed structure appears much more palatable.

“There are very complex formulas that, depending on the year, might suggest that having all 12 teams in [the playoffs] might benefit you in national picture,” said Brown. “But that’s so complex, you can’t always know.

“We’re looking to do what’s right for our league, to change the format to include more teams, and to try to structure our final weekend in a way that’s easier to understand for fans and is still rewarding.”

Scheduling and the Beanpot

It is interesting that, at a time when the league will be gaining two games, it may also lose a week of its season to extra playoffs. The extra games were going to be alleviated by an extra week added to the schedule starting in 2002-03, when the NCAA tournament gets pushed back a week. But the additional week of playoffs eliminated that week again.

In particular, this affects the Harvard Beanpot situation.

ECAC coaches and ADs approved on philosophical grounds the idea of giving Harvard a break on the weekends prior to the Beanpot games, which are played annually on successive Mondays in February. The breaks would include playing only one league game on the previous Friday, and/or playing two home league games on the previous Thursday-Friday.

The philosophy remains intact, but the logistics are now the biggest problem. The ECAC, therefore, will have to get creative.

Bertagna, who was a goalie at Harvard and played under outgoing athletic director Bill Cleary, thinks that, in the past, some of the Crimson philosophies may have hindered progress in this area.

There is a spirit of cooperation now, however, that seems to ensure that these matters will get taken care of.

“When Ronn [Tomassoni] was coach and Billy was AD, maybe Harvard was not getting help because they were not pulling their weight marketing the league,” Bertagna said. “Billy was not one for image things. But it was one more thing that made them different than the other leagues.

“Certain things never change. There’s always going to be people who say things like, ‘If you’re that smart, you can’t be that good.’ But when you make decisions that make you different, that’s something you have control of.”

Re-organization

Finally, in a move that cannot be overlooked, the ECAC athletic directors agreed to increase their respective school’s annual financial assistance to the league, with the money to be specifically earmarked for the hiring of an additional administrator. That person will focus on non-Division I men’s matters, freeing assistant commissioner Steve Hagwell to focus all of his efforts on Division I men’s hockey.

“He’s very good, and a good guy,” said Bertagna of Hagwell. “I think it’s good for the league.”

For the first time, the ECAC will have an administrator in charge of Men’s Division I hockey only.

“As we looked at our day-to-day circumstances, there are little issues that come up all the time,” said Brown. “When a person like Steve was trying to balance D-III hockey and D-I hockey, even though the lion’s share went to D-I, the coaches felt the circumstance [needed more attention].”

ECAC administrators have always had to deal with the Division III and Women’s side of things, but the situation has become more acute. Just in the last few years, there has been a lot of re-organization on the Division III men’s side, and this year, the ECAC will add a second women’s league.

There are 32 D-III men’s programs in the ECAC East, West and Northeast for 2001-2002, in addition to 18 programs in the NESCAC and SUNYAC for which the ECAC supplies officials and keeps statistics. That means the ECAC has jurisdiction over 50 of the 73 teams in men’s D-II/III. There are 20 total women’s programs to deal with, and counting.

When you consider all of that, the urgency to make this organizational change becomes even more apparent.

“When we looked at Steve’s job description, he was spending some time on non-D-I matters,” Brown said. “All we’ve basically done is to say, we’re going to increase our ante, allowing him to give 100 percent of his time to D-I. It’s seen as a way to upgrade our league image.”

Geneseo Names Hills New Men’s Coach

Geneseo has selected Bowling Green assistant Brian Hills to be its new men’s head coach, USCHO has learned.

Hills replaces Paul Duffy, who retired in March after 26 seasons with the Knights.

“I am looking forward to the opportunity at Geneseo,” said Hills, “I hope to be able to elevate the program to the top of the SUNYAC and on to national prominence.”

Hills has spent the last seven seasons as a full-time assistant at BGSU. He was a standout player for the Falcons, ranking second all-time in scoring and was a Hobey Baker finalist his junior and senior seasons.

Hills joins former BGSU teammates Wayne Wilson (RIT) and George Roll (Oswego) as Division III coaches in the Western/Central New York area.

Other finalists for the Geneseo position were former Elmira coach Glenn Thomaris and current Boston College assistant Scott Paluch.

In addition to his coaching duties, Hills will be responsible for the management of Wilson Ice Arena and will serve as the liaison to the Genesee Finger Lakes Youth Hockey organization, a position similar to one he held with the Bowling Green Youth Hockey Association.

“I am looking forward to working with Brian and have great confidence in his abilities to lead our program into this new era of Geneseo hockey,” said school athletic director Marilyn Moore.

Rules Committee Concludes Meetings

Without any monumental changes to deal with, the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Committee focused on a number of rules tweaks at their annual meetings in New Orleans, which concluded Thursday.

In addition, the committee took “no action” on the CHA proposal to allow 4-on-4 play during regular-season conference overtime games. According to Rules Committee chair Joe Bertagna, the proposal wasn’t denied, it was simply shelved until a more detailed proposal is received.

“I got a letter in March about the proposal from [then-CHA commissioner] Bruce McLeod,” said Bertagna. “The letter said they would get a more specific proposal to us at a later time, and they never did.

“We didn’t discuss it. When we saw the letter, it implied there’d be more details. We didn’t think it was right to discuss it without those details.”

The CHA recently made former Bemidji coach Bob Peters its first full-time commissioner.

Bertagna said nothing was necessarily standing in the way of such a rule being passed, and that it could be revisited next year.

“I like experimental rules. I think it’s a good idea,” he said.

One significant rule change was the addition of a minor penalty for instigation. Unlike the pro hockey penalty of the same name, the rule is not meant to tag players who start a fight with an automatic ejection. Instead, the college rule will enable referees to call an extra two-minute minor to players who start altercations of any kind.

“I’ve always been annoyed at a situation after the whistle where something happens, and each player gets a minor even though one guy started it,” said Bertagna, who concluded his third year of a four-year stint as committee chair. “[The rule] had been proposed by the WCHA for the last year or two.

“When we first looked at it, we took the approach that the referee could call an extra two if he wanted to. But [the WCHA] made a case that it’s not happening [that way]. Maybe [the referees] would be more willing to call it if there was a specific penalty for it.”

The penalty cannot be given alone and would most often be used in conjunction with coincidental minors.

The committee also changed the diving rule that was implemented a year ago. They changed it from a 10-minute misconduct to a 2-minute minor.

“We [originally] made it a misconduct thinking that refs don’t want to put a team down a man [for diving],” Bertagna said. “We’ve changed it to a minor, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Two noteworthy points of emphasis were also implemented.

First, as a result of recent criticism by some coaches over assistant referees taking too active a role in calling penalties, a clarification was written that will more clearly define an AR’s duties.

The role of the assistant referee, as originally intended, was, chiefly, to call minors behind the play that the referee missed.

However, many coaches incorrectly believed that was the AR’s sole responsibility.

“Some coaches in the WCHA, because the assistant referees [in their league] never called penalties while in the same zone with the ref, they thought that was a policy,” Bertagna said.

On the other hand, there were perhaps some assistant referees making too many calls.

“The assistant referee should call any major, whether the ref sees it or not,” Bertagna said. “[Plus] those minors that can affect scoring opportunities or lead to injury. [But] we don’t want marginal calls, where the assistant referee is overruling the head ref.”

Another point of emphasis was made about speeding up the game, specifically in areas such as line changes, faceoffs and intermissions.

“There are games that coaches play on line changes, and they take too much time,” said Bertagna. “And faceoffs, with guys jockeying for position.

“You could probably save 10 minutes a game. For TV and for fans, everyone has an interest in making things go quickly.”

The meeting was the final one for Colgate coach Don Vaughan as a committee member. It was also the first meeting ever with a women’s hockey representative — Harvard coach Katey Stone. The men’s and women’s committees were combined last fall. Women’s hockey intends on keeping the same rule book as the men, except for their no checking policy.

Bertagna said, all in all, it was another smooth meeting. He gave some credit for that to Michigan State coach Ron Mason.

“I don’t know if all committees work this way, but we work real smoothly,” Bertagna said. “Part of it is Ron Mason. He’s a giant of the game, but he is very good [in the meetings]. You’d think he’d come in there and pull rank. He speasks strongly, but he allows himself to have his mind changed.”

Fundraiser for Curran Announced

A fundraiser will be held on June 14 to benefit Matt Curran, the Providence junior goaltender who suffered a severe spinal cord injury early Easter morning.

The event, organized by Curran’s family and friends to help defer his expenses, will be held at Concannon’s Village in Norwood starting at 7 p.m. It will include food, music, raffles, and a silent auction of donated prizes.

Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in advance or at the door. Checks should be made out to “The Curran Family Fund” and mailed to Scott Hughey, 117 Pellana Rd., Norwood, MA 02062. Tickets may also be purchased in advance at Mailboxes, Etc. in Norwood.

For directions to Concannon’s Village and other details, see the official PC site.

MAAC Discussions Yield Little So Far

No news is exactly that today — no news — as the athletic directors of the 11 MAAC institutions met on a conference call to discuss league issues.

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According to Ken Taylor, director of ice hockey and special events for the MAAC, there was “no formal approval of anything, just discussion.” Thus the league office is staying tight-lipped on the issues.

It is widely expected that the major issue on the agenda was the controversial “start-of-season” legislation that the MAAC filed. If approved entirely by the NCAA, the legislation would limit the length of the college hockey season, creating a firm date that teams can both start practicing and start playing games.

The start-of-season legislation raised a major stir among the other four major conferences, and the MAAC continued to receive a lot of heat at the annual American Hockey Coaches Association convention last month in Naples, Fla.

Even though the legislation has already been approved by the NCAA’s Management Council, and will up for a final vote in October, the MAAC has discussed alternate plans for the legislation.

“[The MAAC is] working on a compromise and is looking for common ground,” said Taylor.

It was also expected that the ADs would discuss the potential membership of Niagara, a full-time member of the MAAC, currently playing hockey in the CHA. Taylor declined to comment on the issue.

Taylor would say that the dates for 2002 MAAC Final Four were discussed, and the league has decided to play the championship game either Saturday, March 16 or Sunday, March 17, depending on which day would result in better television coverage. The tournament will be hosted by Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., hosts of the inaugural tournament in 1999. The league quarterfinals will remain a single-game elimination and will be played at campus sites on Saturday, March 9.

ECAC Winds of Change Shift Direction

A late proposal has thrown a curve into the ECAC’s plans to change its postseason tournament format.

According to sources, the ECAC, in its plan to include all 12 member teams in the postseason, has moved away from the initial idea of six quarterfinals, and instead will add an extra week of playoffs that will result in a more customary Final Four scenario.

According to the proposal, seeds No. 5-12 will play a best-of-three first-round series, while the top four seeds receive byes. The following weekend, after the teams are re-seeded, teams 1-8 will play a best-of-three quarterfinal series, with those four winners heading to the Championships in Lake Placid.

Pending approval, this will all take effect for the 2002-2003 campaign.

Attempts to reach ECAC assistant commissioner Steve Hagwell were unsuccessful. Hagwell is currently attending the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee meetings.

The format would restore the more desirable final four scenario, and maximize revenue by creating eight home playoff series. (Currently, there are five home playoff series.) Furthermore, eliminating the sparsely-attended Thursday play-in game that the final five required would remove the uncertainty for fans attending the final weekend.

This scenario is made possible by the addition of an extra week to the season, starting in 2002-03. The extra week was created when the NCAA tournament was pushed back one week so it wouldn’t conflict with the NCAA basketball tournament. Since the start of the ECAC season usually arrives later than the other conferences, the new start date would be unchanged, creating an extra week.

Hagwell, as recently as Friday, was expecting to use this extra week to alleviate the Harvard Beanpot dilemma. In recent years, Harvard has been forced to play two league games on the weekend preceding the Monday Beanpot games, while their opponents normally play just one, on Friday. With the extra week of leeway, the ECAC was going to create a schedule that alleviated this problem. However, that solution is now in question.

The ECAC men’s meetings were wrapped up late Thursday, but questions still linger?

  • Will this new proposal be approved, or has it been already?
  • Will the proposed expansion in games from 32-34, already approved by the ADs, be passed by the ECAC’s Policy Committee, especially considering the possible added week of playoff games?
  • What impact will the increase in the games allowance have on the Ivy Leagues? They went along with approving the games limit, but there’s still an Ivy limit of 29. Will they make changes to that, or will it even be discussed?
  • What will Hagwell’s future role be? The ADs were mulling a proposal to give Hagwell more authoritative power on hockey issues, while ECAC commissioner Phil Buttafuoco is tied up with other conference matters.
  • Legendary Murray Murdoch Passes Away at Age 96

    Murray Murdoch, the legendary professional hockey player and collegiate coach, passed away today in South Carolina, two days shy of his 97th birthday.

    Murray Murdoch, in his coaching days. (photo courtesy Yale sports information)

    Murray Murdoch, in his coaching days. (photo courtesy Yale sports information)

    Murdoch, the oldest living National Hockey League Player, played 11 seasons with the New York Rangers (1926-37), totalling 84 goals and 192 points in 508 games. The left wing from Lucknow, Ont., was considered the “iron man” of professional hockey at the time. Lou Gehrig, the famous Yankee and iron man of baseball, once met Murdoch and was quoted as saying, “from one iron man to another.”

    “I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to Yale and get to know him,” said the current Yale coach of 25 years, Tim Taylor. “Unequivocally, he’s one of the finest gentlemen to play or coach this sport.

    “I don’t know anyone who knew Murray who didn’t like him. Not only his personality after his competitive days, but he had respect from NHL people, other coaches, and players.

    Murdoch won the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1974 for contributions to American hockey after spending 27 seasons behind the bench of the Yale men’s team as head coach. From 1938 to 1965, he amassed a then school-record 278 victories, which was broken by Taylor last winter.

    The Yale coaching legend attended Bulldog games at Ingalls Rink on a regular basis until moving South to be with his daughter last fall.

    “I deal with a lot of the [Yale] alumni,” said Taylor. “To a man, they revered him. We’ve lost a legendary coach and person.”

    ECAC ADs Approve Games Increase, Delay Playoff Expansion Vote

    During a five-hour meeting at Yale University on Wednesday, ECAC athletic directors gave overwhelming approval to a proposal from coaches to increase the regular-season games allowance from 32 to 34 for non-Ivy League teams.

    Meanwhile, a proposal that would expand the league playoffs to include all 12 member teams, has been tabled until July, pending further review.

    While the green light was given to increasing the games limit, final approval must come from the ECAC Policy Committee, comprised of faculty representatives and other people outside the respective athletic departments.

    "[The Ivy League ADs] realize that from an ECAC perspective, it’s for the good of the league and in the best interests of the league as a whole. I’ve heard in the past that there was a split within the league [between Ivy and non-Ivy ADs]. I don’t know about how it was before I got here, but it’s not like that."

    — ECAC assistant commissioner Steve Hagwell

    “They have oversight on this issue,” said ECAC assistant commissioner Steve Hagwell. “We will forward the recommendation to them and hopefully get them on a conference call, with representatives from among the ADs and coaches who can speak to why the change was voted on and passed.”

    A simple majority is needed to pass the measure, which would bring the ECAC in line with other Division I NCAA conferences.

    The limit for the league’s six Ivy League schools is 29 games, and it’s less certain whether that would change.

    “The Ivies just had their meetings,” said Hagwell. “It wasn’t formally proposed to the Ivy presidents. I got the sense from some [Ivy League] administrators that the direction they are going, that expanding [the games limit] is not on the docket.”

    Nonetheless, the Ivy League athletic directors did not stand in the way of approval.

    “They realize that from an ECAC perspective, it’s for the good of the league and in the best interests of the league as a whole,” said Hagwell.

    “I’ve heard in the past that there was a split within the league [between Ivy and non-Ivy ADs]. I don’t know about how it was before I got here, but it’s not like that. There’s 12 coaches and administrators, and not everyone goes 12-0, but it’s not like, ‘There’s six of you versus six of us.'”

    Hagwell said it’s possible the Ivy League teams, which currently can schedule a scrimmage for their opening weekend, will replace it with a regular-season game, getting the limit up to 30.

    For the second straight year, representatives from among the 12 league coaches were invited to attend the annual meetings. This year’s representatives were Cornell’s Mike Schafer, Yale’s Tim Taylor and Union’s Kevin Sneddon.

    Coming out of their annnual convention in Naples, Fla., last month, the coaches stood unanimously behind the increase in games, and the expanded playoffs.

    About the playoffs, Clarkson coach Mark Morris said at the time, “I think that having the extra team in Lake Placid looks to be a situation where, getting to that point, we can generate more revenue for the league. And hopefully, we can help our league continue to improve in terms of being very competitive on a national level.”

    Athletic directors had some questions about the expansion, however. Representatives from the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) in Lake Placid, which hosts and helps organize the ECAC championship weekend, were invited to the meeting to discuss logistical issues, such as hotel availability.

    “The ADs weren’t opposed, they just want to get answers,” said Hagwell. “Before they change the championship structure, which they did a couple years ago, they want to make sure everything is lined up.”

    Hagwell said most of the concerns were logistical, but there was also some trepidation about the philosophy of having all 12 teams in the postseason.

    “That was part of it. Is it beneficial or not to have all 12 in? There were some concerns,” he said.

    Hagwell will prepare a report for the athletic directors, to be finalized after having a conference call with the league’s coaches near the end of June. He expects to get the report in the hands of the ADs by July 1, at which point the ADs will hold a conference call to make a final decision.

    The 10-team playoff format has been in place since 1990. It originally consisted of a play-in game between the 7-10 seeds on a Tuesday preceding the quarterfinals, then a final four. That changed in 1998 to five quarterfinals, followed by a final five weekend.

    The league also made progress on scheduling, especially as it pertains to the weekends surrounding the Beanpot tournament. In recent years, Harvard has been forced to play twice on the weekend before Beanpot games, while their Hockey East opponents played only on the preceding Fridays.

    “The coaches agree that it’s important for the league to help out Harvard,” Hagwell said.

    As part of the changes, the ECAC will move away from the two-year schedule rotation that saw a set schedule one year, followed by the reversed schedule the next year. Instead, schedules will be made on a one-year basis, with Harvard being allowed to play at home every year on the weekend before the Beanpot championship.

    Those games will likely be played on Thursday-Friday, said Hagwell. The Friday before the first Beanpot weekend will be reserved for a game against Brown, Harvard’s usual travel partner.

    These changes start in 2002-2003, coinciding to the year in which the NCAA tournament will be moved back one week. With the start of the ECAC season remaining the same, that allows for one extra week of wiggle room during the season to create a schedule.

    Finally, the athletic directors discussed a recommendation by coaches that would alter the structure of the league’s chain of command. Currently, Phil Buttafuoco is the commissioner of the entire ECAC — which includes many sports at many levels — and Hagwell is the assistant commissioner, in charge of hockey administration. Many coaches would like to see Hagwell have more authority to make final hockey decisions.

    “We talked about structure, and how it impacts my position,” Hagwell said, “but I had to excuse myself from the room during those discussions, so I can’t really say what happened.”

    Workman Steps Down at St. Scholastica

    St. Scholastica has announced the resignation of head coach Mark Workman.

    St. Scholastica assistant athletic director Dave Reyelts was named interim coach through the end of the 2001-2002 season while a national search is conducted. Reyelts is also the college’s women’s soccer coach.

    “We’re very appreciative of the many contributions Coach Workman has made to the program,” said athletic director Dana Moore.

    Workman tallied a career record of 35-118-3 in five seasons at St. Scholastica. The 2000-2001 Saints compiled a 9-17-1 overall record and finished sixth in the Division III NCHA at 3-10-1.

    Workman oversaw the team’s move into a new home rink, Mars Lakeview Arena, at the start of this past season.

    Commentary: ECAC Should Approve 12-team Playoffs

    When the athletic directors of the 12 ECAC Division I Men’s programs meet today at Yale, they will be deciding on a proposal to expand the playoff field to include all 12 teams. This move, endorsed by the 12 league coaches, would give six teams home ice in the first round of the playoffs, and create a different scenario in Lake Placid.

    Instead of the final five scenario used in recent years, there would be two quarterfinals on a Friday, followed by two semifinals on a Saturday and a championship game on a Sunday. In this scenario, the top two seeds remaining would receive a bye into the semifinals after the first round of the playoffs.

    Should the athletic directors vote to institute this change?

    You bet they should.

    There are some opposing views to this idea and that’s not a surprise. People have pointed out that it could “devalue” the regular season if all teams make the playoffs. If a team finishes the season with only one win in the ECAC, why should it deserve to go the playoffs?

    The ECAC is suffering, and will continue to suffer from its present perception. Something must be done to change that perception. People will remember more how many teams you get in the tournament rather than why it’s a bad structure. If the times change, then the playoff structure changes, it’s as simple as that.

    In turn, would there be the battles that there were towards the end of the regular season as we have seen in past years? What kind of excitement would there have been during the final weekend of this past regular season, when
    Vermont was sitting on pins and needles waiting for the Colgate-Rensselaer game to finish?

    And, detractors ask, with all teams in the playoffs, do those extra games hurt the PairWise Rankings of the top teams if they have to play the bottom teams?

    But, given the state of the ECAC, this is the best possible move this league can take at this point in time.

    It’s already been pointed out that the experience of the playoffs and Lake
    Placid bodes well for future teams and gives them the “hunger” to get back to Placid to win it all the following seasons.

    It’s also been mentioned that there is a financial incentive to moving towards this scenario. An extra set of home games for another team is a definite positive. Six teams going to Lake Placid means one more set of fans get to experience Lake Placid as well. There is no doubt that the financial reasons make this a viable scenario.

    But, what has not been mentioned, and why this is a good move for the ECAC, is the big picture of the ECAC within college hockey at the moment.

    Look at the background of the last major playoff structure change (I will exclude the change to best-of-three).

    A few years ago, the ECAC went to a Final Five format, eliminating the
    first round Tuesday play-in games, and going to five first-round matchups, with the five winners advancing to Lake Placid. The lowest two seeds play on Thursday evening for the right to face the top seed, while the other two teams played each other in the semifinals.

    What was the impetus for this change? Was it because of finances? Was it because of more teams in Lake Placid? I don’t think that was the reason why.

    The underlying reason for this change was so that the top seed would have the best shot at advancing to the Frozen Four to win the NCAA Championship.

    Thus, with the rule in place giving a team a bye in the NCAA Tournament for winning its regular season and tournament titles, the Final Five format was perfect. Why? You are giving your best team a better opportunity at getting to the Frozen Four by only having to play one game instead of two.

    It makes perfect sense doesn’t it? Your No. 1 seed will most likely be the regular season title winner, and that team will have to take on a team that played the night before while that team rested. Of course, that team still had to win two games, but the chances are increased of getting to the final game. And, also in that instance, even if the No. 1 seed didn’t win the title, the odds of moving up in the selection criteria are increased, giving the regular season title winner a better chance at a bye.

    All in all, the Final Five format gave a conference’s best team the better
    opportunity at getting a bye and moving to the Frozen Four, thus having a shot at winning the national championship.

    This past season, that all changed. With the addition of the automatic bid to the MAAC Champion, a bye was no longer automatically given to a team winning its regular season and tournament title. So, a key benefit of the Final Five concept was no longer valid.

    This year, the ECAC, for the first time ever, only placed one team in the NCAA Tournament. That had to be a disappointment for all associated with the ECAC — its athletes, coaches, administration, and fans. For a league with a proud tradition, it is obvious, given last season’s NCAA Tournament and the perception of the ECAC within college hockey, that something must be done.

    Pull these two elements together and what should be the main focus of the ECAC at this present time?

    Everybody would love to see one of their teams win the NCAA Championship, but in order to do that, you need to increase your odds. But that should not be the focus of the ECAC given the state of the conference within college hockey at the moment.

    With a 12-team tournament, one team has a shot. Two teams have a better shot. So what should be the focus? Getting at least two teams into the NCAA Tournament — that is the focus.

    How can you accomplish that? How can you structure your league to do so? What’s the best way to get at least two teams in the tournament?

    The answer, for the ECAC, is devising a 12-team playoff format.

    All of this is, of course, theoretical. You still have to play the games.

    But let’s revert back to the Final Five format for a moment. Theoretically, a
    team facing a semifinals opponent that has played the night before should have an edge to get to the next game — the final.

    With a 12-team playoff format, a top-seeded team should defeat its first-round opponent and also move on to the semifinals via the bye. From there, you rest while both of your opponents will be playing the night before. But under this format, the same thing applies for the No. 2-seeded team.

    It’s the same exact theory as the Final Five, but you now have two teams that have a better shot at advancing to the championship game, and of getting into the NCAA Tournament.

    Mind you, this all depends on a variety of factors, but it doesn’t change the
    theory behind it.

    In order for this to happen, two ECAC teams need to be above or hovering around the cutoff point of 12 teams. But if one team needs help, would this do it for them?

    If you are the ECAC, put aside the reasons why people say it shouldn’t be done. Put aside the fact that the regular season may not mean as much and focus on what’s important for the ECAC as a whole — getting the recognition and changing the perspectives of many people.

    Do your best to get as many teams into the NCAA Tournament as possible, something you have to do because no one is sure when the field will be expanded to 16.

    And let’s be honest, the ECAC can’t wait for that day to come right now. The ECAC is suffering, and will continue to suffer from its present perception. Something must be done to change that perception. People will remember more how many teams you get in the tournament rather than why it’s a bad structure. If the times change, then the playoff structure changes, it’s as simple as that.

    Right now the ECAC is getting killed. The ECAC has to act, and this is the way to do it.

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