Interview with UML Coach Blaise MacDonald
Part II
It is rare in college hockey to see a team with so few upperclassmen. With just one senior on the roster, leadership issues could become a factor this year. Who will lead the team, mentor the younger kids, watch them and help them on the ice? “Any good team I’ve been associated with has had tremendous leadership in the locker room,” said MacDonald. MacDonald also stated that the opposite also applies, a good team without leadership could be just average. Coach MacDonald is using a new program this year to help develop leadership this year. “I’m running a leadership class with our four leaders on the team,” said MacDonald. The class, which meets every week, includes a manual and will be 10 weeks long. He said he had been excited by the participation of his four captains, and he believed that this would really help with his team’s leadership issues. But the worry is still there for the coach, “it is a real concern for me,” he concluded.

Sometimes it is forgotten that coaches are also held responsible for the kids they bring in off ice as well. Lowell has two players in their program that have had issues off ice, one being local Chelmsford High star Todd Fletcher. Fletcher was one of a few underage kids caught this past summer at a party that included alcohol. The story made not only the local papers, but the Boston Globe as well, when the Chelmsford AD (Todd’s father) got himself involved. How does a coach handle issues like this? How much control does the coach have over the players behavior? People know that MacDonald is a hands on coach and wants his players to adhere to some rather strict rules (including no hats indoors). He has let the kids on his team know that “social misbehavior is the quickest way to be booted from the team.” The players know what they can and cannot get away with it right up front. Players with a bit of a past do work off the proverbial shorter leash with the coach. MacDonald said that good behavior from players will allow them a bit more space and freedom and could allow a small mishap, but that trust and respect has to be earned, it is not just given. MacDonald made it clear that the players know where they fit in when it comes to discipline.

Another topic that was discussed was participation by hockey alumni in the program. Most people know about programs such as BU and BC that have alumni that not only help their alma maters monetarily, but also by spending time talking to players. The same situation does occur at Lowell. “Whether it’s Dean Jenkins or Ken Kaiser, there’s an awful lot of guys out there that support our program,” said MacDonald. The Lowell alumni event has also been helping to get ex-players involved, as Mike Murray and John Morris both participated. Morris had never participated in the past, but “he know feels like he wants to be involved.” Many times programs can use not only current players to help recruit but some of the alumni as well, especially area alumni. Also those men have already experienced some of the factors that will affect current players, and talk to the players about possible issues that they might face.

The schedule for Lowell this year will be tough for the young squad. With 22 of 38 games being played away from the friendly confines of the Tsongas Arena, the team will be tested severely, especially going to Wisconsin and Michigan State (not mentioning league games). There is a reason that Coach MacDonald has worked for this type of schedule though. When you have a squad this young, a schedule like this helps you learn mental toughness according to MacDonald. He explained by saying the key is “the grind and toughness of playing a game when you don’t feel a 100%, and how do you respond to that and how do you mentally overcome [those issues].” He doesn’t appear to have any fear that this schedule could hurt his team; specifically it’s confidence, as many of these arenas are not easy places to win in. MacDonald laughed and said “I really love the mental torture we’re going to put our guys through, because I know it’s going to make us better.” How much better of course remains to be seen. Of course, participating in the Mariucci Classic (Minnesota) in the 2005/2006 season won’t be much easier either. Fans of the Lowell program hope though that the kids will be playing with more confidence by that point.

Having lost not only their leading scorer from last year in McGrane, but also 2 others that were in the top four scorers on the team, the River Hawks offense is also a bit of a question mark this year. MacDonald joked that he hasn’t quite come to terms with McGrane not being around, and that he keeps wanting to say “Eddie, get out there!” MacDonald noted that Lowell was in this same position a couple of years prior, when they lost All-American defenseman Ron Hainsey, stating that it does make you “wonder how will we pick up the slack.” The River Hawks the following year scored more goals from the blue liners than they had when Hainsey was playing, as all the other defensemen picked up their offensive games a bit. MacDonald believes it will have to be the same this year, as the offense will need to fill the gap left McGrane. The coach expects to see sophomores like Ben Walter (5-12-17), Elias Godoy (7-7-14), and Andrew Martin (10-12-22) each improve their point production by 5-10%. He says that the team will have a much more balanced attack, as he’s not sure if there’s really anyone on the team that has the ability to break open a game or come up with an important goal all on their own, like McGrane did a few times last year. The joke amongst Lowell fans is they will see Niklas Storm (no goals, 9 assists in 55 games) finally score a goal, and MacDonald would love to see that as well. “There’s nobody in the program that is more intense, more committed and harder on himself than [Storm],” he said. The junior, who also happens to be the only upperclass forward on the roster, has had a few chances the last couple of years, but just can’t seem to put the puck in the net. He is a hard worker though, and does deserve to be rewarded with a goal. Other key returnees up front for the River Hawks will include sophomores O'Brien (8-7-15), Bobby Robins (5-3-8), Brad King (4-3-7), Mark Pandolfo (3-3-6) and redshirt freshman Brian Bova, who was injured after his only game last year.

On the blue line, the Hawks once again return a lot of young talent. The loss of Baptiste Amar, Josh Reed and Darryl Green will be countered by returning senior Domish, junior Tormey (1-8-9) and sophomores Matt Collar (2-2-4), Erik Johansson (0-2-2) and Brandvold (no points in 5 games). Collar has shown a knack for being a hard hitter, but also being a very good stay at home defenseman. Along with the three incoming freshmen, the fight for playing time between these nine players should be a good one, and the future of the Lowell blue line looks good. With Kinley and Coutu being offensive defensemen, expect to see them paired up with one of the returnees who is comfortable staying back, like Collar or Tormey. With Domish also liking to venture up, the blue line might be able to put the puck in the net a few times this year. Any offense that this group can provide would be a huge boost for their young team.

With a more experienced team, a coaching staff has a bit more room to try things, but a little less patience as they expect more of players that have been there. That won’t be the issue with this team. So does the coaching staff try and simplify things as much as they can, have more patience, and just try and get the fundamentals right? MacDonald replied in the positive, explaining that he would be drawing from his experience at Niagara bringing 15 freshmen into the lineup. “This year it’s going to be real basic, fundamental hockey. Get acclimated to playing Division I hockey.” The coach has almost set up a classroom type atmosphere to help the freshmen understand life at the college hockey level, and also learn a bit about MacDonald himself. It is something that MacDonald has never done before, but does expect it to pay dividends for the team. Any advice, information, or knowledge that the freshmen take out of those meetings will only help them as they prepare to play in arguably the toughest league in college hockey.

Another area where the youth of this team could be an issue is on special teams play. The River Hawks were successful on 17.2% of their power plays in Hockey East play, which was good for 7th in the league. But their shorthanded situations didn’t work out quite as well, giving up goals on 23.9% of those opportunities, worst in Hockey East. MacDonald does worry a bit about this area for the River Hawks, “Good special teams is all about confidence, and when you’re young it’s hard to maintain your confidence.” MacDonald noted that veteran players like McGrane wouldn’t lose their confidence as easily, having been in those situations before. Many younger players tend to have confidence issues, wondering if they can play at this level, and mistakes during the power play or in shorthanded situations tend to be magnified. Having a solid goaltender behind them when playing shorthanded can be a huge boost as well, but no one really knows if Lowell will have that safety measure this year.

With all these concerns, and hopefully enough talent to overcome the seventh place preseason pick, what should fans expect from the team this year? According to MacDonald, “We’ll be a team that’s tough to play against, loves playing on the road, certainly a much better team in the second half than we will be in the first.” Many fans will remember some of the same comments from MacDonald prior to last season. Last year, the worry was pretty much the same, even though there were a good number of seniors, the number of freshmen was high. This year, the number of underclassmen is huge. It will take time for the team to gel, to learn each other’s abilities, and even just to get to know each other. MacDonald wants to see his team continue to make progress, the team’s attitude is “We’re going to get on the bus, we’re going to be driving the bus, and the bus is going forward and it’s got to keep going forward on a weekly basis.” With the talent level on this team, the River Hawks will put a scare into a lot of opponents this year. The team has to avoid putting itself in the hole they found themselves in last year, without a win in league play until as they didn’t win until January, 9 games into the season. MacDonald believes that if the team can get some scoring out of Walter, Martin and Godoy, it could make a huge difference to his team. Also while MacDonald believes that Domish had a good year last year, “If he could play as consistently, but pick his game up a level and be a real good leader, I really think that could be the missing element.” It’s tough to put so much pressure on those four players, but Lowell fans would agree that they do hold the key to this year’s team … along with of course, the goaltending.

When it comes to Hockey East overall, it’s very easy to see who the best team is expected to be. “I imagine Jerry York is sleeping well at night,” joked MacDonald, who sees the Boston College team as a very possible national title contender. The Eagles return almost their entire roster from the previous year and added another highly ranked freshman class to a very strong team. After that MacDonald sees a little congestion, with UNH and Boston University in the next group, and Maine and UMass right behind them. The Lowell coach does have a surprise in his rankings expecting Northeastern to be a much-improved team. “It would not surprise me seeing them battle for home ice down the stretch, I really believe that,” said MacDonald. Providence, Merrimack and Lowell, not in any particular order, round out his preseason expectations. MacDonald noted that Merrimack lost a big leader in Exter, but they also return a high percentage of their offense from the 2002/2003 season. But he ended with a simple comment that Lowell fans hope to see come true this year, saying his team might be in the same position as last year, “We’re battling everybody really hard every night, and if we get a few breaks like UMass did last year, we could be at the FleetCenter easily.” Lowell fans hope that they get to see their coach wearing one of his trademark jackets, the yellow one preferably, at the FleetCenter in the middle of March 2004, and not in shorts on vacation. The guess here is that MacDonald would prefer the same. What happens this year will start coming into effect this weekend. The Hawks have enough young talent to make some noise in the future, but are hoping to start doing so now.

Click here to go back to Part I of the interview.

Copyright 2003 Monty Rodrigues