LOOKING FORWARD TO FLYING HIGH AGAIN
AN INTERVIEW WITH LOWELL COACH TIM WHITEHEAD
Question: Big time college hockey on the East Coast?
Answer: Boston University, Boston College, UNH and Maine.
Second Question: How about the University of Massachusetts at Lowell?
Okay stop laughing, and explain why not?
When asked to name the big programs on the East Coast the four above teams are what comes to everyone’s mind. First of all, is it any wonder that all of those are Hockey East teams? Of course not, three of the last four NCAA finalists were Hockey East teams, including both Maine and UNH last year.
So what about the other teams in the league? No one questions that Providence is a relatively strong team, but the others? Merrimack, Northeastern, UMass Amherst and UMass Lowell. How can those schools compete consistently with the powers that be? You know that they can’t out recruit the big four, they don’t have the tradition of the big four, and they definitely don’t have the name of the big four (and if you think that means nothing to possible recruits, you’re highly mistaken). Check out the campuses of these universities. Add up the students of the two Merrimack Valley schools, Lowell and Merrimack, and you still don’t equal that of more than half of the other programs. So the question becomes, can these teams that no one thinks highly of, actually compete on a year-by-year basis? Not just a once in every four or five years basis, but every single year?
Coach Tim Whitehead was kind enough to sit down with yours truly last week and discuss a variety of questions.
Whitehead is very happy about his roster for the upcoming year, and looking at the returning players and the incoming freshmen, there’s no reason for him not to be. The team only lost five seniors last year, and will actually get younger this year, as only four seniors will be on the roster. Arguably the biggest loss will be felt on the blue line, where 2nd Team All Hockey East defenseman Anthony Cappelletti (13-18-31 in 36 games) graduated this past year. Another big loss was in between the pipes where goalie Scott Fankhouser (16-12-0, 2.77 GAA) graduated. Both positions are left with a lot of talent, but it’s very young talent. The three others that played their last games as UML River Hawks were F Doug Nolan (who won the Hockey East award as the Best Defensive Forward), D Wil Tormey and F Mike Mulligan.
While only losing six roster spots (Sean Storozuk is leaving the team), the Hawks are bringing in 10 freshmen for the upcoming year, and one transfer. One of those recruits (Tim Calabro, F, Billerica, MA) has committed to Lowell but will be playing Juniors for one year, while two of the remaining nine will have to sit out a year. While goalie Martin Kresac (Danville, NAHL) and Christain Schonmoser (Surrey, BCHL) had verbally committed to Lowell last in 1998, both did not clear the NCAA Clearinghouse and will not be in the NCAA’s next year.
With the team only having two sophomore goaltenders on the roster for the upcoming year (Jimi St. John and redshirt Cam McCormick), the team will be bringing in Dan Weinreib from Choate. According to Whitehead, "Weinreib is a talented young goalie. He will give us some depth at the position, I think he will surprise some people. He’s extremely quick. He’s small, but he’s quick. He works hard and has good natural ability." There’s virtually no pressure on Weinreib, since no one really will be expecting him to challenge for playing time this year. What he will do is provide a safety valve in case one of the sophomores is injured.
On the defensive side, Lowell gained it’s first ever US National Development team player in Ron Hainsey (Bolton, CT). Coach Whitehead expects both Hainsey and D Josh Reed (Vernon, BCHL) to step in and play. "I think [Reed’s] going to be a good one. He’s got good awareness, he can play the power play, penalty kill, any situation, and same with Hainsey. They’re both big guys, both 6’2 I think, both lanky defensemen with good mobility. They both can play all situations. Even as a freshman, I would anticipate they’ll have an opportunity to play here, but what they do with that is then up to them. I think they’re both going to adapt well.." Reed’s Vernon Vipers team won the Royal Banks Cup as the best junior team in Canada, and is sending seven players to play in the NCAAs this year. The other two defensemen that committed to Lowell, Daryl Green (Chatham, WOJHL) and Jeremy Domish (Tecumseh, OPJHL) both will sit out next year.
The forward position will get a lot of help this year, with four freshmen who are eligible to play (as mentioned above, Calabro will not be with the team this year). This position is highlighted by two teammates from the Milton Merchants (OPJHL), Ed McGrane and Geoff Schomogyi. Whitehead is excited about both of these guys, saying "McGrane is a crafty forward. He’s got real good sense, he has a good scoring touch, and got a lot of points up there for Milton. You’ll like him., he’s smart, he’s very poised. Geoff as well played for Milton, but he’s more of a speedster, a small guy up and down the wing, he can really fly, and he’s got a great scoring touch too, so a couple of guys with some good experience, they’re also coming from a winning program."
While it is hoped that McGrane will continue putting up good numbers in college, Schomogyi might have more room to grow. His game is more like a Shannon Basaraba’s, who graduated in 1997, a speedster that fly up and down the ice. But what would it take to move him to the level of a Christian Sbrocca (first team All Hockey East forward from Lowell back in 1996)? According to Coach Whitehead, not that much. "Christian was more of a physical player. Geoff doesn’t play as much of a physical game, but he doesn’t mind it, he’ll go right into the corner and get the puck, but Christain was more of a dynamic player physically. He’d make a big hit in the open ice, and he’s a extremely well rounded player, that’s why he was All Hockey East, and if Geoff can add that to his game, he’ll certainly be even better. He’s bringing a lot to us already, he’s a scorer and he brings speed. He can play in any situation, so he and McGrane are good ingredients to have."
Also included with the forwards are two kids right out of high school, Steve Slonina (BC High) and Marc Concannon (Winchendon Prep). While Slonina can play either defense (which is what he did at BC High) or as a winger, Whitehead believes that he "could play both for us, but I anticipate him playing at forward. He obviously played [defense] and played it well, but I think he’s a better forward than he is a defenseman, and that’s one of the things I like about him, he’s versatile and you can play him anywhere and he’ll help you. He’s tough and he’s got great hands. He’s got real good sense." Whitehead believes that Concannon can be a sleeper for the Hawks, "We’d like to think he could surprise some people. He needs to improve his skating a bit, but he knows that. He’s tough and he’s good in tight spaces. He can shoot and be physical. He’s a strong kid for his age, and I think he’s going to adapt well." The final new player for the Hawks is Ken Farrell, a transfer from Iona, a MAAC team.
With this being the second straight strong recruiting class, is it just a coincidence that the recruits seem to be a little stronger since the Tsongas Arena popped up? According to the coach, the arena is definitely a help on the recruiting front, but not necessarily in the way most people would think. "It’s certainly taken away some of the negative recruiting that has been there in the past, because as much as we’d like to people don’t do negative recruiting, word gets back that such-and-such team has been saying negative things about our program or whatever. And that does happen in all sports for sure, but the new arena obviously takes that comment away. ‘You’re in Lowell, you want to commute to the rink?’ You can’t say that anymore."
Now with the roster pretty much set for the upcoming season, a quick look shows a pretty talented group of players coming back for the Hawks. Who does the coaching staff expect the most out of from the returning sophomores? Whitehead laughs and says "everyone," but more specifically, "I think Kotyluk and Treille, on paper, are probably what I would expect to be the most highly touted players as far as expectations, but sometimes that’s tough. The other players see that, and then they come out hungry to prove they can do it too and out achieve the main players, but after what I saw freshman year, I’d say those are the two guys."
Then of course there are the two sophomore goaltenders. Don’t ask Whitehead who his number one goaltender is, because "it’s really up for grabs. I have full confidence in both of the guys coming back, but they’re both inexperienced. So we’re going to have to be very patient, just like we were this year with Scott [Fankhouser], who I thought had a tremendous year. Scott hadn’t played much previously either, but he did a great job being patient with himself, so we’ll have to do the same this year."
Included in the list of returning upperclassmen are the teams two leading scorers from last year, seniors Chris Bell and John Campbell. While Bell had a very respectable year last year, he didn’t fully play to his capabilities according to Coach Whitehead. "One thing that I think happened this year with Chris was that he put a lot of pressure on himself to take over for Greg Koehler." [Koehler would have been a forward in this years senior class and would most likely have been an All-American candidate in his junior year]. Whitehead continued, "With [Koehler] leaving, I felt Chris put a lot of pressure on himself to do more than was necessary, trying too hard to do two jobs, be himself and be Greg Koehler. In the long run, it hurt him last year. But I think next year, he will be used to the role of being the go-to guy on offense." In regards to John Campbell, Coach Whitehead responded by saying, "John Campbell has taken a step forward each year, and next year will be no exception. He works extremely hard, he has earned everything he has gotten, and he has really come out of no where, to the point where I’ll say that next year he will be one of the top forwards in the league. I’m really proud of his accomplishments."
The expectations for the junior class are just as high, with Brad Rooney, Jeff Boulanger, and Kyle Kidney being three of the keys. One of the disappointments last year was Rooney, but according to Whitehead, "Similar to what we talked about with Chris Bell, I think Brad Rooney put a lot of pressure on himself to do too much ‘I gotta score I gotta score.’ What I’m trying to keep Brad’s mind on is that he contributed a lot for us in different ways, and even if the puck isn’t bouncing in for him, he’s a very valuable member on our team and has been both his years here." Boulanger has the ability to become the goal scorer that this team desperately needs, he’s "extremely gifted with his hand-eye coordination in front of the net, he has no problem finding the loose puck and flipping it in." Kidney in the meantime must continue to cut down on bad penalties during games. His play was much better his sophomore season than his rookie run, but Coach Whitehead believes he still has the ability to get better, "He could be a force over the next two years, he’s got some things to work on, but he knows what they are. I’m really encouraged to see how far he has come in just one year."
What young teams need desperately is a chance to learn, and to play with each other in a friendly yet competitive environment. Well "the Hawks will get half of that." The team is scheduled to play its first three games on the road, but the season opening weekend will definitely not be friendly. The Hawks are headed to the home of perennial national power Michigan for games on October 15th and 16th. It doesn’t get much tougher to start a season, but Whitehead thinks its great! "That is a great place to play, they have some great fans, and terrific tradition. The team is very excited, it’s a great way to get prepared for the season over the summer, knowing that we’re playing Michigan’s home opener. It’s going to be packed and the excitement is just going to be great, so if we can’t get up for that, then forget it."
With yet another year of tough Hockey East competition also on the schedule, another year of facing expectations from fans that might not be realistic, and in the meantime still being thought of around college hockey as a nobody, it could be another long year. While the roster looks good for next year, the Hockey East fraternity will still no doubt place the River Hawks between sixth through ninth in the preseason rankings. The best players in the country who want to play NCAA hockey will never look at a school like Lowell. The fans will most likely not really show up for games unless the team is ranked in the top 10, and even then sellouts are a question. So after saying all that, does Coach Whitehead have any regrets about taking over this program? "I enjoy coaching here, I like it here because it is so rewarding when we do over achieve. I personally have something to prove here, that we do run a quality program, and we do things, not just on the ice but off it too, academically and what we do in the community. It is so rewarding when you do win here, because you’re up against a lot of challenges when you’re coaching here and it’s even tougher now with our rising admission standards. They are great for the university, and in the long run will be great for the program as well, but it’s tough now because our pool of available kids has shrunk. That’s a challenge that we think we can meet, and we’re confident that we can succeed here no matter what the challenges are. And that’s what’s so enjoyable about working here is that we really have to coach. For us to win the games that we win, we gotta coach. We have to work with the players, and we’ve got to do things here, versus just letting the kids go on the ice, and if we were to do that here, we’d be in last place every year."
One thing the Coach is sure about is that this team will be fun to watch. They will be competitive, will play a fun brand of hockey, and while they may be young, they will definitely be exciting. Just talking to him gives you the impression that he can’t wait for practice to start, and to get those kids on the ice. Both the city of Lowell and the University have rebuilt themselves recently. The city has done a wonderful job of cleaning itself up and restoring pride in its citizens. The University is continuing to establish itself as a high-class institution, where you don’t have to mortgage the house of your parents, grandparents, and other assorted relatives just to go to school. The beautiful Tsongas Arena is a great example of what the University and City want to represent them. Now it’s time for the UML hockey program to take a step forward and help with the restoration of the area, by simply winning and drawing more fans. The team has not finished above .500 since they made the NCAA tournament in 1996, which was the last time the team was in Michigan. This year starts with the Hawks in Michigan again "could that be a good omen of things to come?"
Just under four months remain till opening day, and Tim Whitehead, the recruiter, has completed his job, and it’s almost time for Coach Whitehead to take over.