TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH TIM WHITEHEAD

COACH OF THE UMASS LOWELL RIVERHAWKS HOCKEY TEAM

1. Q: Okay Coach Whitehead, let's start with the recruit list?
   
   TW: [Martin] Kresac and [Christian] Schonmoser are both out. Daryl Green is a redshirt, not eligible to play till 00-01, but he can practice. Jeremy Domish is also not eligible till 00-01, but he can’t practice either. Tim Calabro has gone to the Juniors, will be with Lowell in the 00-01 campaign. Steve Slonina will be a forward.



2. Q. Shawn Bartlett?
   
   TW: Going to Saint Lawrence.



3. Q. How about specific attributes for next years freshmen, starting with the new goalie, Dan Weinreib?
   
   TW. Weinreib is a talented young goalie from Choate. 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.



4. Q. I know that USCHO had him rated as the fourth best goalie in the New England area.
   
   TW. Yeah, he was a good high school goalie, and I think he can make the transition to college. He works hard and has good natural ability. But we don’t need him to step into the #1 position next year, we’d love if he challenged for it, that’d be great, but we don’t need that to happen, but I think it’s going to be good matchup.
   
   [Steve] Slonina is a tough forward or defenseman, he could play both for us, but I anticipate him playing at forward. But he could play d, he obviously played it 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. It’s tough to make that transition from high school to college without a year of juniors, but I think he’s ready to do it.
   
   Darryl Green is going to redshirt a year, but he’s a very strong defenseman, he played Major Juniors so has to sit out a year, practice and keep his academics up to par and he should be fine, but he’s not on our roster for this year.
   
   Mark Concannon is a little bit of a sleeper, but 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 physical. He’s a strong kid for his age, and I think he’s going to adapt well and I think he’s going to play for us.
   
   Josh Reed is one of the top defenseman out in British Colombia, and you know, that league is a very competitive league.



5. Q: Didn’t his Vernon team win the whole thing up in Canada, the Royal Banks Cup?
   
   TW. Yeah they went the whole way, so he’s been on a winning program and he brings that experience to us. I think he’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 the next guy Ron Hainsey. They’re both big guys, both 6’2" I think, both lanky defenseman 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.
   
   [Ed] 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 [Schomogyi] 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.



6. Q: Would you consider Schomoygi to Christain [Sbrocca]?
   
   TW. They’re a little bit different, Christain 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 round 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. Schomoyg is more up and down guy that McGrane, kind of like a Shannon Basaraba.
   
   Jeremy Domish is a good defenseman, but we’re a little bit ahead of the game talking too much about him. But he’s a tough, he skates well, and plays a very good defensive game. He’s going to have to sit out the whole year though without practicing and playing for him to be eligible, so he’s not really on our roster this year. He will count as next years recruit.



7. Q. Out of that group, who do you expect to come right in and play?
   
   TW. We expect them all to challenge for ice time. I’d be careful to rank one above the other, just because of experience. A lot of times the guy you thinks going to be your best ends up being somebody else. They’re all coming here because we believe they can all play for us, and how much they do with that opportunity is up to them and it’s tough to predict one over the other.



8. Q: What happened to Martin Kresac, who I thought had committed back in October?
   
   TW: Neither he nor Schonmoser cleared the [NCAA] Clearinghouse. They’re both not coming. That’s why we got Dan [Weinreib] because Martin didn’t clear it.



9. Q: How important it is that every one of your incoming recruits has played for a winning team?
   
   TW: It’s important you know, we feel like we’re set up to do some things over the next couple of years, and its good that these guys are used to winning.



10. Q: Is the Tsongas Arena helping in recruiting at all?
    
    TW: Yes we feel that it’s helping. 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. Of course, there’s a lot of great rinks in our league, so this doesn’t give us a lopsided advantage or anything. It’s nice to have a great rink, it’s another piece of the puzzle. People come onto the campus, and they look around and they see the type of commitments that we’re making towards our program, it helps out.



11. Q: Who do you expect to be the #1 goaltender for the opening game next year?
    
    TW: I’d say just based on past performance it would have to be Jimi [St. John] since neither of the other two have played a game for us. I think ideally we’d like for all three guys to challenge for the #1 position. Just working with Cam [McCormick] for the last year and a half, we know that he can compete for that job, and we also know that Jimi can too. I’d say the goaltending position is totally up for grabs, we do feel that we have 3 guys that can compete for the job. It will be tough though, as Cam hasn’t played for a year and a half, so we realize we’re going to have to be patient with him, and I think Jimi’s going to really take off next year to because he got a taste for it this year.



12. Q: Cam was redshirted last year correct?
    
    TW: Yes, Cam has three years of eligibility left, meaning all three of our goaltenders are underclassmen.



13. Q: Who will be Lowell’s captains next year?
    
    TW: We don’t know. The team will pick them next year, we feel that with a lot of freshmen coming in, we’d like to have them involved in the process.



14. Q: The Governor’s Cup. Why did it end?
    
    TW: Basically I can’t comment on the exact reason. We ran it the one four year cycle. What we decided to do with the tournament was to host the City of Lights Tournament at Thanksgiving time, since the City of Lowell puts together a nice festival at that time. So we figured it’d be combine that with the tournament to go with the new arena to go with it, because we did want to host an event. We enjoyed hosting the Governor’s Cup last year, and we figured we could bring in some teams that we don’t normally see. We’re bringing in one team from the west [Air Force], and two from the east [Uconn and Yale]. We don’t know how long the tournament will last, we’re 90% sure we will host it for two years with the same setup, two eastern teams and one western, along with Lowell. If it takes off this year, it’d be a great tradition to have, but we’re not comitting to more than just one year, since we don’t know how it will go. We do think it will go well, so we’re already thinking about who to invite the year after.



15. Q: How’s the team feel about opening up the season against perennial national power Michigan?
    
    TW: Yes, the team is definitely looking forward to it. 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. Our guys are already up for the year, what with that game, and road trips are always fun anyway, as we had a great time going out to Duluth last year and the guys just had a great time. We’d like to have one trip like that a year, and this one’s going to be a big challenge for us obviously, a great team with a lot of tradition, but at the same time, if we want our program to improve, both the players and the coaches, we have to play the best opposition. It’s just a one year agreement, they will not be playing in Lowell.



16. Q: With the lack of students at the home games, is the school doing anything to change this?
    
    TW: Yes they are, but you must remember that with the marketing situation, the university has a very limited amount of resources at their disposal. Basically that falls on the shoulders of marketing director/assistant athletic director Ed Stoner, who also has tons of other responsibilities. He only has one assistant, a grad student Brian Scanlon, and they both are doing a tremendous job doing as much as they can. Comparatively, the Lowell Lock Monsters have a staff of over a dozen people just doing marketing. It’s really a challenge. That’s one area.
    
    The other is the team. Playing clean, good hockey games, winning games, and playing with class.
    
    The last element is tradition. The biggest area there is with the dormitories, the students recognizing, whether it’s RA’s or whoever that this is a great potential event to go on campus. It’s a non-alcoholic event, right on your campus, which creates school spirit. There just isn’t a tradition of university life being involved in that process, but they are starting to recognize what a great non-alcoholic event it is on campus, and how can you beat that for something to do on a weekend. That’s the last element.
    
    We’re going to do everything we can to win games and put a class act on the ice, within our limits, and the marketing staff is doing what they can within their limits, so once the university recognizes what they can do obviously within their limits, since they are also working with a limited staff, so between the three of us, we’re hoping the tradition will be there. What’s happened is that we are obviously dissappointed that the students don’t come, but we have to sit back and say that there’s no tradition here yet. There used to be when they served beer down at the Tully Forum, when it was a DII team, but they had the beer. But that’s not the type of atmosphere that we’re looking to have. We’re trying to emphasize school spirit, it’s right on campus and I think it’ll be fun. There’s a lot of potential there.



17. Q: Other than the seniors, are any others leaving the program that you know off?
    
    TW: Sean Storozuk is the only one I know of right now. But we’re still waiting for final academic grades too.



18. Q: Any other incoming players that are redshirts that we might not have seen last year?
    
    TW: Brian Farrell is a forward, from Fort McMurray Alberta. He’s a transfer from Iona College [MAAC], so he sat out the second semester last year, and will need to sit out the first semester this year, but will be eligible to play January of 2000.



19. Q: Anything you’d like to hilight about yourself?
    
    TW: Nothing much really. I’m happy to be here. I love this place. I’ve been here for eight years now, and I’m really proud of what the kids have done here. I enjoy coaching these kids, and as a staff we’re really excited aobut the direction the program is going. We have a lot of challenges that we face here, rising admission standards being the biggest one and some of the traditional challenges we playing, resulting from playing in the most competitive league in the country. But despite these challenges, we feel we’re moving in the right direction. We’ve taken a little step each year for the past three years since 1996, when we lost half our team to graduation and [junior] Ed Campbell turning pro. And we knew it was a big challenge coming in, taking over at that time, but we’re proud of what the guys have done, and we feel that we’ve overacheived over that time. We do feel now that we’re in a position that over the next couple of years, to see some of the fruits of that labor helping in some results. We’re excited about the guys that are coming in, the guys that we have know, so we’re definitely seeing some good things.



20. Q: There were comments last year about your job being on the line. Former Merrimack Coach Ron Anderson was seen at a lot of the Lowell games, rumors were flying about. Any truth to any of this?
    
    TW: Coach Anderson was doing some work on the side. He’s been at the Lock Monsters games, our games, and at other rinks in the Boston area, like BU. He was keeping himself involved. As far as my job, I just signed a multi year contract, so if there was some speculation, it should be done. Our staff got a real good boost from the administration here and we signed a multi year contract. We’re happy to be here. [laughing ]So that speculation would be a waste of time now! Ron is keeping himself in the game, as he had one more year on his Merrimack contract. He’s a highly respected hockey guy, and not speaking for Ron, but I think he was just keeping his presence felt. He enjoys going to the games anyway.



21. Q: There has been talk amongst players and fans that you’re coaching tactics don’t fit with the players, that you’re too disciplined. Has that affected why certain players are leaving early?
    
    TW: I’m not going to comment on any players situation, but as far as rumors that I run a disciplined program, then those are great rumors to have. That’s what we do try to run, a structured program. Most particularly we tried to do it this season, since we were very inexperienced in goal and on defense. We identified with our team very early in the season, that if we were to be successful and challenge the top teams in the division, to basically compete, we were going to have to play a very strict defensive system this year.
    
    Will we tweak that this year? Yeah, we do that every year, but we will never get away from playing defense, just because we’re still inexperienced in the goal and in the defense. Had I taken over the team at a different time, obviously I would have adapted. We have to focus on playing a disciplined type of game, focusing on defense, keeping the other teams quality scoring chances down, and we were very pleased with how that went this year. We felt that was a big reason why we were able to compete, and overacheive compared to what we should have done on paper. Was it what we wanted to accomplish? No obviously we want to win the HE championship every year, but we have to keep things in perspective so we don’t set the bar to high either. It was a very successful season in many respects.



22. Q: Coming here, knowing that the other coaches and media are both placing Lowell seventh or eighth on the HE preseason polls, knowing that even the fans don’t really expect much … do you like coaching here?
    
    TW: I enjoy coaching here. I think I’d enjoy coaching anywhere, just because I enjoy coaching, but 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. Those things are important, because we’re not just a pro hockey team.
    
    My approach is different here, because I have coached a pro hockey team [in Germany for a couple of seasons]. 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.



23. Q: How did the players feel about the seven year streak of making the Hockey East Final Four end?
    
    TW: They were very disappointed, because we set our standards up very high, maybe too high, but I’d rather do that the other way. We fully expect to get there every year, and missing out this year, I know the guys will be very intense on getting back there. Yeah we were very disappointed, but at the same time, after a couple of weeks had gone by, and looked at the season and what we were able to achieve, we were pleased with the year overall.



24. Q: Getting onto the subject of returning players, I know of the sophomores coming back, Yorick Treille and Kevin Kotyluk, as well as a couple of others played well last year. Three of the main defensemen seeing ice time will be sophomores, two of the goaltenders will be the same. Who do you expect to see the most of this year?
    
    TW: Good question. I’d say that’s a big part of our team. As you mentioned, we have two goalies in that group, with Cam being redshirted, we actually have four defenseman, with Kotyluk, [Chris] Gustafson, [Josh] Allison and R.J. Tolan who can play both defense and forward, and we also have three forwards, with [Tom] Rouleau, Danny Fontas and Treille. I like all of those guys. I think that is a great great class personally. Because of their numbers, and with the fact that each of them contributed some way or the other, they are a big chunk of our team this year. I think that’s a group that if guys do come back and take another step this year, they could be a really big boost for our team. Yorick Treille is a guy that I definitely believe that if he develops as I think he will, he’s going to take off a little bit more offensively. All three of those forwards, I think their numbers will come up offensively.
    
    Kotyluk, I thought he was showing some things at the end of the year, some poise in all situations, including the power play. We will have to replace Cappalletti at the point on the power play, and all three of those defensive guys got time on the power play, but particularly Kotyluk at the end of the year. I think Kotyluk and Treille are probably on paper, what I would expect are 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 outacheive the main players, but after what I saw freshman year, I’d say those are the two guys.
    
    In goal, 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.



25. Q: The other half of the previous question focuses on the upperclassmen. We only have four seniors this year? What do you expect out of that group, including Chris Bell?
    
    TW: 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, who was the other forward in that senior class and could have been an All-American candidate in his junior year and would also have been a dominant physical presence in the league this past year. With him leaving, I felt Chris put a lot of pressure on himself to do more than was 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, and knowing that he doesn’t have to take it end-to-end every time he gets the puck. He needs to realize he’s a great player in his own right, he doesn’t have to do it all, and that we have other guys on the team that are going to contribute. I think Bellsy will have a much better season because he’ll have it in perspective a lot better, not that he didn’t have a good season last year, but he tried do too much.
    
    Next year, he’ll be a lot more comfortable just being himself. 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.
    
    Craig Brown I think is in a situation much like Mike Mulligan was in last year, to have his career year during his senior year. Mully just came into his own, taking responsibility for the leadership, and solidifying a role on the team in which he could help us. I fully expect [Brown] to take over that role, and be a major contributor for us. I think that’ll be a big boost He had some great games last year, but other games, he was just kinda out there, and didn’t really make a major impact. So he was a little inconsistent, that’s all. I would really anticipate him to be a lot more consistent this year and be a lot more important.
    
    Kevin Bertram’s the last senior, and he’s the only upperclassman on the defense. It’ll be a challenging role for him to be the anchor back there, and just like Brown he also had a inconsistent year his junior year. Had some great games, just like Craig, and he had some other games, where he wasn’t that great, and he knows that. He knows consistency is key for him next year, and he really hopes to contribute a lot more next year. He also made some good strides.



26. Q: What about the Juniors? Brad Rooney had a quiet year?
    
    TW: 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. It’s tough sometimes because as a player you want to score goals, and for a forward, that’s where you get the most fullfilment. It was also frustrating to him since it came to him kind of easily to him freshman year, unexpectedly, he was a true freshman coming in, a young player. He had an excellent sophomore year, even if it doesn’t look that way on paper. He got frustrated thinking he had to score more, you know Koehler left, and he and Bellsy felt they had to become the go-to guys. I think next year a lot of those guys are going to be a lot more relaxed just being themselves, having fun, working hard and getting good results.



27. Q: Is Jeff Boulanger the next big goal scorer for Lowell?
    
    TW: He’s definitely got the potential to do that. He has a knack, especially in tight around the goal, he’s extremely good in traffic. He’s tough to move off his feet, and did a much better job this year staying out of the penalty box. Last year, he’d be parked in the slot and someone would hit him, and he’d slash him back. This year, for the most part, he cut down on the retaliation, but I think he can take another step this year. 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. He’s another guy that could have a break out year.



28. Q: All of them could have one?!?
    
    TW: Oh yeah "that’s what we need! [laughing]"



29. Q: Your expectations, both for the upcoming year, and also for the long term?
    
    TW: As I mentioned before, we feel that we’ve done a nice job rebuilding the program to a point where we can challenge for a Hockey East Championship, and an NCAA bid. Will that come to fruition this year or the next year remains to be seen? As you look around our division or in hockey in general, you see how much great goaltending can do, and the deficiencies it can cover up. We’re very inexperienced in goal next year, so I’d be reluctant to go too crazy with predictions because there are a lot of unknowns for our team. We’re still very young on defense and in goal, and those are the two positions that win you games, as much as we’d like to have Koehler back and some of the other guys also scoring goals, the bottom line is without those first two, we’re in trouble. I do feel that we’re in a position that we can surprise some people. Others will look at our team and say we’re very inexperienced in goal and on defense and they’ll ask where’s their Koehler, where’s their Bullock, so we might look vulnerable on paper, but we feel we do have those guys in our lineup that can have break out season, offensively and defensively. We feel we’re set up nicely over the next two or three years to really do some damage in the league.



30. Q: As of right now, what’s your starting lineup for Michigan, if the game was to be played tomorrow?
    
    TW: That’s a tough one. Playing tomorrow, mind you, this could change a lot come October, depending on who pays the price the most over the summer, but playing tomorrow. It would be Jimi in goal, Bertram and Kotyluk in defense, and put our three forwards up front, Brown as the checking forward, with Bell and Campbell. But a lot can happen between now and then. So we’ll have to wait and see, and that’s part of the fun working with college kids, seeing how these kids react. The John Campbells, the Kevin Kotyluks, the Kyle Kidneys and people like that, where you say ‘Oh wow, I never thought he’d do that.



31. Q: Speaking of which, what about expectations for Kidney, and the reputation penalty calls he seems to take?
    
    TW: I think Kyle did a great job this past year playing with the puck. He’s always been a physical player, he’s always going to bump people around, but this year, just like Mulligan, they both took a huge step in their ability to play with the puck. For Kidney to be able to go on and play at the next level, he has to be able to make a play, and he took a huge step in that direction. He was able to come up the ice carrying the puck, making passes, he was definitely better in that area. He’s got to take another step in that area. He trained much harder last summer, and he plans on doing even more this summer. 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. He’s a great guy, he’s very well liked on the team. But he’s going to attract a certain number of penalties just by being big, and he’s got to know that, and he also knows that he has to cut down on some of the unnecessary penalties, that cost him some ice time this year. But he knows that. He has to keep improving in this category, much like Bertram. Same type of issue, Bertram needed to cut his penalty minutes last year and he did, but he needs to do it again this year. Cappelletti did the same thing, his freshman and sophomore year he was in the box a lot, but he just kept getting better and better, and more composed, and began to stay out of the box. About a reputation penalty, yeah there is such a thing, but Kyle has to be aware of that. Being a big guy in hockey who likes to throw his weight around, college hockey is a game that’s called very tight. That’s not going to change he has to change. Be more aware of that. He knows when he took a penalty there wasn’t much he could do anything about, and he knows when he takes a penalty he’d love to get back. If he learns to make that distinction better, the more ice time he will be able to get.



32. Q: Last question Coach. We had three of the Frozen Four teams from Hockey East. Obviously I’m biased, but this is the best league in hockey. How do you see the league falling this year?
    
    TW: I’m telling you, we want to take a step up on the ladder this year, and man it’s tough. I don’t see teams falling apart. It’s going to be even more challenging, and our league is on an up turn now, and every year it gets more and more competitive. Everyone’s challenging, Northeastern came in last, and they’re not a last place team, they’re a good hockey team. They’re going to want to be better, Merrimack, Amherst, us, Providence, BU is going to want to be better. The three who made the final four, on paper, they all got a lot coming back, and we certainly can’t predict on paper that they’ll drop, so where’s the opening? It’s a challenge, and we know that. I see our league staying where competitive next year, if anything it might be even better, since other teams want to improve and make themselves known as well.

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