UNH Women's Hockey-New Coach, New Era

By Jim Jeannotte on Friday, March 14, 2003.

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IT?S GOING TO BE AN IMPORTANT WEEKEND FOR THE HOCKEY TEAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

BOTH WILL BE IN BOSTON VYING FOR A HOCKEY EAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP.

THE MEN PLAY THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE SEMIFINALS TONIGHT.

THE WOMEN WILL FACE MAINE IN THEIR SEMIFINAL SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

UNH WOMENS HOCKEY HAS BEEN REJUVENATED THIS YEAR.

THE TEAM JUST CELEBRATED ITS 25 BIRTHDAY.

AND THIS SEASON, IT BEGAN WHAT PLAYERS HOPE IS A NEW ERA UNDER A NEW HEAD COACH.

NHPR SPORTS CORRESPONDENT JIM JEANNOTTE.

IN FEBRUARY, 1978, THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE WOMENS HOCKEY TEAM, PLAYED THEIR FIRST GAME.

THE WILDCATS DEFEATED COLBY COLLEGE 8 TO 4.

THE COACH, RUSS MCCURDY, GUIDED THE WILDCATS FOR THEIR FIRST 13 SEASONS.

HE LEAD THE TEAM FOR A RECORD OF 234 WINS, 36 LOSSES AND 10 TIES.

IN THE 1997-98 SEASON, THE WILDCATS WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

AND THAT YEAR FANS WATCHED AS FOUR OF ITS PLAYERS MADE THE FIRST-EVER USA OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL HOCKEY TEAM.

ACCORDING TO UNH?S ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, MARTY SCARANO, THE TEAM CELEBRATED ALL OF THESE HISTORIC MOMENTS THIS PAST YEAR.

Marty Scarano
37 (11 sec) ?We had a fabulous 25th anniversary celebration this year. We brought so many women back that were part of it. Of course, Russ McCurdy was not only elected to the Hall of Fame, but he was feted pretty well during the 25th anniversary.?
BUTT/BYTE
39 (9 sec) ?We take seriously our role as a pioneer in womens hockey. Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth are fabulous programs, but guess what, they weren?t even on the radar screen when UNH was supporting womens hockey.

BUT DURING THE LAST THREE SEASONS, UNH FAILED TO REACH ITS CONFERENCE FINALS.

SCARANO DECIDED THE TEAM NEEDED A CHANGE.

HE DID NOT RENEW THE CONTRACT OF TEN-YEAR COACH KAREN KAY, WHO HAD POSTED A TOTAL OF 196 WINS.

AFTER A NATIONWIDE SEARCH, SCARANO FOUND HIS NEW COACH WITHIN UNH?S OWN RANKS.

HE HIRED BRIAN MCCLOSKEY, THE TOP ASSISTANT FOR HIS MENS PROGRAM, AS THE WOMENS NEW COACH.

THE DECISION WAS CONTROVERSIAL.
BUT THE PLAYERS BACKED IT.

CAROLYN GORDON, THIS YEAR?S SECOND HIGHEST SCORER, WAS ON THE SELECTION COMMITTEE.

Carolyn Gordon
07 - (134 sec) ?He was qualified like everybody else if not better. He has great Xs and Os of hockey. He had a great personality. We had the best feeling with the girls when we had the interview from him. So I was all for him.?

SENIOR JEN HUGGON, THE CATS GOALTENDER, LEADS THE NATION IN SHUTOUTS THIS SEASON.

Jen Huggon
14 - 13 sec ?He was just kind of the ideal coach for us. Like every characteristic that our team was talking about for a new coach, he had. And we remember leaving that room saying can we say hi coach to him, because he?s who we want.?

MCCLOSKEY IS KNOWN AS A TIRELESS RECRUITER.

HE?S BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR DISCOVERING MOST OF THE STARS ON UNH?S MENS NATIONALLY RANKED TEAM.

HIS RECRUITING CONTACTS IN THE U.S. AND CANADA SHOULD RESULT IN MANY OUTSTANDING WOMEN ATHLETES PUTTING ON THE UNH HOCKEY SWEATER.

JUNIOR KRISTEN THOMAS LEADS THE TEAM IN ASSISTS THIS SEASON.

SHE SAYS MCCLOSKEY BRINGS MUCH MORE THAN RECRUITING TO THE PROGRAM.

Kristen Thomas
19 - 10 sec ?You know Coach McCloskey is a teacher, teacher by nature.? BUTT/BYTE (LATER IN 19) ?it kills him for you to do something wrong from the little thing to the big things. I think that?s what separates him from any other coach I?ve had.?

IT?S BEEN A BIG FIRST YEAR UNDER MCCLOSKEY.

THE WILDCATS POSTED A REGULAR SEASON RECORD OF 26 WINS, 6 LOSSES AND TWO TIES.

ALTHOUGH POPULAR AMONG THE TEAM, MCCLOSKY DID HAVE TO MAKE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS WHEN COACHING THE WOMEN.

ONE OF WAS COMMUNICATIONS.

Brian McCloskey
24 - 19 sec) I didn?t initially change my delivery that much. What I found was that to get through to the players most effectively, maybe unlike dealing with men, where sometime raising your voice can be very effective, with women, it didn?t seem to be quite as productive or quite as effective a tool.?

UNH HAS BEEN RANKED IN THE NATION?S TOP TEN THROUGHOUT THE SEASON.

BUT TEAMS LIKE MINNESOTA AND HARVARD SEEM TO BE A NOTCH ABOVE.

STILL, MCCLOSKEY KNOWS WHAT HE HAS TO DO TO BRING THE WILDCATS TO THEIR LEVEL.

Brian McCloskey
26 - (29 sec) ?I think we just have to continue to attract elite athletes. I think what?s happening in the womens game is that they?re not just hockey players, but we?re starting to see really powerful female athletes coming into this sport. It?s incumbent on us if we?re going to get up to that level, we need to attract those types of individuals.?

TWO YEARS AGO, THE NCAA TOOK OVER THE SANCTIONING OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY TOURNAMENT.

UNH HOSTED THE FROZEN FOUR IN DURHAM A YEAR AGO, BUT THE WILDCATS DIDN?T QUALIFY.

MCCLOSKEY HOPES TO CHANGE THAT BEFORE THE NEXT FROZEN FOUR TOURNAMENT COMES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE.

WITH THE GOAL OF BRINGING ELITE ATHLETES TO DURHAM, THE NEW HEAD COACH HAS RAISED THE LEVEL OF HIS OWN EXPECTATIONS.

Brian McCloskey
30 - (27 sec) ? National Champs and nothing less. I?ve talked with Marty Scarano about it. We deserve to be there because the school gives us the resources. We have the facilities. We have a great campus. We have a tradition. I?d be very candid, if we?re not in the Frozen Four regularly in three to four years time, and a threat to win the title every year, I?ll be very disappointed.?

THE FIRST 25 YEARS OF UNH WOMENS HOCKEY HAS BEEN NOTEWORTHY.

BASED ON MCCLOSKEY?S FIRST YEAR SUCCESS, THE NEXT FEW SEASONS SHOULD BE EVENTFUL.

FOR NHPR NEWS, I?M JIM JEANNOTTE