In HockeyEast's Coach-Of-The-Year considerations, things have certainly changed
in the last month. On Jan. 24, after Lowell beat B.U. 3-1, it seemed that nothing
was going to stop the Riverhawk's rookie coach Tim Whitehead from garnering that
award. Whitehead had taken a team projected to finish last in HE and had them
sitting pretty in third place with a 9-6 HE record. They looked to contend with
Maine for what is now solidly the Black Bear's third-place position in the
standings. Since then, Lowell has gone 0-5-1 in league play and are fighting for
fourth place and the final home-ice slot in the playoffs. Gone are the dreams of
third-place and staring them in the back is a finish that could be as bad as
seventh. Still, Tim Whitehead could be considered the front-runner, but the door
is now open for consideration of other coaches accomplishments. If Lowell doesn't
finish strong, then this competition for COTY heats up considerably.
 
Who else should be considered? Well, its probably easier to eliminate a few names
off the top. Northeastern's Bruce Crowder, who was last year's winner as well as
three years ago, evidently needs more time to pull together Northeastern's
program. Boston College's Jerry York clearly should've accomplished much greater
things with the talent pool he has. UMass Amherst's Joe Mallen seems to be
consistently on the brink of bringing the Minutemen into HE contention, but
nothing yet.
 
Merrimack's Ron Anderson has something special going on up there in Andover. The
Warrior fan base has to certainly be excited about their possibilities for
home-ice and even a Fleet Center appearance. For a long time, this team has
flirted with success and always seemed to find a way to lose the close ones. I'm
not sure if its Anderson's doings or if the upperclassmen have taken over, but if
Merrimack keeps it up, this coach could possibly be a long-shot for COTY. The
consistent work-ethic and continuing ability to get up for big games must come
from Anderson. Hopefully, this has caught on during a game-to-game basis. Also,
the talent base on this squad is encouraging and should they develop the
winning-attitude, they could go a long way in the future.
 
Three coaches come to mind when it comes to consistent programs
year-in-and-year-out. Always a challenger, especially at year-end is Providence
and coach Paul Pooley is clearly the captain of this fighting ship. Looks like
once again the Friars may be positioning themselves nicely for late-season
heroics and Pooley could get himself a COTY award out of it. Boston University's
Jack Parker should always be considered but I wonder how often he doesn't receive
this award just because everyone always expects B.U. to do so good. Dick Umile is
another who has great expectations which generate more disappointment when not
met versus accolades when accomplished. Umile's powerful crew has got to put him
on a short list of COTY considerations, especially if they finish strong.
 
But, lastly, its clear the big runner-up to Whitehead so far has to be the Maine
Black Bear head-coach Shawn Walsh. Probably not a real-contender only due to his
half-season appearance, this man deserves some real high respect. Talk about
winning in the face of adversity, this year's Black Bear resurgence is clearly a
testament to an unbelievable capability to win hockey games. This has to be
strongly attributed to Walsh's ability to lead, teach and empower. This is a team
that lost four possible All-Americans! This team hasn't the motivations of
post-season championships. Yet, Walsh has shown that Maine is not going away.
Looks like the Black Bears won't be missing a beat afterall.
 
My COTY rankings in HockeyEast are all based on strong finishes by the respective
teams. (i.e. If Merrimack finishes with a Fleet Center appearance, then Anderson
is ranked 2nd )
 
#1 -Tim Whitehead, Lowell Riverhawks.
#2 -Ron Anderson, Merrimack Warriors.(Anderson gets tie here due to post-season)
   -Shawn Walsh, Maine Black Bears.
#4 -Jack Parker, B.U.
   -Paul Pooley, Providence
#6 -Dick Umile, UNH
 
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