As you heard from one person at Alaska-Fairbanks, yes, Don Lucia accepted the
head coach position at CC yesterday. I just found out today from the Denver
Post, as I was frantically packing up everything in my room and taking it
home to Fort Collins yesterday. From today's Denver Post:
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Don Lucia, head coach at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team
for the past six seasons, was named Colorado College's coach yesterday by
athletics director Max Taylor. Lucia becomes the 12th coach in the 56-year
history of the program, succeeding Brad Buetow, who resigned last year after
five seasons.
"We are delighted that Don Lucia is assuming the helm of the Colorado
College hockey program," Taylor said. "He is an outstanding young man
whose abilities as a coach and commitment to academic excellence represent a
very good match for CC."
A native of Grand Rapids, Minn., Lucia is a 1981 graduate of Notre Dame,
where he was a four-year regular on the hockey team. He has coached for 12
seasons, spending four years (1981-85) as an assistant at UA-Fairbanks and
two ('85-'87) as an assistant at Alaska-Anchorage.
As head coach at Alaska-Fairbanks, Lucia compiled a record of 101-99-10.
His best season came in his first year, when he led the Nanooks to a 23-10-2
record and the title in the now-defunct Great West Hockey Conference. Last
season, Alaska-Fairbanks was an affiliate member of the Central Collegiate
Hockey Association, going 23-12-2.
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There was also an article in yesterday's Gazette-Telegraph about how an
internal review by CC has made things more difficult for the athletic dept.
This was written prior to Lucia's decision to accept.
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Don Lucia probably doesn't realize it. Neither does Colorado College's
administration. But history has a way of turning on unexpected moments.
For the city of Colorado Springs, and its status as a haven for ice sports,
this week is one of those times. To the narrow-focused eye, Colorado College
has been struggling through the final stages of hiring a new hockey coach.
From that same view, Lucia has been trying to decide if he should take a
chance on his promising future by coming to CC. But it's far more than that.
So much is happening on the Springs sports scene. Decisions being made this
week will chart a course for years to come -- perhaps decades. This is not a
time for jumping to conclusions. Acting irrationally. Making bad choices.
Colorado College is hiring a new hockey coach. The school is evaluating
its hockey program. Private citizens are trying to build an arena. The
Broadmoor is pondering its ice-sports future. Nobody wants to make a mistake.
Because Colorado Springs has so much to lose.
One verdict will come today. Lucia will give CC his answer, and the
college's leadership expects him to say yes. "We really want this guy to
come on board," athletic director Max Taylor said. "We've picked the person
we think is best for the program. He's a great fit for us."
The school likes Lucia because he's young (34), he sees this as a career
move, he already has impressed CC's players, and he has succeeded in a
challenging environment at Alaska-Fairbanks. He also helped that city build
a spiffy new multipurpose arena several years ago.
Talk to the people from Alaska, and a good message comes across. They
like Lucia, they respect him, and they don't want to lose him. "We've gotten
phone calls from fans saying, `Can we vote on whether we want him to stay or
not?'" said Jody Hoatson, an Alaska-Fairbanks spokesperson. "Everyone here
knows he's an excellent coach, but we've thought all along he would probably
take that job."
They thought. CC thought. Lucia thought. So why has it taken so long?
And why is it possible Lucia still might say no? Because nobody is in charge
of the situation.
Nobody could tell Lucia for certain that Colorado Springs would build an
arena. Nobody could tell him for certain that CC would continue as a
Division I hockey program.
The school's internal review of athletic and academic operations was a
good idea. But the time lapse in completing that review has been especially
painful for men's hockey, women's soccer, and the arena organizers. It has
hurt soccer recruiting, and it has directly resulted in creating an unfair
hiring process for everyone involved with the hockey vacancy.
Unfair to Michael Grace, the interim president, not wanting to create a
burden for his successor. Unfair to Taylor, who couldn't conduct normal
negotiations because of hockey's uncertain fate. Unfair to Lucia, who has
three children and a fourth on the way, plus a wife who already has a good
job (and no income taxes) in Alaska. And unfair to CC's players, who
deserved to know by now who would be their new coach.
None of this would have happened, all parties agree, except for that
internal review. And people are beginning to wonder if further waiting is
necessary. "We simply have got to get beyond this," Taylor said.
Peter Susemihl, the local attorney who heads the arena committee and also
serves on CC's board of trustees, is even more adamant. "I'm going to ask
the board to move forward on the review, as it pertains to sports, in two
weeks," Susemihl said. "My feeling is, the students want those Division I
sports, the administration wants them, the trustees want them, the alumni
want them, and the community wants them. We're only talking about a small
element of the faculty against this. So my feeling is, why study it to
death? We can handle it. Our athletes are graduating at a higher rate than
the student body. We've always prided ourselves in being a diverse
institution, and we have students who can compete in those sports."
Susemihl agrees, as Grace and Taylor have already, that CC's new hockey
coach could be the catalyst who pulls many elements together: The hockey
program, the arena, the city's support and even, indirectly, the Broadmoor's
skating future. That's why this week, and today, are so important. The
city, the school, its hockey program and the arena are waiting. If Don
Lucia says yes, everything can move ahead. If not.....
Written by Ralph Routon
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Hopefully things will move faster now and will get settled by the time
school starts again in the fall.
Karen
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~ Karen Heasley ~ Animals are such agreeable ~
~ Colorado College '95 ~ friends - they ask no questions; ~
~ Colorado Springs, CO ~ they pass no criticisms. ~
~ [log in to unmask] or ~ ~
~ [log in to unmask] ~ - George Eliot ~
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