[Albany] Times-Union
<<Vermont to select Sneddon 
Union coach expected to be at news conference today 
    
    
By <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">TIM WILKIN</A>, Staff writer 
First published: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 

    
Kevin Sneddon, who has spent the last 10 years with the Union College hockey 
program, is expected to be named head coach at the University of Vermont this 
afternoon.Bob Corran, the athletic director at Vermont, has called a news 
conference for 3 p.m. and is expected to introduce Sneddon as the Catamounts' head 
coach.

Sources in Burlington, Vt., who refused to be identified but are close to the 
program, confirmed that Sneddon, 33, would be at the press conference to 
accept the job.

Corran was not available for comment Tuesday night but said last week he 
would not say anything about any of the candidates for the position.

Repeated calls made to Sneddon's Niskayuna home were not returned and Val 
Belmonte, the Union athletic director, did not return calls made to his 
cellphone.

During the interview process, Sneddon admitted high interest in the job but 
said he would not comment further in respect to the wishes of the Vermont 
athletic department.

Sneddon was one of five finalists who were interviewed in Vermont last week. 
One candidate, current Brown coach Roger Grillo, confirmed to the source 
Tuesday that he was not getting the job but declined to say who was.

The other candidates who were interviewed last week on the Vermont campus 
included Tim Bothwell, an assistant coach for the Atlanta Thrashers, David Quinn, 
the coach of the USA Hockey under-17 team and Damian DiGiulian, an assistant 
at Vermont.

The Vermont job opened up when Mike Gilligan retired in May after 19 seasons 
in Burlington. Vermont finished 10th in the Eastern College Athletic 
Conference last season with an 8-14 record (13-20-3 overall).

A source in Vermont said the salary for the Vermont coaching job would be 
approximately $100,000.

Sneddon, who just completed his fifth year as Union head coach, led the 
Dutchmen to a sixth place finish in the ECAC (10-10-2, 14-18-4 overall).

Union had home ice in the ECAC playoffs for the first time ever but were 
defeated by cross-town rival RPI.

Union was picked to finish as low as 12th in the ECAC pre-season polls.

Union beat Vermont twice last year, the second consecutive time the Dutchmen 
accomplished that.

Sneddon was named the Union head coach on Aug. 13, 1998, replacing Stan 
Moore, who left Schenectady to coach at Colgate. Prior to that, Sneddon was the 
first assistant and recruiting coordinator at Union.

He was responsible for recruiting some of Union's best student-athletes, 
including All-American goalie Trevor Koenig and former Union captains Charlie 
Moxham, Mark Szucs and Ryan Campbell.

In his five years as head coach at Union, Sneddon had an overall record of 
50-99-18.

Sneddon played collegiately at Harvard and helped the Crimson win the NCAA 
title during his freshman year, 1988-89. He was also drafted by the National 
Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings that year, and following his graduation at 
Harvard, he did spend time in the minor leagues with the American Hockey League's 
Rochester Americans and Hershey Bears.

His playing career was cut short by back surgery and he then went into 
coaching. 

>>

burlington free press
<<Catamounts snare Sneddon 

 





By Ted Ryan 
Free Press Staff Writer

The University of Vermont will name Union College coach Kevin Sneddon as the 
fourth head coach of its struggling men's hockey program today, according to 
sources at the university. 

Sneddon will succeed Mike Gilligan, who announced his retirement May 16 after 
19 years as head coach. 

Robert Corran, UVM's director of athletics, declined to confirm Tuesday that 
Sneddon will take the reins of the university's flagship athletic program. 
Corran confirmed that the school will introduce its new hockey coach at a 3 p.m. 
news conference today. 

Sneddon did not return messages left at his office and his home Tuesday. 

Sneddon was selected from a finalist field that, according to Corran earlier 
this month, had five candidates. 

One of the finalists was Brown University head coach Roger Grillo, a former 
associate head coach with Gilligan when UVM reached the NCAA Division I final 
four in 1996. Grillo said Tuesday he had not withdrawn as a candidate and 
confirmed he had not been offered the position. 

"I went after that job with everything I had," Grillo said from Rhode Island. 
"Obviously, I have a great deal of love for the university --both my wife and 
myself -- and for the area." 

"Yes, extremely," Grillo responded when asked if he was disappointed. Grillo 
declined to say who had been selected. 

Sneddon, the captain of the 1991-92 Harvard University team, has been the 
head coach at Union for five years. He has compiled a 50-99-18 record overall and 
an ECAC Division I record of 36-66-10. 

In Sneddon's first year as coach, the Dutchmen were 1-19-2 in the ECAC and 
3-26-3 overall. He has not had a winning season at Union but the team's win 
total has climbed gradually. This past season, Union was 10-10-2 in the league, 
good enough for sixth place, and 14-18-4 overall. 

Since entering ECAC Division I, Union has competed without benefit of 
athletic scholarships. At Vermont, Sneddon will have close to the NCAA maximum of 18 
with which to rebuild a program that has not had a winning season since 
1996-97 and endured a hazing scandal four years ago. 

Sneddon will inherit a team that returns its top three goal scorers and only 
four seniors, plus Gilligan's final recruiting class. Vermont finished 10th in 
the ECAC with an 8-14-2 record and was 13-20-3 overall after going 3-18-1 in 
the league and 3-26-2 overall the previous season. 

Sneddon's teams have been characterized by a strong work ethic and a 
willingness to mix it up with opposing teams. In each of the last four years, the 
Dutchmen have been ranked among the five most penalized teams in ECAC Division I. 

As head coach, Sneddon lost his first three games against Vermont, but Union 
has won five of the last six meetings, including both games this past season. 
His Union team also swept road series of Dartmouth-Vermont and Clarkson-St. 
Lawrence for the first time in the program's history. 

Corran said he had been impressed by the quality of candidates. 

"It spoke a lot about the program and where it's at, and the kind of place 
people in the hockey community perceive us to be," Corran said. 
>