In this morning's T-U,Bob Croce reports Dan Fridgen was officially appointed
RPI hockey coach yesterday.  In a nice article Croce recounts Fridgen's past
experiences with the late Union coach Charlie Morrison.  Morrison groomed
two current Division I coaches, Ronn Tomassoni (Harvard) and Mark Morris
(Clarkson) and nownewly appointed coach Dan Fridgen as well.
 
"He was just so proud of the fact that Ronn was an assistant under him
(Morrison) and got a head coaching job, that Mark was an assistant under him
and got a head coaching job.  And he was probably looking at me...and saying,
'What about you?'"
 
Fridgen signed a one-year contract yesterday.
 
Fridgen mentions Morrison's impact on his life.  "Charlie's big thing was 'Be
your own man, go your own way, do your own thing.'"Fridgen was offered the
assistant job at Union in 1985 when working as marketing director for the then
Binghamton Whalers of the AHL.
 
Fridgen's career as a player had abruptly ended when he sustained a depressed
skull fracture in a 1984 accident.  Fridgen was driving 60 MPH on a road near
his home in Arn Prior, Ontario when he lost control of his Mazda RX-7.  The
car hit a tree and Fridgen was ejected through the rear window.
 
Fridgen was tipped off about the Union coach by the late and revered Terry
Slater, his coach at Colgate.
 
"I called up Charlie, had the interview and the rest was history.  There I was.
I was a coach.  It was that quick.  "Fridgen still gets emotional about
Morrison's death from complications relating to multiple sclerosis.
 
"When you're with a gentleman, and working as closely as we worked together..
it was a part of my life.  Still today, when I reflect on it, it's difficult.
He was such a good man.  I had a lot of respect for him."
 
According to AD Bob Ducatte: "We went about looking in the book at the various
head coaches and trying to come up with possibilities when Buddy was first up
for the Bowling Green job.  But we just kept coming back to our own staff, and
we realized Danny was our man."
 
Fridgen commented on the task ahead of him.  "They (the players) know that I
know the game of hockey, and I've had their support during the process of
becoming head coach.  The first think I think you've got to convey is: 'I'm
here fro you guys and I'll do anything possible to help you.  I'll tell them
that, 'I might be demanding along the way, but down the road maybe you'll look
back at your days on the university level and say, hey, maybe that guy was
right."
                    _
            "NYS   // Hockey"
        Go 'Gate  //   Brian Morris
          Go RPI //      Albany, NY
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