In addition to the POTW article Carol tells me she's already posted (haven't
gotten it yet; the list seems slow this week), the Daily today (1/25/94) also
had a nice article about Woog and two of his former goalies, DU coach Serratore
and Minnesota assistant, Mazzoleni.
Headline: <%-2>Reunion brings back memories of a Woog they used to know
Publish Date: 01/25/1994
David Jackson
Staff Reporter
Looking at Doug Woog standing behind the Minnesota bench, it's hard
to picture the man yelling and screaming. But two of his former
players, now his peers, say the young Woog was just that way.
When Woog coached the St. Paul Vulcans of the USHL in 1975-76, his
two goalies were Frank Serratore and Mark Mazzoleni. Both men are now
coaches -- Serratore is head coach at Denver and Mazzoleni is Woog's
assistant at Minnesota -- and the three were reunited this weekend
when the two teams played.
Serratore and Mazzoleni remember a Doug Woog much different from
today's calm, father figure.
``He was very vocal and very temperamental,'' Serratore said. ``It
wasn't long after his playing days, and he had more of a player's
mentality. He couldn't be a father figure, because he wasn't old
enough.''
``Doug has become much less volatile,'' Mazzoleni said. ``He doesn't
have the highs and lows. He's able to maintain a strong sense of
consistency that I think the kids recognize.''
Woog explained that age and experience often change a coach's outlook
and personality.
``As a young coach, you want things to happen fast,'' he said. ``You
get impatient, because most of your coaching life, you're climbing.
Every game is big, because you know the way to the top is to win.''
And in Serratore and Mazzoleni, Woog sees two different men from the
ones he coached nearly 20 years ago.
``I couldn't see a coach in either one of them,'' Woog said. ``Frank
was a renegade. And Mark was always asking questions, some of them
none too enlightening -- ~`Is the sky blue? Am I playing OK?' Maybe
that was the educator in him.''
But both Serratore and Mazzoleni have gone on to coaching, and both
have been very successful.
Before coming to Denver, Serratore led the Omaha Lancers of the USHL
to the league championship in 1990. Now in his fourth season with the
Pioneers, he has improved the team from 6-30-2 in 1991 to 19-17-2
last year.
``Frank is doing a great job rebuilding the team in a league where
you can't do it overnight,'' Mazzoleni said. ``He hasn't gone about
it in a quick fix way, and he's surrounded himself with good
people.''
Prior to taking the job at Minnesota, Mazzoleni led Wisconsin-Stevens
Point to three straight NCAA Division III national titles.
``Looking back, I should have enjoyed the three national
championships more,'' he said. ``As a young coach, I was always
caught up with next year or with recruiting.''
Woog takes pride in his former players' success and is quick to
credit their styles.
``The neat thing is that they brought their teams to championships,''
he said. ``They get right down and look under every rock to get the
job done. They're both very bright, and they both have family
approaches with their teams.''
Both Serratore and Mazzoleni have personalities that resemble their
description of the young Woog. They're very intense men who often use
volume to get their points across.
``They both have strong personalities, and it may interfere
sometimes,'' said Woog. ``But they know when to take a step back.''
And it's obvious that Woog's coaching abilities had a big impact on
both men.
``When I was playing for him, we could tell that he knew what he was
doing,'' Serratore said. ``He could tell us where every player was on
the ice. He had a photographic memory, and this was before videotape.
He had a great understanding, for a guy who was that young.
``And I responded more to a guy who was a taskmaster, because those
were very formative years,'' he added. ``
Pam Sweeney Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask] 1993 WCHA Playoff Champions!!!
[log in to unmask] Ski-U-Mah!!!
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