After seeing several comments concerning Maine Coach Shawn Walsh and
how he gets along with other coaches, I thought I'd post an article
which appeared in Saturday's Milwaukee Sentinel.  It talks about
a meeting between LSSU coach Jeff Jackson and Walsh last summer.
Included in the article are references to Walsh's "P.T. Barnum"
attitude.
 
== begin quoted material ==
Old friends meeting again as rivals in NCAA title game
by Michael Hunt
 
For two brainstorming days this past summer, old buddies Jeff Jackson
and Shawn Walsh hunkered down in the bowels of a Northwestern Michigan
College dormitory, talking hockey, sharing philosophies and swapping
lies.
 
Eventually the discussion turned to the possibility of their teams
meeting in Milwaukee for the national championship.
 
Recalling that moment Friday with a glint in his eye, Walsh turned to
Jackson and said, "Didn't we say, 'Wouldn't it be nice?'"
 
They're here, Jackson's Lake Superior State Lakers and Walsh's Maine
Black Bears, making Saturday night's title match at the Bradley Center
a game of no secrets, but much intrigue.
 
Jackson and Walsh revealed and exchanged all this summer at the Huron
Hockey School in Traverse City, where Michigan State Coach Ron Mason
runs a camp for the game's future stars.  It was at a coaches
convention in Florida that Jackson and Walsh agreed to the summit.
 
"We both got into it with each other regarding certain tactics,"
Jackson said.  "We came to the conclusion we should really sit down
together."
 
Said Walsh, "We had it preplanned for a month.  We actually sent each
other itineraries and things we wanted to talk about -- everything
from booster-club involvement to game-day practices, how to get your
band involved, what to do to get your students involved in the game ==
everything that involves running a college hockey program."
 
The result of this ice-breaking conference?
 
"The greatest knowledge I picked up over the off-season was spending
two days with Shawn in Traverse City," said Jackson.
 
"The most enlightening 48 hours of my coaching career," said Walsh.
"What's intriguing to me is the way we both shared everything and how
we're two of the more successful programs."
 
Imagine the unthinkable: Mike Krzyzewski and Rick Pitino meeting for a
couple of days in the North Carolina mountains to share basketball
secrets.  On a different scale, that is what happened in Michigan ==
the coach of hockey's defending national champion and the coach of the
No. 1 team in detente.
 
The difference, of course, is relative interest.  Walsh, the P.T.
Barnum of his game, recognizes college hockey's entertainment value is
what will make it a viable commodity with the consumer.
 
That's why his players will take the ice Saturday night with helmets
off, so the fans can get a look at their faces.  That's why he played
the crowd after Friday's semifinal victory against Michigan, pumping
his fist toward the stands.  That's why he asks for tickets for
Stephen King.
 
[ Walsh announced Friday he was looking for tickets for horror
  novelist Stephen King, Maine resident and Black Bears fan.  King
  took out a full-page ad in Saturday's Milwaukee Sentinel
  congratulating Maine and wishing them luck.  Said Walsh, "We need
  help.  You don't want to get Stephen King on your bad side."  As it
  turned out, King was a no-show at Saturday's game. ]
 
Walsh knows all these things are good for his game, as well as his
close relationship with Jackson.  Both are proteges of the
iconoclastic Mason, who stepped on a few toes on the way to becoming
college hockey's all-time winningest coach.
 
Like Mason, Walsh has a brash side which has alienated him from some
of his peers. "It's a very, very competitive arena," Walsh said.  "I
would rather be liked by people like Jeff Jackson than some of the
people who dislike me."
 
When Jackson coached midget and junior hockey in Michigan, Walsh, as
Mason's assistant at Michigan State, recruited many of his players.
It was the beginning of a solid relationship between the coaches, both
37 years old.  It is a relationship that has rubbed off on both teams.
 
"What Coach has brought back to our program this year ... I've noticed
a lot of Lake Superior State influences," Maine captain Jim Montgomery
said.  "Almost everything he's said this year is 'we have something
new I've learned from Jeff Jackson at Lake Superior State.'"
 
Walsh readily admits he has blended Lake Superior State's blueprint
with his own; Jackson, too, has been heavily influenced by Maine.
== end quoted material ==
 
--
Steve Manning         Milwaukee, WI           [log in to unmask]