From THE ANN ARBOR NEWS, 19 January 1994
 
HOCKEY CLUB STICKS TOGETHER
EMU pools resources to support their sport
by Dan Gretzner II
 
  The best kept secret in Eastern Michigan University sports might
be its men's hockey team.  And it will probably stay that way.
  The Eagles are ranked sixth in the premier Division I club hockey
organization, the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
  But Eastern Michigan's hockey team is a self-funded club team.
It is a club team that likely will never be granted varsity status
because there is no ice arena on campus, and it can't beat gender
equity, a move to create more opportunities for female athletes.
  "We have never ever, even in our wildest dreams, thought of this
going varsity.  Not in our time," General Manager Doug Waack said.
  Its club status doesn't seem to bother the 25 players and their
handful of coaches.  They all share one love - hockey.  "It's just
guys who came here to get an education and said, 'I have time to
play hockey as well,'" club president and junior defenseman Matt
Surowiec said.
  All but two of the players are from Michigan.  Area players
include South Lyon's Steve Nelson, Canton's Rob Royston, Vittorio
Decina, Darrin Sylvester and Plymouth's Ben Hendricks and Chuck
Carvey.  The leading scorer is Wayne's Scott Ruffing, who has 17
goals and 35 assists in 22 games.
  EMU (17-6-1) plays home games at the Plymouth Cultural Center &
Ice Arena, 30 minutes from Ypsilanti.  Because of the distance, the
team doesn't draw many students and receives most of its support
from the Plymouth-Canton community.  The average attendance is 500,
with a season high of 800.
  "Our biggest problem is to get the support from the student
body," said Waack, who added Yost Ice Arena and Veterans Ice Arena
in Ann Arbor were unrealistic venues because of those arena's
demand from high school, college, recreational and figure skating
programs.
  The team will compete in six states other than Michigan this
season.  Although it will play a club schedule, players and coaches
say the quality of competition among all ACHA Division I club teams
is equivalent to that of most NCAA Division III varsity programs.
  "We could probably beat or come close to beating a weak NCAA
Division I team like Alabama-Huntsville (now Div. II) or Ohio
State," Surowiec said.  "We could probably beat most of the junior
teams around here, if not all of them."
  The club became active in 1977, but not since Coach Mike Donnelly
and Waack took over in the summer of 1988 has it attained national
success.  EMU has qualified for the last three ACHA National
tournaments and is in a position to be one of the top eight
nationally-ranked teams invited to play again this season.
  That success didn't come easy.  The club doesn't give out
scholarships and receives little or no money from the university.
Almost everything must be raised or paid for by the players and
coaches.  Donnelly, his three assistant coaches and Waack all
volunteer their time.
  "The toughest part of the whole job is raising the money,"
Donnelly said.  "The coaching is a snap."
  "It's like a small business.  You wonder if you're going to get
enough money for the next road trip.  The kids spend a lot of time
and money along with their school."
  The club's annual operating budget is around $55,000.  Before
Donnelly arrived, the team used to car pool to away games in the
state and didn't compete in a league or belong to an association.
Today, as a member of the seven-state Central States Collegiate
Hockey League, they travel on chartered busses "with TVs and
refrigerators and stay in nice hotels," Surowiec said.
  To help offset the costs, each player must sell $600 in
advertisements for the game program and pay a player's fee of $400
per season.  Other mandatory fundraisers for this season included
car washes and selling raffle tickets.
  Why would a player go through all this?  Wouldn't a city league
suffice?
  "The competition is better," Surowiec said.  "We want to play the
highest level of competition we can play.  You're playing for your
college.  It's a little different than playing in a men's beer
league."
  In addition to raising money, the players must also meet other
rules and regulations that are not required of all club hockey
teams.  EMU players must be a full-time student (12 credit hours),
carry a minimum 2.0 GPA and wear a tie and sports jacket on all
road trips.
  "It's their program," Waack said.  "We just help guide and direct
them.  A player on this team is making one hell of a commitment.
They have to work for it.  Maybe that's why we're so successful."
[end article]
 
Two comments:
 
  -  This is not one of Dan Gretzner's finer pieces.
 
  -  Alabama-Huntsville and Ohio State would roll over these guys
     like they were the Bills in the Super Bowl.  No offense meant
     to the EMU players.  I enjoy seeing their games, but they're
     s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g it if they think they can compete at that
     level.  My guess is that with more practice (they currently
     only practice on Monday and Wednesday evenings), they could be
     a solid Division III team.
 
 
  John H
  U Mich