Near the end of NESN's Providence-Lowell broadcast Saturday night, NESN
color man Bob Norton talked a little about the fine job that Ron Anderson
has done this year.  It seemed spurred on by NESN's incorrect evaluation
that Merrimack would gain home ice with a win over Northeastern, but anyway.
 
What Norton said that was so interesting concerned the coaching staff that
Anderson has worked with.  Norton pointed out that to date, Merrimack has
not had a real full-time assistant coach and surmised that they were the
only school without one (perhaps in HE, perhaps among DivI conference
schools - I don't know).  He noted correctly that often Merrimack goes on
the road in the fall with no assistant coaches by Anderson's side -
something that followers of other teams may have noticed.
 
Anderson's long-time assistant, Stu Irving, has been considered the
"full-timer" but as Norton pointed out, he has also served as the school's
golf coach in the fall.  This restricts his recruiting capabilities at that
important time of the year when you can get a jump on a prospect or two.
(Although coaching golf is not exactly an activity that Stu despises. :-))
So while he is paid full-time, part of what he is paid for is not related
to hockey in any way.
 
Norton also mentioned Andy Heinze as a part-timer.  I believe Heinze is
considered a restricted-earnings coach per NCAA rules which allow for only
one full-timer.
 
What was news to me was that Norton went on to say that next year, this was
all going to change and he saw it as something that Merrimack has needed.
I agree.  My guess is that this means at least that Irving will be able to
dedicate all of his time to hockey, and that will be great.
 
I'm unsure of how the status of Heinze may change.  The NCAA allows one
full-time assistant and one restricted-earnings assistant, but in recent
years the restricted-earnings coaches have successfully challenged the rule
in court and I do not know where that stands.  So Norton's comment could
also mean that Heinze will be able to move into more of a full-time role,
depending on that court decision.  (Norton did not mention goaltender coach
Mike Geragosian, the other Warrior assistant.)
 
Regardless, there is apparently going to be a change for the better, and
this is something that some of us have been asking for from the
administration for a while.  It would reflect favorably upon the efforts of
one or both of AD Bob DeGregorio and school President Richard Santagati to
improve the program.
 
Again, this is all only what I heard Norton say and my own speculation.
Nothing official has come forth from the school.  But it is good news.
 
While it doesn't mean Anderson should be Coach of the Year, it does seem
impressive that they have been able to achieve what they have this season
without a real full-time assistant.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                [log in to unmask]               *HMM* 11/13/93
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