Tim Whitehead & Maine hockey

The Maine Black Bears lost in sudden death overtime to Boston College in the Hockey East playoffs. This was a young team that played very well at times this year and struggled at others. Young teams do that. I, like most Maine residents, came to watch Maine hockey in the late 80's in the beginnings of the Shawn Walsh era. I have many great memories of going to games. Maine defeating Minnesota in a 1 vs 2 matchup with the line of Golden, McHugh and Perron. The white hankies everywhere and with the win Maine being ranked # 1 for the very first time. Martin Robataille winning a game in double overtime against Providence to send Maine to the Final Four. Shawn Walsh himself with his Easter controversy at Wisconsin, his standing on the wall with his arms up, ripping his jacket off, confronting the Lake Superior coach at center ice during an intermission and his many battles and duels with Jack Parker and Len Ceglarski of BU and BC. It was a great time and Shawn was a great coach.

Tim Whitehead is not Shawn Walsh. They do not give college hockey coaches their jobs based on what kind of men they are. If they did their would be no discussion here or in the Maine Hockey blogosphere about Tim Whitehead's future tenure as the Maine hockey coach. However just because Tim is not Shawn does not mean that he is not a good coach. He is.

Tim Whitehead's winning percentage is very strong. We should remember that there was a period in the nineties that Maine had some issues with it's hockey program too. That is not a criticism of Shawn Walsh. I loved Shawn and the fire with which he coached. I have a very clear memory of taking my then 5 year old son up to buy tickets to a playoff game, walking in to the Alfond after to watch Shawn coach the team for a bit during a practice. Shawn seeing my son as the practice wound down, instructed Steve Kariya to bring a puck over to my son. My son still remembers this and clearly so do I. The early days of Maine hockey were something we will never forget and like a first love for those who lived through it all coaches will pale in comparison to Shawn.

Worse yet for those people who grew up with Maine always competing as Maine has for the last 25 years their is an expectation of winning that does not allow for the changes that come upon college hockey.

The game has changed. Players leave earlier and more frequently, for Maine in particular losing Coach Grant Standbrook was a loss of huge proportions in terms of recruiting.I read an article this year in a Boston paper that talked about how the Boston colleges used to be filled with Massachussets kids. No more. The fact is many of those kids now play other sports, or if they feel they have a chance at a pro career they play junior hockey. This is not an excuse but it is a reality.

Tim Whitehead is a good coach. Do I wish that he would take his jacket off sometimes. Sure I do. However he cannot be Shawn Walsh. Following a legend is a career choice that rarely ends well. Tim is the rebound coach even if the rebound was after a tragic death. Does anyone remember the coaches at North Carolina between Dean Smith and Roy Williams. Woe to the man who replaces Coach K at Duke.

Maine fans want to win. The question they should ask themselves is this. Are you sure you can get a better coach than Tim Whitehead. Tim is a great ambassador for hockey in the area. No hint of scandal comes to this program. This team is on the upswing right now, though the chance of some of the young players leaving early makes that a likely upswing not a sure thing. I remember speaking with Tim about the a freshman from Eastern Canada who left to go pro. He talked of how he did not blame the young man, the money was a huge factor. He stated he told him about his options but in the end the young man did what he needed to do.

The issues with the Maine starting goalie this weekend illustrate a few things about Tim Whitehead. Clearly Scott Darling was the better goalie. He could have been reinstated and played this weekend. Not knowing the circumstances of the event I do know that in many programs and many sports Scott Darling would have been playing. Not at Maine. Not for Tim Whitehead, not this weekend.

As what I now call a grownup I guess I look at things differently. I want Maine to win. I want them to win mostly now so that those who harp on Whitehead will be quiet for awhile. I think that at some point we have to accept that in a college environment we have to accept that not all lessons are on the ice or court. Tim Whiteheads players played with heart and grit this weekend. They learned alot about themselves. They will be better players and better men for it. They learned something about their coach over the last few weeks as well. In all cases what we learned were positive things.

What we see from the Maine administration in their backing of Coach Whitehead in the coming months will tell us much about them. I hope that as in the case of the players and the coach we are not disappointed. Coach Whitehead deserves our support, an extension and our thanks.