September
17,
2003
16
Greatest Coaches
Inside College Hockey offers our look at the
best coaches the game has ever seen
 |
| Our
look at the best coaches of all time coincides with "Coach
Week" of Inside College Hockey's 2003-04 Season Preview.
Yesterday we showed you 11 Coaches' Resolutions for the year
that we Found
on a Cocktail Napkin.
Later this week Jeff Sauer, No. 16 on this list, will share
some of his thoughts about great coaches. You'll also read
our look at No. 14 on this list, Don Lucia, as he pursues
his third title in a row, and get our take on who the best
coaches will be five years from now. |
"I'm
sure he was the greatest coach ever."
That's what
former University of Minnesota standout Bill Butters said about
his college coach, Herb Brooks, in front of 2,500 people who had
gathered in St. Paul to pay their last respects to one of the
best innovators and motivators the game has even seen. Certainly,
Brooks had the credentials to make that statement stand –
three NCAA titles with the Gophers and the unforgettable gold
medal victory with the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team at the 1980 Winter
Games in Lake Placid.
While meant
as a tribute to Brooks' achievements, Butters' comment raises
an interesting question: who is the greatest coach in college
hockey history? Certainly, there is finite data that can be used
to measure a coach's value (namely, wins and championships) but
there also exists a larger – and perhaps more important
– category of intangibles that are more important in determining
a coach's worth. Things like the ability to adapt coaching systems
on a season-to-season basis, the skill of making strategic in-game
adjustments, being able to recruit and develop talent and managing
the continuous process of building and re-building also fit into
the equation.
1.
Bob Johnson (Colorado College 1963-66, Wisconsin 1966-82)
In 12 seasons
in Madison, Badger Bob guided the fledgling Wisconsin program
to four Frozen Fours and three NCAA championships. Don't forget,
the players he recruited went on to win a national championship
for the Badgers under Jeff Sauer in 1983. He further proved his
coaching prowess by piloting the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley
Cup in 1991, not surpising since he had been recruiting NHL-caliber
players to Madison for the better part of his Badger career. And,
for good measure, he's credited with popularizing the phrase,
"It's a great day for hockey." Top talent: Mike Eaves,
Mark Johnson, Craig Norwich (Wisconsin).
2.
Herb Brooks (Minnesota 1972-79, St. Cloud State 1986-87)
Brooks' amazing
run at Minnesota reads like this: seven seasons, four trips to
the Frozen Four and NCAA titles in 1974, 1976 and 1979, the first
hockey championships in the program's storied history. His Gophers
were runners-up to Michigan Tech in 1975, the only loss his teams
suffered in nine NCAA Tournament contests. Since 1961 –
that’s 42 years, people – no other coach has won three
national championships in a six-season span as Herbie did from
1974-79. Somehow, he never won the Spencer Penrose Award and was
named WCHA Coach of the Year just once. It's not too far-fetched
say the Minnesota program fed off Brooks' success for the next
two decades. Oh yeah, there's also that Olympic gold medal thing
from 1980. Top talent: Mike Polich, Bill Baker, Neal Broten (Minnesota).
3.
Murray Armstrong (Denver 1956-76)
Armstrong
and the Pioneers made 11 Frozen Four forays and brought the national
championship trophy back to the Mile High City on five occasions
(1958, 1960, 1961, 1968 and 1969). He and Michigan's Vic Heyliger
(more on him later) are the only coaches to win back-to-back titles
twice in their careers, and only Heyliger won more NCAA crowns
than Armstrong. DU's 1960-61 team, one of the top squads in the
annals of college hockey, boasted five All-Americans and posted
a 30-1-1 record. Top talent: Bill Masterton, Keith Magnuson, Peter
McNab.
4.
Jack Parker (Boston University 1973-present)
He currently
ranks third among college hockey coaches on the all-time wins
list, needing just 20 more victories to become the third mentor
to reach the 700-win plateau. Parker took the Terriers to the
mountaintop in 1978 and 1995, but perhaps more impressive are
his five straight trips to the Frozen Four from 1974-79 and seven
Frozen Four appearances in eight seasons between 1989-97. He's
won more games in NCAA postseason play than any other coach to
boot. There’s also that little gathering in Boston each
February – Parker has made the Beanpot like his own personal
paperweight. Top talent: Tony Amonte, Chris Drury, Mike Eruzione.
5.
Ned Harkness (Rensselaer, 1949-63, Cornell 1963-70, Union 1975-77)
Start with
the fact that Harkness is one of two coaches to win NCAA championships
at two different schools, leading Rensselaer to a title in 1954
and going the same at Cornell in 1967 and '70. His 1970 Big Red
championship squad is the only unbeaten, untied titlist in the
NCAA annals. Harkness, who ranks fourth in college hockey history
with a 74.0 winning percentage, made seven trips to the Frozen
Four, and has more Frozen Four wins than all but four coaches.
Top talent: Abbie Moore (Rensselaer), Ken Dryden, Dan Lodboa (Cornell).
6.
Vic Heyliger (Illinois 1939-43, Michigan 1944-57, Air Force 1969-74)
Critics argue
that Heyliger made his mark at a time when Division I hockey programs
were few and far between, but there's no denying the magnitude
of his achievements. He directed his alma mater to six national
championships between 1948-1956, including three in a row from
1951-53. The Wolverines made 10 straight trips to the Frozen Four
(1948-57) under Heyliger's watch, and his record in NCAA Tournament
play was an impressive 16-4. He was also a major force in the
creation of the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League, now better
known as the WCHA. Top talent: Willard Ikola, Bill MacFarland,
John Matchefts (Michigan).
7.
John MacInnes (Michigan Tech 1956-82)
MacInnes,
who played for Heyliger at Michigan, built the Michigan Tech program
into a national power in 26 seasons in Houghton. He ranks eighth
in career wins and steered the Huskies to NCAA crowns in 1962,
1965 and 1975, and second-place showings in 1974 and 1976. Perhaps
a better measure of Tech's consistency under MacInnes' guidance:
under his watch, the Huskies never went more than four years without
making a trip to the Frozen Four. In its 50th anniversary issue
in 1997, The Hockey News tabbed MacInnes as the best coach in
WCHA history. Top talent: Lou Angotti, Tony Esposito, Mike Zuke.
8.
Jerry York (Clarkson 1972-79, Bowling Green 1979-94, Boston College
1994-present)
He'll always
be a legend in the Heights for ending Boston College's 52-year
NCAA championship drought in Albany two years ago, but maybe he
did his best work at Clarkson, where he was honored with the Spencer
Penrose Award as national coach of the year in 1977. Or perhaps
he made his mark at Bowling Green, where he piloted the Falcons
to an NCAA title in 1984 and sent boatloads of talent –
standouts such as Rob Blake, Garry Galley and Brian Holzinger
– to the NHL. Not only does he join Ned Harkness as the
only coaches to win NCAA championships with two schools, but York,
who enters the season sixth among Division I coaches in wins,
has won regular-season league titles in three conferences (ECAC,
CCHA and Hockey East). Top talent: Blake, Holzinger (Bowling Green),
Brian Gionta (Boston College).
9.
Snooks Kelley (Boston College 1933-72)
With a coaching
career that spanned five decades, Kelley witnessed – and
led to – as much growth in the sport as anyone on this list.
When he took over his alma mater, which had dropped hockey at
the time, the NCAA Tournament was still 15 years away. He brought
the Eagles to a title in the second Frozen Four, in 1949, and
made nine trips to the dance in all. He was an early proponent
of the all-American roster, at a time when other teams were comprised
completely of Canadians. In all – with four years off to
serve in World War II – Kelley spent 36 years behind the
Eagles’ bench, becoming the first college coach to win 500
games and finishing with 501. He won the NHL’s Lester Patrick
Award for contributions to hockey in 1972 and is a member of the
U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Top talent: Ray Chiasson, John Cunniff,
Tom "Red" Martin.
10.
Red Berenson (Michigan 1984-present)
A pretty good
NHL coach – he won the Jack Adams Award for coach of the
year with St. Louis in 1981 – Berenson resuscitated a struggling
Wolverine hockey program that had won more than 20 games just
seven times in 27 seasons between 1957 and 1984. Since taking
over at Michigan, Berenson has built a national powerhouse, winning
national championships in 1996 and 1998 and making a record 13
straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. Thirteen must be a lucky
number for Berenson: it also marks the number of consecutive seasons
his teams have won 25 or more games, a streak that started with
the 1990-91 campaign. The program has also become a veritable
pipeline to the NHL, churning out first-round draft picks season
after season. Top talent: John Madden, Brendan Morrison, Marty
Turco.
11.
Ron Mason (Lake Superior State 1966-73), Bowling Green (1973-1979,
Michigan State 1979-2002)
A dearth of
NCAA titles – just one, with Michigan State in 1986 –
keeps Mason from ranking higher on this list. With a record 924
career wins and 22 NCAA Tournament appearances, also a record,
his teams got within reach of college hockey's top prize on a
number of occasions as evidenced by his eight trips to the Frozen
Four. Only Jack Parker has more NCAA Tournament wins than Mason's
22; on the flip side, no one has more NCAA tourney losses (26).
His amazing run at MSU included 23 or more victories in 19 of
his last 20 seasons behind the Spartan bench. Mason also excelled
in adapting to the college game as it changed over the years from
high-octane offenses (Mike Donnelly set the NCAA record for goals
in a season with 59 in 1985-86) to stifling defenses (his teams
consistently ranked among the nation's best in goals against average
over the last decade of his coaching career). Top talent: Ken
Morrow (Bowling Green), Ryan Miller, Mike York (Michigan State).
12.
Jeff Jackson (Lake Superior State 1990-96)
Should we
ever get around to compiling a list of most underrated coaches,
Jackson will be featured prominently. His numbers are truly mind-boggling:
30 or more wins in five of his six seasons at Lake Superior State,
the third-best winning percentage (75.1%) in college hockey history
and, of course, national championships in 1992 and 1994. Don't
forget that it took at third-period explosion from Maine's Jim
Montgomery in 1993 to keep the Lakers from winning three straight
titles. He gets a bad rap because of his perceived prickly demeanor,
but if we were running a college program that could be considered
a fixer-upper, Jackson would be on our speed dial. Top talent:
Keith Aldridge, Blaine Lacher, Brian Rolston.
13.
Jack Kelley (Colby 1955-62, Boston University 1962-72)
Kelley’s
tenure at the highest level of college hockey only spanned 10
years, but he did something nobody else could for the next 30
years – guide a program to back-to-back NCAA championships.
After those twin titles for BU in 1971-72, Kelley headed to the
pro ranks, but he had made his mark. Earlier, at Colby, he had
earned the Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the
year, and he is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. He also
had a son, David E. Kelley, who was a pretty good player at Princeton
and a fantastic writer for TV (The Practice, L.A. Law) and movies
(Mystery Alaska). Among the elder Kelley’s charges was Jack
Parker – as both a player and an assistant coach –
and, when Parker took over a little over a year after Kelley’s
departure, the stage was set for BU’s continued success.
Top talent: Fred Bassi, Dan Brady, Mike Hyndman (Boston University).
14.
Don Lucia (Alaska-Fairbanks 1987-93, Colorado College 1993-99,
Minnesota 1999-present)
Sure, he's
won back-to-back national championships at Minnesota and his Gophers
have the horses to make it a three-peat this season. But here's
the true test of Lucia's coaching prowess: he won 20+ games at
Alaska-Fairbanks four times. Since the Nanooks joined the Division
I ranks in 1985, they've had a total of six seasons of 20 or more
wins. In 1993, he took control of at Colorado College, where the
Tigers were coming off an 8-28-0 season and a last-place finish
in the WCHA, and won three straight conference regular-season
titles. And when he arrived at Minnesota in 1999, the Gophers
were fresh off consecutive sub.-500 seasons and a longer period
of subpar recruiting. Top talent: Jordan Leopold, Thomas Vanek
(Minnesota), Brian Swanson (Colorado College)
15.
Shawn Walsh (Maine 1984-2001)
If we were
ranking the most controversial coaches in college hockey history,
Walsh would win in a landslide. Look past his one-year suspension
for violating NCAA rules and his legendary rinkside antics, however,
and one would be hard pressed to find bench boss better than Walsh
when it came to winning big games. He turned a middling Maine
program into a perennial national title contender, taking the
Black Bears from 12 wins to 34 in the span of four seasons. Walsh's
teams made five Frozen Four appearances between 1988-95. His 1993
NCAA championship squad, which posted a mind-boggling 42-1-2 record,
was one of the most talented the game has ever seen; his 1999
NCAA titlist, meanwhile, was arguably one of the grittiest. Top
talent: Mike Dunham, Paul Kariya, Scott Pellerin.
16.
Jeff Sauer (Colorado College 1971-82, Wisconsin 1982-2002)
Bob Johnson
left the program in pretty good shape when he stepped down as
head coach in 1982. But Sauer put together a pretty good run of
his own. In his first season at UW, he piloted a Badger team that
featured the likes of Chris Chelios, Pat Flatley, Bruce Driver
and Marc Behrend to a national title. The Dean's second national
championship came in 1990 with a crew that wasn't as star-studded
as the '83 group (Sean Hill was the biggest name), but was a rugged,
gritty team that, as a whole, was far greater than the sum of
its parts. Perhaps his greatest legacy is the first-rate talent
he lured to Madison, then fed to the NHL. Top talent: Chelios,
Tony Granato, Dany Heatley (Wisconsin).
