Walsh Finds Way Out From the Dark Side
To hear some college hockey insiders tell it, Shawn Walsh is the malevolent head of the Maine Evil Empire.
The Black Bears’ coach didn’t care about making friends when he arrived in Orono in 1984 after stints at Bowling Green and Michigan State--he wanted to make an impact. If he was perceived as brash, emotional and, some say, too haughty about the supposed superiority of Western hockey, he didn’t care. He was there to win and he did, leading Maine to the 1993 national championship, four Hockey East regular-season titles and three conference tournament titles.
Perhaps that’s why, when an 18-month in-house investigation of the athletic program led to Walsh being suspended for a calendar year for violating terms of an earlier suspension when he accepted “supplemental income” from boosters of the hockey program late in 1993, his players stuck by him. He had stuck by them, closely monitoring their classroom performance in addition to their on-ice work. That was the least they could do, and, as it turned out Saturday, the most.
The Black Bears’ 3-2 overtime victory over New Hampshire at the Arrowhead Pond in the NCAA championship game was a payback in countless ways. Walsh, whose program came off NCAA probation this season, repaid his backers at Maine by guiding his team to a dramatic, gutsy triumph over New Hampshire, cleverly adjusting his tactics after the first period to stifle the Wildcats’ big line of Mike Souza, Jason Krog and Darren Haydar. His players repaid his faith in them with a resilient, gritty effort that delighted the crowd of 14,447 and made their trip West a resounding success.
“There’s no egos on this team. Everybody pulls for each other,” right wing Steve Kariya said. “Everybody’s accountable. . . . People have been questioning us coming into the tournament being 4-4 in our last eight games and losing some big games to New Hampshire and Boston College, but I’ve just been confident in this team since Day One. We got the job done, and it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
In truth, it might have been more of a feel-good story had the Wildcats won. Coach Dick Umile has also been successful and is celebrated as one of the game’s consummate gentlemen, running a top-notch program that has never been tainted by a hint of scandal. He suffered a heart attack two years ago, while watching game films at 2:30 one morning, and underwent an angioplasty, but he returned to lead the Wildcats to two successive Frozen Four appearances.
He was disconsolate Saturday, his mood as blue as his wilted shirt, but he had no regrets and nothing to be ashamed of.
“A bounce of the puck kept us from winning the national championship,” Umile said, his voice raspy from yelling. “I’m proud of the way our team played. It’s going to hurt, but we’ll get over it.”
Umile may have been a more popular winner, but the renegade Walsh--whose team had to forfeit games in the 1991-92 and 1993-94 seasons for using ineligible players and who missed part of the next two seasons as his school-imposed penance--is what the NCAA got. And that may not be so bad after all.
Walsh was humble and gracious in victory Saturday, reading remarks he had written before the game in a spiral-bound notebook to be sure he didn’t forget anyone who merited recognition. The players who sat beside him--Kariya, game-winning goal-scorer Marcus Gustafsson and goalie Alfie Michaud, were high on his list.
“There were hard times, but you find out who your supporters are, and mine was the University of Maine, and they’re still with me,” Walsh said of his exile and the program’s probation. “We knew, after all the meetings we went through [regarding the violations] I certainly was at fault. We all were at fault. But in life, we all go through ups and downs.
“These guys could have transferred, but they stayed. I can get emotional and I was angry at certain points of the whole thing. I still remember my first game back and I will remember tonight.”
Michaud, a junior from Selkirk, Canada, had his own memories of the Black Bears’ dark days and why he decided to stick it out and hope for better.
“I remember when the sanctions came up and schools starting calling again,” said Michaud, who made 46 saves Saturday and was voted the tournament’s outstanding player. “My dad [Alfred] told me, ‘You gave your word. You don’t go back on your word. Be a man and face the facts. You’ll win there.’
“I knew coming in the coaching staff was unbelievable and the players were unbelievable. I knew one day this was going to happen. It took three years, but it couldn’t come soon enough.”
Walsh and the Black Bears won their first title with Paul Kariya in their lineup and their second with Steve Kariya on their top line. A sister, Noriko, plays on Maine’s field hockey team and women’s hockey team, and a third brother, Martin, has committed to attend Maine next season.
But don’t ask Walsh about that. He’s more reticent than brash these days. “I can’t discuss him,” Walsh said. “If I did, I would get an NCAA violation. As you may have noticed, I’ve had a couple.”
