Seth Appert's Return to ECAC Hockey

Seth Appert spent 2016-17 on the Hot Seat(Times Union)

ECAC Hockey fans may have noticed that a Seth Appert-coached team rolled through Dartmouth and Harvard in late October, as USA Hockey’s U-18 National team split a pair, opening with a 3-0 win at Dartmouth before bowing to Harvard 7-2 the next night. When Appert was fired by RPI last March, coaching at Thompson Arena and the Bright-Landry Center must have seemed light years away. But before the 2017-18 Ivy schedule was even officially underway, there was Appert back on familiar ground, coaching his teenage wunderkinds against the men of the ECAC. The last six months have been a long, strange trip for Appert, and we caught up with him by phone before he jetted off to Finland with the Red, White and Blue.

RinkRap: You’ve been through some pretty intense highs and lows this past off-season. Can you share your mindset as this all went down?

APPERT: You have to go back to mid-March when I had one of the worst professional days of my life, being fired from RPI. People say coaches are hired to be fired, but when it’s you, and it’s your family and your kids that are going to have to be uprooted, it’s hard. I’m really proud of what we built at RPI, and getting that program back towards national prominence, but we had a bad year last year, and those things happen. That’s a hard day.

A Dark Day in March, and then the phone rang-(Daily Gazette)

The next day you’re kind of talked out. Everybody’s calling and checking in on you and all those other things. It’s probably eight in the morning, and my phone’s ringing and it’s John Wroblewski, the other head coach of the (NTDP) national team. I was getting my daughters on the bus, and I let it go to voice mail. I was assuming he was calling to see how I was doing, right? But he was calling to ask me to join their coaching staff for the Under-18 World Championships.

I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity that John and Director Scott Monaghan provided me at that moment. The moment when you’re in a real bad spot, for those guys to call me the next day and offer me the opportunity of a lifetime, to join a U.S. National team for a world championship event, was very, very special. I’m very grateful for that.

I spent six weeks with them, a couple weeks of practice and then a month overseas, and then went right back overseas with Jeff Blashill with their staff for the men’s championship. During that process I interviewed for the job here (in Plymouth with the NTDP) after Danton Cole became head coach at Michigan State.

RinkRap: Were those World Championships an audition of sorts, were they observing you?

APPERT: It wasn’t intended for that, at that point Danton was still on the job and the Michigan State job wasn’t even open yet. Robo (Wroblewski) and I have some of the same philosophies and styles of play and coaching, and he wanted me to join the staff. In the end, it did become a two-month interview process, with USA Hockey people at the highest levels, interacting with me on a daily basis, watching how I interact with both the Under-18  team and also the men’s national team. That eventually led to this opportunity.

Appert at his New Home with the NTDP-(Hometown Life)

RinkRap: You and the NTDP seem like a pretty good fit.

APPERT: From my end, I believe it is, I’m having a blast. It’s extremely re-energizing and exciting. I’ve been coaching college hockey for 12 years and I love college hockey and believe in it strongly, but this is refreshing. They’re younger, they’re hungry to learn, they’re extremely talented and driven; there’s a lot of mentorship in their work ethic and habits and also in their off-ice life. We’re just trying to march forward every day to get them better individually and collectively.

RinkRap: It must have been surreal to leave Thompson Arena with a win, after playing them so many times with RPI.

APPERT: It’s different. When you walk out with a win when at RPI, you’re excited about the two points in the standings and you're thinking about the next game. When you walk out with these young men, and seeing how hard they have to battle to give themselves a chance to win against a college team, it wasn’t about the two points, it’s about all these things we’re trying to do— We’re trying to put our guys in as much adversity as possible, and then helping them through that and growing from it so we can become better. I was really happy for our guys.

Appert's Teens Claim a Scalp up at Thompson 

From the perspective of being back on a Dartmouth-Harvard road trip, it didn’t feel very much different from years past. It’s funny, Rand Pecknold texted me, “Dartmouth-Harvard this weekend, it’s like you never left.” That’s certainly a trip you’re familiar with coming from the ECAC.

RinkRap: Did you allow yourself time for introspection as you exited Thompson Arena? Being back in such familiar surroundings, yet in a totally unexpected setting?

APPERT: That’s not who I am. I’m not a real nostalgia type of guy, I am a live-in-the moment type of guy. I’m not a guy that walks around and tries to soak up those kinds of things, that’s just not who I am, but at the end of the day, it was great. I have tremendous respect for Bob Gaudette, and really cherished the opportunity to coach against him for those 11 years I was in the ECAC. Associate coach Dave Lassonde has been a good friend of mine since I was a young coach in this game the last 27 years. It’s always good to see old friends and visit with them either before or after the game.

  

For the record, the last time a Seth Appert-coached club won at Thompson Arena was November 2, 2013, when RPI defeated Dartmouth 7-1.

Good Guy Gavin Bayreuther

(This interview is excerpted from NY Hockey Journal)

Four Year Skating Saint Gavin Bayreuther

Gavin Bayreuther was a dynamic force in North Country Hockey the last four years, helping return Saint Lawrence University into an ECAC Hockey contender during his tenure in Canton as an offensively gifted blueliner. In the spring of 2016 coach Greg Carvel bolted SLU for U.Mass, yet Bayreuth chose to postpone his pro career with the Dallas Stars in order to graduate with his class at Saint Lawrence. NYHJ’s Tim Rappleye caught up with Gavin at the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan,  

NYHJ: Why did you stay at St. Lawrence for a fourth year? Was it because you wanted to play for new coach Mark Morris?

G.B. We didn’t know coach Morris would be the coach until really that last week or two at school, it was kind of a mystery. The older guys had to step up and be leaders that spring. It was a really good experience, a leadership opportunity, I learned a lot. The school gave me so much during those three years, why not stay, why not get that education? Education is so important, and my family, especially my parents who are teachers at Cardigan Mountain School, it’s always really important. When coach Morris came in, it worked out really well, and I was happy to stay.

NYHJ: Coach Morris has a huge pro hockey resume. Did he talk to you about the next level?

G.B. He immediately handled the program like a professional. He coached us like pro’s, he demanded a lot from us, little things like he expected every pass to be on the tape and all that stuff as he would in the NHL and the AHL, he really stepped my game up.

NYHJ: ECAC has a reputation as a tough checking league. How has the transition been to pro hockey?

G.B. Obviously, it’s a big step. College hockey is college hockey, it’s really good hockey but when you try to take that step up into the pro ranks, you got to learn a lot, you got to keep it simple at the start. At times in college I would do too much with the puck, it may have or not have worked in college, but at the next level it didn’t. Coach Morris was really good, he helped simplify my game, rounded out my game.

NYHJ: You’re wearing the “C” for the Stars. It’s a very cool look. How did that all come about?

G.B. It was a really good opportunity, and I’m very grateful for it.

NYHJ: When did they let you know?

G.B. Really when I walked in. I’m one of the older guys here, I played 15 games with Texas in the AHL at the end of the year, so I was able to put my foot in the door, and I learned a lot from the older guys. I kind of just came in here, came to the development camp early in the summer and just tried to be a good leader, and just led by example. I worked my tail off and I think it paid off, and I was fortunate to wear the “C.”

NYHJ: Are you shooting texts to Carvy, or Morris while you’re out here?

G.B. I don’t talk to Carvy any more, I talk to Mo once in a while. I talk to (Mike) Hurlbut, the assistant coach, a good amount, (Matt) Deschamps, the other assistant. They did so much for me. They gave me a gracious four years.

NYHJ: And you did the same…

G.B. …yes, so I’m very grateful for that.

NYHJ: I see another Skating Saint on the roster, Eric Sweetman, did you use your influence to bring him out?

G.B. I definitely put in a good word. He was my road roommate for four years, he’s one of my best buddies. He’s always one of those defensemen who doesn’t stick out a ton, but it’s because he’s always doing the right thing, always making the smart play. Now that he has his opportunity here, I think it’s going to work out for him.

NYHJ: How’s the comfort level here. Decision making has to be a lost faster, no?

G.B. Oh yeah. You definitely have less time with the puck, and you’re playing with other pros, so it’s definitely a step up. You might have been able to hold onto the puck a little longer in college, now you gotta really be careful and make the right play, every time. That’s something I’m still learning, and I’ll probably be learning forever.

So Long, ol Joe

Venerable Al Sabotka has thrown his last Octopus

Unless you’re mired in nostalgia, going to Joe Louis Arena these days is a rocky experience. Trying to watch hockey replays on the video board is an exercise in frustration, as three pairs of digital cubes have gone out on the south sideboard, creating three virtual pucks to confuse the viewers. It’s amusing, yet maddening.

“We don’t want the video wall going out,” said Detroit’s rink maintenance icon Al Sobotka, the man best know for collecting thrown octopi from zealous Red Wing fans. “Those are in cubes, sometimes a cube breaks, side’s going bad. We just changed a few a couple weeks ago.”

$164 seats in decay

The seats wobble, and the upholstery is ripped, even in the most expensive seats. “Why spend a lot of money?” asked Sobatka, who will keep his job with Olympia Entertainment next year at the Little Caesars Arena. “We knew years ago that we’re was going to be moving, so why? We don’t own the building. It’s like if you’re renting a house, why would you want to put a lot of money into it?”

So The Joe is in a state of rapid decay: rust on bolts, shredded seats, ancient slices of pepperoni in the pot-holed pedestrian ramps to the tram stop. Two women from Traverse City who attended the Big 10 semifinals opted for dinner out in Detroit rather than see the Championship game due to the toxic fumes coming from the ice after each resurfacing. Joe Louis Arena is hockey’s answer to a dive bar: a tough sell unless you have learned to drink there.

The 2017 Big 10 Championship games are a far cry from the glory days of college hockey at The Joe. With both Michigan and Michigan State eliminated in Thursday’s quarterfinals, the alleged attendance for Friday’s semifinal doubleheader was 2,791. Realistic estimates for Friday’s opener was closer to 500 fans. And that included the team bands. 

Tony Granato, who spent two years behind the Joe Louis bench with the Wings as an assistant coach, referred to attendance when asked to wax poetic about the romantic rust bucket.

“I’d like to have seen a few more people in the seats,” said Granato. 

It’s a far cry from the glory days of the CCHA championships, when some of the best teams in the country would meet for a meaningful championship from 1982 to 2013. Michigan’s Red Berenson led his Wolverines to nine CCHA tourney titles at The Joe. He said his squads were all happy to perform in the home of the Red Wings.

“It was a thrill to get here,” said Berenson. “The slogan was, ‘The Road to the Joe.’ Don’t think all those players who played in Joe Louis Arena weren’t thrilled to play here. Maybe now the new Little Cesars Arena is maybe badly needed."

With the failing infrastructure of The Joe, the city of Detroit probably should have brought in the wrecking ball after the last CCHA tourney in 2013. The unique venue hard by the Detroit River has had plenty of college hockey history in addition to the CCHA playoffs, including 38 Great Lakes Invitational Tournaments and several NCAA games.

The 1990 NCAA Frozen Four was played at The Joe in 1990, where the Wisocnisn Badgers won their 5^th NCAA title. Sabotka remembers it well, but preferred an earlier Badgers championship, at another hockey venue in Detroit.

“I remember when we had the NCAA at the Olympia in 1977,” said Sabotka. Wisconsin made that Frozen Four, and stormed the Big D. "That was just above everything that you’ve seen, with all the fans that came in from Wisconsin. They took the neighborhood over. I just spoke to Jack Berry (current Badgers goalie) about it from Wisconsin, he’s a local Caesar’s kid. 1990 we had NCAA here, it was nowhere near the one at the Olympia.”

Back in 19778, 6000 Badger fans travelled from Madison to see Mark Johnson and Mike Eaves capture Badger Bob’s second NCAA title back in 1977. With Michigan the other finalist, those finals at the Olympia remain the gold standard for NCAA championship games in terms of drama (overtime), dueling bands, and the respective fans' decibel level.

Sobotka, however, remains loyal to The Joe.

“I don’t care what people call it; saying it’s a dump, that’s a bunch of B.S.” said Sabotka. “We have a lot of pride in our jobs; we’re doing the best we can with what we have. It’s not easy. It’s still a great building as far as I’m concerned.”

After the Big 10 Championship, seven more Red Wings games are scheduled to conclude a dismal season of hockey in downstate Michigan, as the Wings, Michigan and Michigan State all suffered through losing seasons. 

Once hockey is over, a slew of concerts will keep the revenue flowing into summer. The last scheduled event at Joe Louis Arena before the wrecking ball arrives is a WWE event on July 29. Hockey fans should feel right at home walking the concourse srrounded the smells of stale beer and popcorn, black and white nostalgia of Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. The ever loyal Sabotka will be down in the Zamboni pit until the very end.

B.U. Men Shine Under Hottest Lights

Penguins rookie coach Mike Sullivan was living out a Kafka-esque nightmare Tuesday in Pittsburgh. A period away from closing out the NHL's best regular season team, his squad took three straight delay of game penalties for firing the puck over the glass. None of the network broadcasters had ever seen anything like it. The resulting manpower became 5 on 4, then 5 on 3, then 5 on 4, and then 5 on 3. When the ice chips settled, the powerhouse Capitals had tied the game at three, sending it to overtime.

Remarkably, Sullivan appeared calm throughout his tumultuous journey to Bizzaro-world. His face was only one shade closer to red as he sought an explanation from the refs after the third straight delay of game call. "I've never seen it in all the years I've been around the game, I'll tell you that," said Sullivan to NHL.com in the post-game. "Three delay of game penalties in a row like that. That's a tough one to swallow, you know?" Sullivan's college coach, B.U. legend Jack Parker, knows Sullivan well and was one of the few that detected the immense stress his protege was under.

"When he had is arms folded in front of him, look how hard he was grabbing his stomach," said Parker. "It was like he was in a straight jacket."

Sullivan and the Pens weathered the unprecedented storm, ("It could have been a lot worse," said Parker), got to overtime and then overwhelmed the Caps with a non-stop flurry in the extra session. Former Terrier Nick Bonino was the man of the late-hour, pounding in the series-winner to catapult the Cinderella Penguins into the conference final. Kudos are in order for Sullivan for standing firm when America's top hockey pundits were loudly questioning his tactics.

In the third period prior to the delay of game triple nightmare, Pierre McGuire, a single stride from Sullivan inside the glass, wondered aloud when Sullivan would rein in his run-and-gun Pens, and collapse back into a defensive shell. He asked Sully point blank whether he was worried about all the odd-man rushes against during his in-game interview spot. Sullivan said his troops just needed to make better decisions with the puck. He would not take his foot off the gas.

McGuire and Milbury, From the Gallery

In the overtime intermission Mike Milbury was incredulous that journeyman minor leaguer Conor Sheary was getting the same amount of ice time as superstar Sidney Crosby. Parker leaped to Sullivan's defense. "I heard Milbury," said Parker by phone the next morning. "I always tell people It's real easy to coach someone else's team. Crosby doesn't kill penalties, that's why he was so fresh for the overtime." As far as McGuire advocating for a defensive clampdown? "I've always felt the 1-2-2 defense is like the prevent defense in football," said Parker. "It prevents you from winning the game."

Parker: "It's real easy to coach someone else's team."

Sullivan stuck to his philosophy, distributing ice time through all four lines who hunted pucks down all over the Penguins defensive zone. His fresh troops simply swarmed Washington in sudden death, choking the life out of the Caps with their relentless pursuit. The face of the Penguins franchise,"Sid the Kid," was all smiles in the jubilant post game, and couldn't wait to take on Tampa in a conference final that should resemble a track meet. "It will be fast hockey for sure," said the gleeful Crosby to McGuire after completing the traditional handshake line.

Sullivan has a history of facing down neighsayers. B.U. national championship hockey alum Todd Johnson recalls another bizzare Sullivan anecdote when he was in his original NHL coaching job with the Bruins. "During the lockout (2005), Mike coached a local pee wee team," said Johnson.
"He did all the right things, taught them all the game, shared ice time equally. You'd think the parents would be honored that a former NHL player and the coach of the Bruins was coaching their kids. Well what did they do? The parents had a big meeting and protested that their kids weren't getting enough ice time. What a joke, unbelievable."

After being confronted by passionate youth hockey parents, the slings and arrows from television talking heads is pretty routine for Sullivan. His triumph over both the bizarre circumstances in the series clincher and the NBC neigh-sayers brings to mind the Rudyard Kipling classic Poem "IF."

If you can keep your head when all about you
 Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
  But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
  And treat those two impostors just the same;
—you’ll be a Man, my son.

One of the biggest stories heading into the NHL's final four is the courageous leadership of Mike Sullivan. A man, indeed.

Back to the Future for Stan Fischler

The Maven

Stan Fischler is an incredibly spry octogenarian, often found riding his bike in Central Park or hustling for a game of "Paddle." He still blogs and reports on camera for MSG Network, patrolling NHL press rooms before games sharing R-rated jokes, and then writing his post-game hockey blog deep into the night. A quintessential New Yorker, he insists that he is from Brooklyn. RinkRap caught up with Fischler prior to Game 4 of the Islanders-Tampa Conference semifinals from Barclays Center. 

"I started watching hockey in '39. The Americans were still playing into the '41-'42 season, I'm living in Brooklyn. By that time I'm 10 years old, so I was very deep into hockey with what the hell is going on. And I knew that Red Dutton changed the name from the New York Americans to the Brooklyn Americans because he wanted to build a Brooklyn rink for the club downtown, right about where the Barclays Center is, where we are now. So I was very aware that something like that might happen, and of course the dream was, since I lived within walking distance, 582 Marcy, near Myrtle, I could walk to the games. That was a nice dream. Now I subway to Barclays. I take it all the time. I get on my home stop 110th and Broadway, I take the local to 96th and then I catch the 2 or the 3 and they go right to here.

What's the commuting time?
Oh about 40 minutes, or about five pages in a book. I read slow.

When did you start realizing that your dream of NHL hockey in Brooklyn might become a reality?
During the last lockout (2012), when they announced that the team would be coming here, I came here, they had a press conference, the commissioner Gary Bettman was here, Charles Wang of the Islanders. Already the building was done, the signing was the fait accompli, dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's. Naturally I was excited about it because I knew exactly where Dutton was... I used to play hockey at the Brooklyn Ice Palace where Dutton's Americans used to practice in '41-42, and the Ice Palace was only about a 10-minute walk from here. It was on Atlantic between Nostrand and Bedford.
You didn't ask me how I played hockey.

Well, how did you play?
The answer is badly.

There Used to be a Ballpark

Last Tuesday, when you saw all the pomp and circumstance of a Stanley Cup second round game in Brooklyn, that must have been a bit of a dream.
The first thing I did was get goose pimples. From the very first time I went to Madison Square Garden in 1939 I was absolutely awe-struck by the whole hockey scene, the ice, the color the whole thing. Even when I worked for the Rangers in 1954-55, the first thing I would do is walk into the building and just look at the ice, it always fascinated me. Of course the fact that this thing was in Brooklyn just knocked me out. Plus it was done very classy, with a color guard and with the anthem sung. What I did, which was sort of a reflex going back to when I was in publicity, I always looked around to see the crowd, to see a full house, a very intense, high decibel count, it was the equal of Nassau Coliseum, which I loved also. It was a combo. I get goose pimples for certain songs, and certain events, and of course when I think about hockey I think about the fact that it was my father that took me to a game. If it wasn't for that, who knows what would have happened?

Of all the New York boroughs, where does Brooklyn rank?
I grew up in Brooklyn. People ask me where I'm from, if I go to visit relatives elsewhere, in Israel with my  son, I say "From Brooklyn." Always Brooklyn. I went to Brooklyn College, my father and mother were both born in Brooklyn. I lived at 582 Marcy for 22 years, you can't get more Brooklyn than that.

I covered the Dodgers for the Journal American newspaper when they won the Series in '55, also covered Game 7 in '56 when they lost to the Yankees. Just recently when my grandchildren were here from Israel with my son Simon, we went to Coney Island, twice. Not for the rides, but for the beach because it was warm. You can't have more Brooklyn than Coney Island and Nathan's hot dogs and the whole schmear.

Didn't you play a lot of paddle ball on Coney Island?
I haven't played paddle for about three years. The last guy I played paddles with was Alan Kreda of the Times, and I beat the crap out of him, he can tell you that. Brooklyn is a good place for paddles. I was supposed to play Sean Avery and he backed out. Lame excuse, too. Of course, I love paddles.

Do these Islander games against Tampa remind you of "The Bums" heartbreaks against the Yankees?
Of course. I was there in '41 when Mickey Owen missed the third strike and Tommy Henrich goes to first base, DiMaggio comes up and starts the kill. That scar never goes away for anybody who was around then. The Dodgers theme was always "Wait Until Next Year," until finally '55. Losing in overtime the way they (the Islanders) did, it was "Wait Until Next Game."