Thank goodness that I just bought an extended battery for my cell phone. It has gotten a workout over the past 48 hours, especially this afternoon.
By now, you have likely heard that Guy Gadowsky has left Princeton to take the position as the first coach of the modern-era of Penn State Nittany Lions varsity hockey.
Coach Gadowsky was one of three finalists that were in Hockey Valley this week interviewing with Joe Battista and the search committee.
Right off the bat, let me say that all three - Gadowsky, Wisconsin women's head coach Mark Johnson, and Minnesota-Duluth's Scott Sandelin - were outstanding candidates to develop the NCAA program.
Most of Saturday was spent on Twitter and Facebook going back and forth with former Icers coach Mark Horgas, Thank You Terry blogger and emerging Penn State hockey guru Kyle Rossi, and several others from the Icers family.
Today, Barb and I were planning on playing golf this afternoon, but the plans were waylaid when we got a text message from Paul Daley's parents. They were in town and generously invited us to join their family for an early dinner at the Mt. Nittany Inn.
Hey, gotta put in a shameless plug for one of our webcast sponsors. It was good to see Nancy Silvis and Dr. Doug Collins overseeing things at their fine establishment (Route 144 on the summit of Center Hall Mountain, for those who've never seen our commercial break), and to see Kurt Collins busing tables for Mom and Dad!
No sooner do we sit down than the first email comes from JoeBa - at 3:15pm. He says the coach will be announced at 3:30 with a press conference on Monday!
Barb had it pegged - saying that the "word" that the announcement would not come until after the upcoming ACHA and coaches' conference in Naples, Fla. was nothing but a trojan horse. That's why she's the Executive Producer!
The first tweet came about two minutes later from TSN's Bob McKenzie, and then the floodgates opened.
Barb and I weren't the only ones caught on short notice. Rodney Martin had his phone turned off while enjoying Easter dinner with his family. Kyle Rossi was also spending Easter with his family.
Kyle managed to put together an update on the situation after stuffing himself with ham and the trimmings. Rodney and I have left the details to Kyle. Great work as always, my friend.
Just like September 17th, 2010 - today is a day when Penn State hockey was front and almost-center on the airwaves. Of course, it helped that hockey was all over the airwaves today. On a side note -- too bad the Flyers spoiled Terry Pegula's big day!
So, why did Gadowsky win out? Johnson and Sandelin both guided their teams to National Championships in the past month. As Mark Horgas tweeted,
Not only has he rebuilt moribund programs at Alaska-Fairbanks and Princeton, as Dr. Graham Spanier was quoted in the official press release from Penn State:
#1 He's just like me!
#2 He played his collegiate hockey at Colorado College (1985-89). I was in Colorado Springs in 1997-98 (before coming to Hockey Valley) and worked at KRDO-AM/FM, the flagship radio station for Tigers hockey.
#3 He spent the 1992-93 hockey season with the St. John's Maple Leafs, at the time the AHL affiliate of my Toronto Maple Leafs. That was the year that Doug Gilmour led the Leafs to one Kerry Fraser missed call from a Stanley Cup final meeting with the Montreal Canadiens.
#4 Since he's Canadian, he's got to love Tim Horton's coffee. I'll confirm that suspicion at tomorrow's presser. Even Mark Horgas agrees:
By now, you have likely heard that Guy Gadowsky has left Princeton to take the position as the first coach of the modern-era of Penn State Nittany Lions varsity hockey.
Coach Gadowsky was one of three finalists that were in Hockey Valley this week interviewing with Joe Battista and the search committee.
Right off the bat, let me say that all three - Gadowsky, Wisconsin women's head coach Mark Johnson, and Minnesota-Duluth's Scott Sandelin - were outstanding candidates to develop the NCAA program.
Most of Saturday was spent on Twitter and Facebook going back and forth with former Icers coach Mark Horgas, Thank You Terry blogger and emerging Penn State hockey guru Kyle Rossi, and several others from the Icers family.
Today, Barb and I were planning on playing golf this afternoon, but the plans were waylaid when we got a text message from Paul Daley's parents. They were in town and generously invited us to join their family for an early dinner at the Mt. Nittany Inn.
Hey, gotta put in a shameless plug for one of our webcast sponsors. It was good to see Nancy Silvis and Dr. Doug Collins overseeing things at their fine establishment (Route 144 on the summit of Center Hall Mountain, for those who've never seen our commercial break), and to see Kurt Collins busing tables for Mom and Dad!
No sooner do we sit down than the first email comes from JoeBa - at 3:15pm. He says the coach will be announced at 3:30 with a press conference on Monday!
Barb had it pegged - saying that the "word" that the announcement would not come until after the upcoming ACHA and coaches' conference in Naples, Fla. was nothing but a trojan horse. That's why she's the Executive Producer!
The first tweet came about two minutes later from TSN's Bob McKenzie, and then the floodgates opened.
Barb and I weren't the only ones caught on short notice. Rodney Martin had his phone turned off while enjoying Easter dinner with his family. Kyle Rossi was also spending Easter with his family.
Kyle managed to put together an update on the situation after stuffing himself with ham and the trimmings. Rodney and I have left the details to Kyle. Great work as always, my friend.
Just like September 17th, 2010 - today is a day when Penn State hockey was front and almost-center on the airwaves. Of course, it helped that hockey was all over the airwaves today. On a side note -- too bad the Flyers spoiled Terry Pegula's big day!
So, why did Gadowsky win out? Johnson and Sandelin both guided their teams to National Championships in the past month. As Mark Horgas tweeted,
Not only has he rebuilt moribund programs at Alaska-Fairbanks and Princeton, as Dr. Graham Spanier was quoted in the official press release from Penn State:
"Guy is the perfect choice for Penn State. He has been immensely successful, is a great motivator, knows how to build programs, and has strong academic values."Mr. Pegula echoes Dr. Spanier's thoughts:
"I am very impressed with Guy, his pursuit of the challenge at hand and plans for Penn State hockey.And the coach is equally magnanimous in return:
"I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to lead Penn State hockey during this transitional period and into Division I," Gadowsky said.On a personal note, in addition to his coaching and recruiting skills and his emphasis on academics, there are several additional reasons why I like him already.
"I am truly honored to join Penn State and the spirit, pride, passion, class and professionalism found within its students, staff and alumni. I am humbled by the tremendous gift by the Pegula family and the commitment by Penn State. This is a very exciting time for college hockey and Penn State and our family is thrilled to be joining the Penn State family."
#1 He's just like me!
#2 He played his collegiate hockey at Colorado College (1985-89). I was in Colorado Springs in 1997-98 (before coming to Hockey Valley) and worked at KRDO-AM/FM, the flagship radio station for Tigers hockey.
#3 He spent the 1992-93 hockey season with the St. John's Maple Leafs, at the time the AHL affiliate of my Toronto Maple Leafs. That was the year that Doug Gilmour led the Leafs to one Kerry Fraser missed call from a Stanley Cup final meeting with the Montreal Canadiens.
#4 Since he's Canadian, he's got to love Tim Horton's coffee. I'll confirm that suspicion at tomorrow's presser. Even Mark Horgas agrees:
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