When enlightened to the fact that they are engaged in an inadvertent, unofficial derby, coaches Brian McCloskey of New Hampshire and Bob Deraney of Providence briefly dropped their role of mind-game devotee and instead acted as each other’s predictable mind-readers.
Most fittingly, the opposing foremen of women’s hockey’s most timeless rivalry are on their way to becoming the tenth and eleventh active members of the Division I 200-win club. Deraney commences his eleventh campaign behind the Friars’ bench with 190 triumphs to his credit. He is just one sliver-thin stride ahead of McCloskey, who has charged up 189 victories in his first seven years on the job with the Wildcats.
The two programs will next square off at Whittemore Center on Saturday, December 5, at which point the Friars will have played 17 games, the Wildcats 16. Imagine if they were to pick up exactly nine and ten wins, respectively, leading up to that point?
Not likely. At their programs’ caliber and by loose judgment of their schedules, both coaches will likely have surpassed the 200 plateau before then.
Still, these circumstances make for an intriguing sidebar footrace that the most partisan UNH and PC fans will pride themselves upon. They will surely want to see their skipper hit the milestone first so they can knead it in with their stash of historic victories they have enjoyed at their rivals’ expense for three-plus decades.
Even those sopped up with a task at hand can acknowledge that.
“Yeah, UNH and Providence College,” Deraney said. “It’s very fitting. And I think (McCloskey) will also say that we’re privileged to be a part of these historic programs, and it’s our responsibility to make sure that we continue that winning tradition.”
Apart from Connecticut’s Heather Linstad, Deraney and McCloskey are the only head coaches to have remained at their respective institutions since the advent of the Women’s Hockey East Association in 2002. And over that time, they have taken successive turns indulging in four-year conference pennant dynasties, crossing paths in the postseason five times in the past seven seasons. Those five do-or-die contests make for a total of 18 in the all-time series.
McCloskey, whose hiring coincided with the formation of the new league, is personally 17-6-3 versus the Friars, including three triumphs out of five playoff encounters. And his pupils have won all but three out of 15 decisions to PC since they usurped their conference title dynasty in 2005-06. Yet he acknowledges the matchup’s perennial luster as much as anyone.
“The Providence-UNH rivalry in women's hockey remains one of the best in the history of our sport,” he remarked. “Rather than the number of wins at our respective programs, I'm more inclined to think of all the great contests the two of us have been fortunate to have been a part of.
“While I imagine both of us feel fortunate to have participated in this rivalry for the past eight years, I think that what's been most important has been sharing in and witnessing the tremendous growth of Hockey East during that same period.”
At UNH, where there has never been a sub-.500 finish in the program’s 32 years of existence, Russ McCurdey won 264 games in 15 seasons. Karen Kay had 215 in a space of 10 seasons. McCloskey is on relative pace to eclipse Kay early next season and McCurdey by about 2011-2012. While he is technically on contract through this season (last contract signed on July 27, 2006), there is every reason to believe he will be granted the opportunity to ascend those rungs.
Deraney may be filed under the “comparatively underrecognized” heading, given the of late imbalance of victory favoring New Hampshire and seeing as he has yet to garner a Hockey East Coach of the Year prize, contrary to the four McCloskey has collected. But he has made himself an unquestioned staple in Providence, where he is locked in with a contract that will run until at least 2013. At that point, he will have tied program patriarch John Marchetti in the way of longevity (14 seasons) and will likely surpass him in the way of all-time victories (262).
All but knowing his milestone is imminent this autumn, and self-effacingly straying from the topic of who gets there first, Deraney said, “I’m just humbled to be put in that category. But that’s just indicative of how many great players we’ve had the privilege of coaching.
“It’s not about 200 wins for a coach,” he stressed, again nearly paraphrasing his Wildcat counterpart. “It’s really about 200 wins by the great players he’s had the privilege of coaching. That’s what makes me most proud about that milestone.”
No comments:
Post a Comment