Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / Meet interim Providence coach Nicole Norton

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Meet interim Providence coach Nicole Norton · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Uscho.com. Hi, and welcome to another preseason edition of the podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: I'm Todd Molesky here, as always, with Nicole Haase from uscho.com.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: And we're running through the new head coaches around NCAA
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Division I women's college hockey this season. And our next guest,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: and we're real thankful she's taking the time to be
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: with us today, is interim coach at Providence University. Nicole Norton. Nicole,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: thanks for joining us. Of course.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: It's been only really a few weeks. It was about
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the middle of August where the news came out to
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: everyone else about Matt Kelly resigning and taking another job.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: When did you know that you were stepping into this
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: role and kind of what was that like for you?
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Do you have to have some questions answered, anything like that?
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: And can you go through that process for us?
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was out of the blue to us as well,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: to myself and Katie. So again, definitely didn't see it
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: on the horizon, but the news was definitely shocking to
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: us at first. But what was awesome was administration from
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: the start. As soon as we found out that news,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: it wasn't 30 minutes before we were on the phone
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: with them and they were letting us know their plans
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: of moving us into those interim positions. And for us,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: that was That was huge from a perspective of support
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: that we're going to have from our administration this year and,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: you know, the confidence they have in us as coaches
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: who have been at PC for a while now. So,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: you know, that lack of laps in time there meant
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: a lot to us as coaches who are, you know,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: stepping up here. So, again, it was definitely a shock
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: just as much to us as it was to a
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: lot of people, you know, who saw it in the news,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: you know, within probably 48 hours of when we found
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: out is when you know, it came out to the public.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: So it was very quick, you know, out of nowhere,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: but kind of took our first steps and, you know,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: letting the team know first, of course, first and foremost. And,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: you know, that was tough news with the timing of it,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: but I think, you know, they took it really well
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: as far as, you know, how they came back within,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: that short period of time, everyone was, you know, still
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: excited to come back within that, what, week and a
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: half span between the news coming out and then basically
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: stepping foot back on campus.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: Are you someone who, like, I mean, you kind of
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: got thrown in the deep end. You don't actually have
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: time to sort of freak out about it or sort
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: of spiral or anything. Like, you really had to sort
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: of hit the ground running. So, Are you someone that
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: likes that or would you have rather just I was
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: just curious about how you approach these sorts of things
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: and how you sort of handle that having to figure
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: it out on the fly.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'd be lying if I didn't
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: say I had a little bit of a part in
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: me that was like, oh, my God, what's going on
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: right now? Like the night I found out. But after
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: sleeping on it and waking up the next morning and,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: you know, me and Katie were talking amongst each other
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: were like, we have a really good foundation here. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: we were trying to think of what's the message going
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: to be to the team moving forward once they find
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: out this news and kind of have the same shock
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: that we had initially. Again, just with the timing of
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: it all. And that's really it. We have a really
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: good foundation of where we are. And despite the changes,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: all we're really doing this year is we're continuing to
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: build on that. Yes, there's different leadership, but You know,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: everyone is coming back and we were going to have
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: the same group in the locker room that we were
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: going to have no matter who the coach was going
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: to be this year. So for us, like that, that
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: was awesome and exciting being able to reach out to
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: each player individually and hear from them as far as,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: you know, what their thoughts were and, you know, come
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: flash forward a week and a half from, from hearing
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: the news and everyone's back on campus. And, you know,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of excitement, you know, in our room
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: and everyone's ready to start putting the work in. So,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: I think for myself, I'm probably, you know, would I
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: have liked to have a little bit of a heads up? Yeah,
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: probably could have done some more planning. But luckily for
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: me and for Katie, like we're in a really good
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: place as a program and just with the way that,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: you know, we operate and the foundation that we have. So,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: you know, luckily we're good. we never, we never really
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: had to hit the panic button because all we're really
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: having to do is, is establish like who we are
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: as a team. And you're going to do that every year,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: no matter what, because you're going to have a different
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: group every year. So again, it's from the outside looking in,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: it looks like there'd be panic, but, but we've, we
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: keep saying it within our room. Like we're, we're in
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: a really good spot.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: So. You've mentioned Katie Burt a couple of times there in,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: she's now the associate head coach position that you had
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: before this. And I wonder how you two can kind
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: of lean on each other and support each other, but
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: also what kind of support you need are getting from
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: the school, the athletic department as a whole to kind of,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: you know, wrap their arms around you and say, it's
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: not just you guys, you know, we're all going to
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: get everyone moving in the right direction here.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, right from the start, our conversations with
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: the athletic director, Steve Napolillo, and Jonah Castro, who we
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: work really close with, he's our women's hockey sport administrator.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: We can't say enough good things about the support that
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: they gave us, again, from the start. Like, they knew
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: this news was news to us as well, so as
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: soon as we got on the phone with them, you know,
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: we had some really good conversations about them, and they
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: fully supported you know, our initial needs, which one being
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: we wanted to hire an assistant coach, and that was
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: never a question for them. So that's in the works
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: right now. But Katie, like me and her, you know,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: we call her Bert. I feel weird even calling her
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Katie on this podcast. But Bert, like me and her,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: you know, we've been together for years now at PC. And,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: you know, we've recruited a lot, almost actually all of
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: the kids now that are, you know, within our program.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: And I think the both of us have built really
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: good relationships with them through being position-specific coaches. I was
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: working with the forwards. Burt was working with the D
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: and the goalies. So I think from that perspective, there's
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: a lot of respect in the room for us as coaches.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: And again, moving forward into this year, one of the
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: things we talk to each other a lot about is
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: we don't want to have to change who we are
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: to our players who know us as certain... types of coaches, right?
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Like our, our coaching style, like we don't want to
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: have to change and try to be someone who we aren't.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, like, yeah, there's, there's high expectations.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Like we're expected to, to, to win and play at
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: a high level. And, you know, but our group knows that.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: So again, it's, it's just holding each other to that standard. And,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: you know, I can lean on Bert, like I can
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: call her at any time of any day and, you know,
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: check if she has something done and she probably already
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: has it done sort of thing. Like we, we balance
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: each other out really well. Um, even our personalities are
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: very different, but we, we get along and work really
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: well together. So, um, knowing that we're in this together makes,
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: makes me personally feel like a lot more confident going
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: into it. And, you know, knowing that we're going to
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: be able to kind of lean on each other when
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: we need it and also, you know, wreck each other's
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: brains when, when that time comes as well.
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: Todd and I will admit that we both had a
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: moment of wait didn't those two just graduate we were
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: like wait a minute it hasn't been that long so
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: no offense to you we're just old it has been
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: about 10 years and doing well doing well for yourselves
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: but I guess I wanted to ask both how being
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: a somewhat recent player plays into your coaching style and
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: your ability to relate but also needing to find that
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: balance of yes, I am your coach, but also that
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: you went into coaching immediately after graduating, basically. And so
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: did you always know you wanted to coach and like,
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: how is this sort of transition into that part of
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: your life and sort of the progression worked for you?
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the, you know, the benefit of being
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: a quote unquote younger female coach in our game is
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: you've walked in their shoes, right? Like you've kind of,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: you've been a student athlete, you've gone through adversity and
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: You know, Burt was a goalie. So for her, like
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: to like, that's an area that I as a player,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: like didn't get exposed to because I was focused on
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: myself who was playing. I was playing D, right? So,
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: you know, D and forwards can kind of have similar mindsets.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Goalies are a whole other beast. So again, like that's
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: some very valuable expertise that we have. But I think
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: that's what it is. And also just being able to,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: you know, whether we've been through similar situations with them
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: or not, we probably know someone who we played with
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: at some, like at some point who has been through,
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: you know, similar adversity. So we can, you know, reconcile
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: with what they're saying. And I think too, for the players,
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: like they like to look up to someone who they
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: know has walked their shoes.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 2: And again, there's, it's not that if you haven't walked
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: their shoes, there's a different respect, but I do think for,
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: for me as a coach, that's always been a big
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: part of, you know, I guess my success with getting
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: along with players and, and, being respected by players is
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: um you know they can respect the opinion of someone
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: who isn't just in it to to be in it
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: but you know I like you said I stepped right
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: into it after college and I just kind of did
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: I think I was going to be a coach for
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: the longevity no I studied business I got my master's
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: in business I thought I was going to go into
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: the business world but um you know, I dipped my
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: toes into the coaching world and I haven't gone back since. So, um,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: I think that kind of proves in itself, like how
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: much passion there is within the game. Once you do
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: kind of get in it, you're like, all right, like
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: you still have that like that game day feel and
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: that itch to, to be a competitor and, and, you know,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: be in big time games to be able to, to compete.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: So. You, uh, spent a year playing in Italy from your, uh,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: bio page. It, it, it looks like, I wonder what
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: that time out of college, but you have still not
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: totally out of college, you know, you're, you're a year out,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: but it's, it's, it still feels like you're, you're kind
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: of in that, mentality all the times that those first
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: couple of years out, what was that like for you
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: and how did that maybe help shape your thinking on
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: what you wanted to do going forward after that?
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I, that year was kind of, you know, back then,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: back then, 10 years ago when I graduated, uh, the
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: professional league was very different. Um, I think at the
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: time it was the NWHL, if I'm remembering correctly, um,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: maybe in the first year or two. Um, so I Again,
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: it was an option, but there wasn't, you know, for me,
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: there wasn't a very good situation for me to walk
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: into and, you know, get what I want out of
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: the experience. I ended up going to Italy because I
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: thought mostly for the experience. So, you know, we got
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: in contact with, you know, a program over there and,
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: you know, we were talking back and forth with the
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: GM and I had the opportunity to go with one
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: of my best friends and teammates from college. So like,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: what a better way to, I'd never been to Europe before.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: So I was like, what's, what a better way to,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: you know, be able to continue playing and get to see,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: you know, the, not the world, but get to see
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: Europe that I've never gotten to explore. So really like
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: when I signed up, signed up for it and kind of,
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: you know, decided that's what I was going to do. Honestly,
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: it was more so for, for the experience. Cause again,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: there wasn't, really a competitive league to go play in after.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Sweden was also an option, which probably would have been
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: a little bit more competitive of hockey, but the Europe
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: route seemed more intriguing to me. And I think when
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: I was there, realizing at the time, kind of going
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: from playing NCAA hockey to playing European professional league hockey,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: there was really big differences in the level of play
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: and it was hard like honestly it was hard to
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: go from you know the NCAA there and just the
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: mindset of it all and you know just culturally how
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: the game is over there so for me it was
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: a it was a one-year thing and you know I
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: knew I wanted to stay in the game but playing
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: at that level just wasn't it was just a really
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: challenging you know year for me from a competitor standpoint
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: so that's kind of how I got, you know, back
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: into coach or into coaching, I should say is, you know,
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: I took a graduate assistant position at a division three
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: school and figured I'd dip my toes in the, in
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: the coaching side and get a master's just in case
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: I didn't like it. And that's kind of what sprung
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: me into, into the coaching. But, um, but yeah, I mean,
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: it's awesome now, like the, the PWHL is a, is
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: an awesome, awesome league. It's growing every year and, you know,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: getting to see our players strive for that now. And
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: even players were recruiting, like we want players who want
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: to go play, continue playing at that next level. You know,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: to look back on before the PWHL came around and how,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: you know, your senior year of college was the peak
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: of your career, unless you were the one percenters that were,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: you know, going on or playing on national teams, like
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: to look back, it's kind of a shame that that
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: was the case, right? Because there's so many of our
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: players who come through and, get to their senior year
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: and they're, they're playing some of the, or the best
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: hockey that they've ever played. Like their development is still,
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: you know, on the rise. So it's, it's awesome to
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: see that players can strive for that now. And again,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: hopefully make living wages in some situations. So, um, so yeah,
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: it's crazy how far it's come. Um, but, but it's
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: awesome at the same time, but I, I wouldn't change
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: my experience. I had a, I had a great time. Um,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: I got to see, you know, 14 countries in my
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: eight months there. Like it was a pretty, pretty awesome,
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: awesome experience. Um, but from a hockey side of things,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: it was, uh, I was in it for the other
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: things by the time I got there and realized what
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: I had signed up for. But, um, you know, it was,
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: it was very, it was a very cool experience.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: That's awesome. It's like gap year, but with hockey. Exactly.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Amazing. Yeah. Amazing. Lucky you.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: I know that, again, I don't want to like focus
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: on the short period of time, but I also know
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: that like there might not be full answers to some questions.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: So I just like, do you have or have you
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: talked about sort of like the ethos that you want
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: the character, like if there's a phrase or a couple
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: of words, like what you want to set as sort
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: of the baseline for what it means to be a
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: Providence women's hockey player this year?
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, I mean, we talked to our team
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: a lot already, and I think a big message is
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: just going to be, one, it's recognizing who came before
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: us here at PC, like how important it is every
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: time our players are putting that jersey on, the pride
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: that comes in. You know, Providence is a very rich
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: history of alumni, and we want our players to recognize
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: just how lucky they are to be in the shoes,
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: not only all the players, you know, coming up through
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: high school, that would love to be, you know, in
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: our locker room in, in their very shoes, but, but
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: the players who have graduated and moved on, um, for
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: the past 50 years here, like Providence has been around
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: for over 50 years. So the alumni base is, is huge. And,
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm sure when something like this happens at,
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: at such a unusual time, uh, in, in the season,
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: right before the season starting. you know, the alumni probably
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: get a little bit weary of where's this going to go, right?
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: So they just promoted two assistant coaches. You know, are
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: they really in? Like, where's this program going? So I think, like,
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: there's a little bit of that in us. It's like
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: we want to prove, like, we're here and, you know,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: we're in a just fine spot and we're going to
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: be able to compete and hopefully continue moving forward here.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: But from our players, like, within our locker room, I
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: think like it's going to be ongoing as the season,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: you know, progresses. But first and foremost, we have 10
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: new faces in our locker room, which is a lot between,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: you know, eight freshmen and two transfers. So first and foremost,
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: I think it's going to be like we're going to
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: be based on relationships. Like relationships will take us a
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: lot further than, you know, than we think, um, as
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: far as like building our culture and kind of defining
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: like who we want to be, um, as a team here, uh, again,
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: like our on ice play, like we're not trying to,
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: to like reinvent the wheel here with how we play.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Like PC hockey has kind of been, you know, I've
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: been here, you know, six years now. So going into,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: into this year, like we know how we want to
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: play and now we just have to dive into the
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: details of how we play and we compete every day.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: That combined with the, the culture of our team and
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: the relationships that, you know, I think need to grow
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: not only amongst our returners, but especially the newcomers. I
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: think that's going to put us in the best place to,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: you know, get, get going together as a, as a team.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: And, and have success. So again, like, I think for
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: this year, again, with the circumstances of a little bit
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: of adversity later in the summer here, but no one
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: ever really hit the panic button, which is awesome. I think, again,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: based on that good foundation we have, we're just going
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: to continue to build on that. And again, I think
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: a lot of that comes back to the relationships built
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: in our locker room. And that's not just amongst the players,
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: but amongst the staff and, you know, everyone involved because
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: it's all hands on deck, right? Like we're all in
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: it this year and looking to do, you know, something
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: really special with the group that we have in our
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: locker room.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: That interim word is always a little tricky to deal
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: with when you're trying to move a program forward and
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: do recruiting and things like that. How have you dealt
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: with that in terms of telling, you know, on recruiting calls, like, look,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: do you want to be the permanent head coach? Do
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: you set that up as a, like, look, if everything
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: goes well, I'm here for the long run. And how
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: does that impact how you've worked over the first month
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: of this tenure, I guess?
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the day,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: when players are committing to PC and you know, it's
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: a hard conversation when it, you know, comes down to
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: the wire and someone's like, hey, I really like PC,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: but are you going to be there next year? Like,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: what's it going to look like next year? And I think, yeah,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: those are hard conversations, but myself and Bert, we're both
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: very transparent people. Like, we don't want players who don't
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: want us, right? Like, we don't want players to come
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: to PC because of something we're selling them that we
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: don't have. So honestly, what's been best for us and
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: And honestly, the way we've been managing our team is
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: we've just been super transparent. Like, hey, yeah, we would
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: love to be here next year and if we if
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: we do really well this year there's a good chance
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: we can be here next year but like we can't
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: guarantee that and we can't that's not going to change
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: until March when the season's over and we know you
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: know how how much success we had or didn't have
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: right so those we've kind of been having conversations from
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: that angle. It's like, Hey, if you're making a decision
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: to come to PC between now and then not knowing
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: if we're going to be here or not, like you're
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: committing to PC and the hockey program, you're not committing
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: to us. And really like you should never be committing to,
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: to me, right. You're committing to what we have to
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: offer in the student athlete experience and the hockey program
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: and the academics. Like there's so much more to, you know,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: choosing a school than the coach. So, That's just something that,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: you know, some players have to be okay with. And
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: some won't feel comfortable with it. And, again, that's a
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: decision that has to be made by families and individuals.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: But I think transparency has been the best thing for
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: us through that process. So, again, just continuing to kind
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: of paint the picture for the recruit and the family. And, again,
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: that decision is up to them. But they're choosing PC
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: for PC at that point.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Don't want to like assume any starters or only focus
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: on one person but one thing that i noticed and
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: that i think is a huge you know recruiting get
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: for you guys and and sort of gives you a
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: basis having bianca birderi uh in net and obviously you're
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: talking about katie and you being on defense i imagine
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: that you two have talked a lot about it um
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: as someone who's been to the last few u18s like
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: i got to watch her in person in that gold
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: medal game like just an absolutely stellar goalie and like
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: someone that you can really build out from in sort
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: of in this time of, you know, maybe a little
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: uncertainty or a transition, like knowing that you have someone
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: with all that experience and solid in the back, I
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: think really just is such a, like, puts you so
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: many steps forward as you're trying to build out from that.
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: And I just, can you maybe just talk a little
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: bit about getting her and that recruitment and what it
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: means to have, you know, the reigning gold medal She
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: was the player of the game in the gold medal game.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: She was outstanding against Canada. She's why US won that game.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: No, Bianca's lights out. She is not only on the ice.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of people know her on ice performance,
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: but off the ice. I mean, she's just a competitor
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: in everything she does. She's a great kid. you know,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: puts in the work, wants to put in the work, doesn't,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: you know, doesn't have to be asked twice. And, and
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: honestly with her recruitment, like Katie is a big sell.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Like Katie was a standout goalie herself and, you know,
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: in the USA program for many, many years. And she's,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: she's a professional in that, in that setting. And, you know,
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: her and Bianca built a really good relationship throughout the
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: recruiting process. And I think Bianca trusts her and what
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: we're trying to do here at Providence. So, Um, you know,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: I think it's through, through getting to know her and
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: now having her on campus, it's, it's kind of surreal
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: that she's already here. Cause it feels like we were
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: waiting for so long. Um, but no, we're really excited. And,
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: and honestly, our whole freshmen class, like we're, we're really excited, um,
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: you know, about, about all of them and what they're bringing,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: like even just these first, you know, a couple of
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: weeks getting on the ice with them from time to time,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: like you know, there's a lot to work with there. Don't,
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: don't get me wrong. We have a lot of them
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: and there's a lot of things to be learned. And again,
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: it's going to be a process, um, just like it
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: is every year, but, um, but yeah, having Bianca on
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: our backend and like knowing we're going to, you know,
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: be good in, in, in that area, um, between her and,
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: you know, our, our other goaltenders we have, like we
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: feel very confident back there. So, um, so yeah, definitely
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: a huge gift for us.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: This has been great. Thanks so much for taking the
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: time to explain your vision and everything that you've got
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: going this season and best of luck.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Getting everything going with Providence this season.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Thank you both. I appreciate it.