The man behind the winning teams

During the fast-paced action of a Yale hockey game, it's easy to overlook the unassuming, reed-thin man with wire-frame glasses who stands behind the players, shuffling on and off the ice. But a closer look shows the tremendous respect he commands from the players and coaching staff hanging on his words.

C0URTESY SPORTS PUBLICITY Yale Head Coach Tim Taylor with the 2001 U.S. Junior National hockey team.

True to form, men's hockey head coach Tim Taylor has not raised much fanfare about his latest achievement, a stint as an assistant coach of the 2001 U.S. Junior National Team, made up of the top U.S. players under the age of 20. The team participated in the 2001 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championships in Russia from Tues., Dec. 26 to Fri., Jan. 5 and came home with a fifth-place finish.

Simply being asked to coach the U.S. National Junior Team is an enormous honor in the hockey world, explained Yale Assistant Coach C.J. Marottolo. "Being asked [to serve as the assistant coach] for the World Junior Team shows how much respect U.S.A. Hockey has for Tim," Marottolo said.

Taylor, whose experience with U.S.A. Hockey includes serving as the head coach of the 1994 U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey Team and of five consecutive U.S. National Teams from 1989 to 1993, said that he has always accepted requests to coach teams representing America. His extensive experience as the head coach of professional-level athletes on the Olympic and national levels did not deter him from serving as an assistant for the 2001 U.S. National Junior Team. "He's been called to duty, so to speak, from U.S.A. Hockey." Marottolo said.

The person who actually called Taylor "to duty" was the Junior Team's head coach Keith Allain, DC '80, a former Bulldog goalie and coaching assistant under Taylor. While Taylor acknowledged that he "gave [Allain] his coaching start," he sees no irony in the role reversal. Taylor's first thoughts on Allain were, "I thought Keith did a marvelous job." He added that Allain ranks third in Yale's goaltending record books and currently serves as the goaltending coach for the NHL's St. Louis Blues. "He asked me to give him a hand, so this is not an ego thing," he added.

Taylor's assistant coaching position also marks the first time he has gotten involved again in U.S.A. Hockey following his position as the 1994 U.S. Olympic Head Coach. The media in 1994 had placed very high hopes on Taylor and his team. As an assistant coach of the previous U.S. Olympic Team, Taylor filled in when the head coach had fallen ill, and that year's team skated to a silver medal at the 1991 Canada Cup Tournament. When Taylor took a year off from his Yale coaching position in 1994, the Olympic Team ended with a heartbreaking eighth-place finish.

While Taylor was away in Russia, assistant coaches Marotollo and Bruce Wolanin took the helm when Yale played number one Michigan State on Fri., Jan. 5 and Sat., Jan. 6. In spite of the two disappointing shutouts that resulted, Taylor, who checked in periodically from Russia, felt that his assistant coaches did well in his absence. "C.J. and Bruce did a very, very good job minding store while I was away," he said. Taylor added that Michigan State has two first-team All-American goalies.

Taylor's current thoughts characteristically are far from his personal accomplishments and fixed instead on his Bulldogs and the weekend's two crucial games against Brown and the ECAC leader, Harvard. "The trick of this weekend is also not to look past our Friday night game. Brown is a tough opponent and comes first. Our overall focus is to prepare for the first three periods on Friday night."

On paper, Brown and Yale are almost statistically identical, while the Harvard and Yale teams are not. "Harvard has the highest number of drafted players in the league. Six of their guys are in the ECAC's top 20 for scoring. They have very big, fast center icemen and special teams," Taylor explained. Following its recent losses, the Bulldogs have the task of regaining their confidence after hitting a losing streak for most of December and early January. The Yale team has focused in practice this week on its penalty killing, which could prove valuable against Harvard's penalty-kill unit that ranks fourth in the nation. Taylor, a Harvard graduate and Boston native, said, "Hopefully, the home-ice advantage and the energy of a Harvard-Yale game will help. I expect that the kids will empty their tanks out."

Taylor is only four wins away from the record set for victories by former Yale coach Murray Murdoch (278 wins, 27 seasons). Murdoch coached the Bulldogs after retiring from the NHL's New York Rangers and, at 96 years of age, is the NHL's oldest living player. In his usual modest way, Taylor, a three-time recipient of the ECAC's top coaching award who lead the Yale team three seasons ago to its first NCAA berth since the 1951-1952 season, said, "It's just a privilege and honor to be mentioned in the same breath as Murray Murdoch." Should the Bulldogs deliver this weekend, next Saturday night could be a big moment for the Yale hockey program and for the man who stands behind it now, for the past 22 seasons and counting.

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