New coach, new team, new season
The wind was howling Saturday night at Aggie RecFest. Thousands of students flocked to the rec center to participate in the annual event put on by Campus Recreation. Posted right by the entrance, donning brand new cream uniforms, was the Utah State Hockey Club.
They handed out over 1,500 copies of their 2023-24 schedule to students. Conversations could be heard between friend groups who had previously not known of a hockey team at Utah State and were now looking forward to attending the Sept. 30 season opener. The energy around the table that featured the massive Wasatch Cup was palpable and it was clear the Aggies were ready for a new season.
Last year’s hockey team was electric. They finished the regular season with a record of 23-15, cruised through western regionals with wins over UCLA and Metropolitan State University-Denver and earned a trip to nationals. A 5-8 loss to Iowa, their third loss in as many games, would put an end to their nationals run.
The team that stood behind the Wasatch Cup in the ARC on Saturday aspires to be even better than last year’s team.
“Last year’s team was talented, but lacked some competitive edge when it mattered at the end of the season,” assistant coach Sam Lindquist wrote in an email to The Utah Statesman. “This year the returning players have the playoff experience that they know it takes at the national level.”
As the Aggies prepare for their 2023-24 campaign, the team will look a lot different.
“I think we have around 10 new guys, which is a lot,” senior forward Ben Carlson said.
While the incoming talent is expected to shore up the roster soundly, it won’t be easy to replace last year’s departures.
The biggest loss from last year is former captain Bradley Green. He was massive on the attack for the Aggies last year with a team-leading 17 goals. He was also top three on the team in points and assists.
[Green’s] “role as a goal scorer and our captain will be tough to replace, but we have plenty of studs who can score and a seasoned core group that can all serve as leaders,” said Carlson.
Returning for the Aggies are their top two points leaders from last season: forward duo Zach Pires and Sean Johnston. The two combined for 28 goals and 48 assists last year and will look to fill the goal-scoring shoes of their former captain.
Also returning is Carlson.
“Ben has been to the national tournament many times and tends to be an impact player late in games when it matters the most. He conducts himself with a contagious love for the game of hockey and many will follow his lead,” Lindquist wrote.
Perhaps the biggest change for the program is the hiring of head coach Rob Girard. His arrival in Logan comes at an opportune time, as the team believes he is exactly the kind of coach they need to build on last year’s success.
“There were several candidates, and a handful of them were given serious consideration for the head coach position. Coach Girard has extensive coaching background and what really set him apart from other candidates was his proven leadership,” wrote Lindquist, who played a large role in the hiring decision. “This group of players needs a true leader to fuel them and that is what they’ll get with Coach Girard. He will guide each player to their highest potential if the players themselves are ready to put in the work.”
The team has just recently gotten to know their new coach but is already fully on board with his philosophy. As a fifth year transfer from Montana State, Carlson has seen his fair share of coaches. But what he has seen from Girard so far goes beyond what happens on the rink.
“Coach is looking out for us as students and as grown men,” Carlson said. “You can tell he is going to be a good mentor for us.”
Girard, a native of Toronto, Canada, describes his style of hockey as “fast, skilled, tough, but very disciplined.”
Girard has been around the game his whole life.
“I grew up in a hockey family where my father was a junior coach for many years when I was young. Hockey was a big part of our family life with most Saturday nights watching Hockey Night in Canada, like most Canadians,” he wrote in an email to the Statesman.
Prior to his hiring, Girard and his wife, Melissa, split their time between Fort Myers, Florida and Idaho Falls, Idaho. Their son, Josh, is a first year student at USU and was committed to playing hockey in Cache Valley well before his father took the head coaching position.
“I took the job for the challenge,” wrote Girard, who thought his coaching career had come to an end when he retired in 2021. “This is definitely the most talented group of players I have been able to coach, and it has always been a dream of mine to be able to coach at a College or University. To be able to coach at a program like Utah State is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one that I don’t take lightly. The goal for myself and the entire coaching staff is to move an already great program forward, which is a challenge.”
When asked about what he has seen so far in his time in Logan, Girard had high praise.
“What I have experienced so far is an incredible commitment to the Hockey Program from the coaches to the fans, the support staff and from the University,” wrote Girard.
Last year, hockey saw the third-highest home attendance behind football and basketball.
“Because of that, the entire team takes pride and knows the importance of putting a great team on the ice every season for the fans and the students,” Girard wrote.
For the Aggies, support from the community doesn’t go unnoticed.
“They helped us get to nationals last year, and they show up to all of our home games. We understand how lucky we are to have that, and we want to provide as much entertainment and as much fun for them as we can,” Carlson said. “When you’re coming down the ice on an odd-man rush and hear the roar of the crowd, it’s exciting, man. There’s a lot of energy that we gain from them.”
Carlson said the Eccles Ice Center is “the best place to play club hockey in the country.”
He detailed a group of fans who showed up to watch tryouts.
“They even did the Scotsman when we were done,” he laughed. “That kind of passion is not really too common anywhere else”.
And for the Aggie faithful, there is a lot to look forward to.
“This team is really good,” Carlson said. “We had a great team last year, but we’re going to be a step up this year, and it’s going to be rowdy.”
“Our goal is not only to win our division but the overarching main goal for this group is to get back to Nationals and compete for a National Championship,” Girard wrote. “But we will work on our process one day at a time and build every week.”
The Aggies open their season at home on Sept. 30. Tickets can be purchased at recportal.usu.edu. Fans can stay up to date by following them on Instagram
@usu_hockey and visiting their website, usuhockey.com.