Greg Cronin wants you to stop for a minute. He wants you to take a closer look at his new assistant’s background. He wants you to know where the Dorchester kid has been and what he has done.
He wants you to know the exact reason why he brought Brendan Walsh back to the Hockey East as an assistant coach to complete his staff for the Northeastern men’s hockey program, fresh off of Walsh’s last skate with the Providence Bruins and without any past coaching experience.
Cronin will take you back to that emotional day in 2001 in Bangor, Maine, when the charismatic kid he first spotted as a player with Maine made his way to the church podium to speak in honor of the late Shawn Walsh. The national championship-winning Maine coach had recently died at the age of 46 of a rare form of cancer.
“I’ll tell you a story,” Cronin said Monday. “I was at Shawn’s funeral, and they selected five speakers that would represent Shawn’s life. My wife and I were watching the ceremony at a jam-packed ceremony in Bangor. Brendan was one of them.
“I remember him as clear as can be. He had so much confidence and he had so much charisma. I was literally impressed. I’ve been in pro hockey for a number of years so I wasn’t going to be bowled over by charisma. But he had a presence that was incredibly attractive.”
Cronin will take you to Maine a few years before that when Brendan Walsh was skating for the Black Bears — while selling the school to various recruits. Cronin will take you to the day when he gave Shawn Walsh a casual call to ask for the latest news in Orono.
Shawn Walsh responded to Cronin’s query by saying, “It’s been a tough year, but we’ll be good the next few years.”
Cronin replied, “Why is that?”
And the coach gave Cronin the response that he still thinks about today: “We did a great job recruiting. The biggest influence on the kids on this campus is Brendan Walsh.”
“Brendan sold kids to Maine,” Cronin said. “Here’s a kid from inner-city Boston selling kids to the program at Maine. What does that tell you?”
Cronin wants you to look at the big picture. He knows of the gritty player’s time in hockey — a checkered past that includes Brendan Walsh’s time at Boston University for two years — where a run-in with Terrier coach Jack Parker led to Walsh being kicked off the team — and his transfer to Maine.
“People who follow college hockey are glued to his colorful past and part of that color is a blip, that incident at BU,” Cronin said. “Obviously people connect the dots, he got kicked out and Maine was sort of a renegade program at the time. In hockey, he’s been a fighter. It’s not a reach for somebody to say that.
“But the one common thread that he has woven throughout his life is that he’s an overachiever and that he personifies courage and character. He personifies a blue-collar work ethic that is tireless. He’s bright and if you put it all together, he’s the type of guy you want to hang out with. Anyone that has come across him will tell you that he’s energetic and that he’s fun to be around.”
Walsh knows a thing or two about the historic streets of Boston. He grew up in the streets of Dorchester and attended high school on the West Roxbury campus of Catholic Memorial. He spent time on Commonwealth Avenue for BU. Now in a new office at Matthews Arena, Walsh is back home.
“I can say this,” Walsh said. “I am the quintessential Boston person. I know the ins and outs of this city and Boston itself is going to be an easy sell.”
Walsh responded to the question of entering Northeastern without any coaching experience with relative ease. It’s a straight-shooting, forthright style of speaking that Cronin spoke of when discussing the former player who recently was named the “fan favorite” for Providence during the 2004 -05 season.
“I’m not too worried about it, for the people who don’t know me, they’ll have to take a harder look at it,” he said. “I’m an educated kid, I have my college degree. I’m not just a kid coming into a position saying, ‘Jeez, so this is how it is.’ My hockey background is extensive. And if you look at the coaching staff here, I think it’s a model based on experience.”
Cronin, who made the offer complete for Walsh June 22 and announced that Gene Reilly would stay on as an assistant as well on June 2, shares a vision with his fellow coaches for the type of players he wants at Northeastern.
“You go to the college level and you’re not at the mercy of a [General Manager] or scouting directors,” Cronin said, who most recently was head coach of the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. “There’s a lack of control over there. Brendan and Gene [Reilly] will be able to attract the type of people I want at NU.”
Cronin isn’t about to forget about Northeastern’s history — including the last nine years with Bruce Crowder — but he’s also prepared for the changes he’ll bring in the fall, and he’s sure Walsh will be an important part of that.
“I know Bruce Crowder is a great coach and he’s a great person and I think I’m a good coach and I think I’m a good person, but the bottom line is that you need to get good players,” Cronin said. “It’s a lot easier to transmit that signal of what NU hockey should represent if you can bring people on board that have walked in your shoes. Both Brendan and Gene have been through that, namely Maine. That, to me, represents my foundation of coaching.”
Walsh’s outspoken style led him to make a strong comment about what he, Cronin and Reilly will bring to the Huskies once the season begins.
“I can almost guarantee a different team this year,” Walsh said. “I think there will be a new attitude and a new direction for this team. I love the league and the strength of it. After I left BU, I knew I wanted to be at a Hockey East school. I also wanted a winning tradition, because once you’re accustomed to winning, you have to keep winning.”
It’s only June but Cronin and his staff are ready.
“When you go to a game or a practice you better have energy,” Cronin said. “Hey, you go through life once. I don’t want mopey, dopey people on this team. Brendan and Gene [Reilly] have a passion that is so important and that is contagious.”
The former AHLer is prepared for change. He’s prepared for an overhaul. Quite simply, Walsh is prepared for a new direction in Northeastern hockey.
“You look at your goaltending, and then you need your two big defensemen, your two big centers, and then you flesh it out with strong character guys,” Walsh explained. “Right away, with all due respect, you’ve got to strip down this team and introduce a new culture.”
