ChathamU Hockey with Head Coaches Michael Gershon and Michael O’Grady
Hockey at ChathamU has a long history. In 1996, our women’s team was the only college varsity women’s hockey team in the area, and our men’s team has made great strides (and kept up great grades) since its inception. With hockey season heating up, we sat down with Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach Michael Gershon and Women’s Ice Hockey head Coach Michael O’Grady to reflect on the Chatham hockey legacy, celebrate its present, and look forward to the future.
Recently, both teams have been holding practices and games at the Hunt Armory. How did that come about, and what’s the impact on our players and fans?
Michael O’Grady:
Left: Women’s Ice Hockey Head Coach Michael O’Grady; Right: Men’s Ice Ice Hockey Coach Michael Gershon
The Hunt Armory housing an ice rink has been a desire of many for a long time and in the ’21-22 season, the Penguins were able to make the rink a reality. Through this project, the Hunt Armory ice rink becomes the first public-use indoor ice rink inside Pittsburgh city limits in 25 years. Currently most hockey players that live inside the city, including our hockey programs, have had to travel 20-30+ minutes to get to an ice rink. We have always practiced in the mornings to help balance the academic schedule for our hockey players and with our old facilities being 30 minutes from campus, that meant early mornings and long days for our hockey players. The Hunt Armory solves that, allowing for players who live inside the city to have access to ice without the added transportation. This also allows the Penguins and Penguins Foundation to grow and diversify the game of hockey by bringing the game to the community instead of asking them to travel.
Michael Gershon:
Our Athletic Director Leonard Trevino and President Finegold are big proponents of our student athletes playing close to campus. With the Men’s program being 40 minutes north of campus and the Women’s program being 30 minutes east of campus, the Hunt Armory is an ideal location for us to play our games during the 22-23 season. Also being so close to campus, we have had great turnout from students and faculty at our games. Being able to walk from campus to the games is an important part of a student athlete experience.
How does it feel to use a space that the Pens have championed?
Michael Gerson:
The fact that the Penguins came to the Armory to practice shows how important this building can be for growing the game of hockey in the City of Pittsburgh. The Penguins allowed schools to bring their students over to watch and I am sure more than a couple of them have come back to the Armory for a public skate or hockey practice.
Michael O’Grady:
The Penguins practiced at the Hunt Armory once this season as a celebration of the community and to help grow and diversify the game. Knowing that we are skating on the ice that NHL All Stars such as Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have skated on is a great story for our players to be able to share.
Since your time here, what are some team milestones you’re particularly proud of?
Michael Gerson:
Since taking over 3 years ago, we have made our first ever playoff appearance 2 years ago. Last year we broke Chatham Men’s Ice Hockey records with the most wins in the league with 8 and overall, with 10. We are currently on pace to beat those records this year as we are 8-3-1 in league and 9-4-1 overall. Last year we had our first home playoff game and won our first playoff game. Last year defenseman Zack Conner was named to the UCHC All-Rookie Team. This year we received our first ever vote in the National Poll.
I am very pleased that Men’s Ice Hockey and Women’s Ice Hockey won the Chatham Community Service award last year. We did over 200 hours of community service parting with the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation to teach Learn to Skate and Learn to Play. In the classroom we continue to have a high standard with a 3.56 team GPA which leads all the Men’s sports at Chatham.
Michael O’Grady:
Overtime our program has steadily grown; my first year here earning our program’s first playoff bid in program history is rather special to me. Winning our first playoff game in 2020-2021 in overtime, and last season we finished with a record of 16-11-0 which was the first winning season in our program’s 25 year history. So far this season our biggest milestone was beating Manhattanville 3-2 at the Hunt Armory, which was our program's first ever win over the Valiants.
Outside of the rink, I am very proud of our players for giving back to the community. Last year both WIH and MIH completed over 200 Hours of community service in partnership with the Pens Foundation at the Hunt Armory, helping to teach and assisting with the Pittsburgh ice hockey programming. This season we have been able to continue this partnership and it has been really exciting seeing the kids return and advance.
Lastly, this past year has seen our players get amazing opportunities to represent their country. We had two players who participated in the Macabbi games with Team USA; Both sophomore Tori Bevan and junior Abi Fuzaylov got to travel to Jerusalem as inaugural members of the women's ice hockey team and finished the tournament by bringing home silver medals. In September first year Anabel Lota participated in the Latin cup with Team Chile, which is a tournament put on by the NHL in Florida every year to celebrate hockey players of Latin descent. Currently we have two players participating with Team USA in the World University games, which is held every two years and is similar to the Olympics but for athletes who are currently enrolled in University or are one year post-grad. This year marks the first time Team USA has chosen NCAA athletes for the sport of ice hockey and Juniors Ally Nolan and Allison Corser-James were selected and will be with Team USA Jan 9th-21st, 2023.
What’s the best part of being a hockey coach?
Michael O’Grady:
Seeing our players succeed. As coaches we put in long hours of planning and preparation to provide what we feel is the best plan for our players to succeed and seeing that plan come together because the players bought into the vision or a specific skill we are working on, is what it is all about.
Michael Gershon:
Being able to see the growth of these students’ athletes from the time they come in as first years until they graduate. We want to make them better players and people when they leave Chatham than when they arrived. We don’t just coach them on the ice but want to be involved and available for them whenever they need someone to talk to or get advice off the ice as well.
What are your goals (no pun intended) and hopes for this season?
Michael Gerson:
We are looking to build off last year where we made it to the UCHC semifinals. We see ourselves as being a top 4 team in the UCHC every year and with us receiving votes in the National Poll for the first time in program history we want to continue to receive that recognition in our league as well as nationally. We are also excited about continuing to have the highest team GPA for a Men’s program on campus as well as the community service work that we do.
Michael O’Grady:
Our goals for our program are: Win the UCHC, Finish in the top 4 regular season and have home ice advantage for playoffs, Have a team GPA above 3.0, and #PrideinthePaw— which means we want to continue to strengthen our bond as a program and with the community of Chatham and our surrounding area.
Anything else you want people to know about the program?
Michael Gerson:
Our players come from all over the USA, Canada, and the World. We currently have players from 15 different states, 2 Provinces in Canada, 2 from Finland and 1 from Switzerland. Some of our Alumni are currently playing professional hockey in the USA and Sweden and we expect more of our current players to go play pro hockey once they graduate from Chatham.
Michael O’Grady:
For our program, I wish more people knew that our women's hockey program is 26 years old (celebrated our 25 year anniversary in 21-22 season), in fact we were the first women's collegiate hockey program in the state of Pennsylvania and with that we have been able to attract talent from all over USA, Canada, and Europe over the years. Our Hockey players (and all student athletes) are very dedicated to their sport; it is not just something they do, it is a part of who they are, and they chose to come to Chatham because of the opportunities both athletically and academically that we are able to provide them.
Check out the remaining home games for the season here, and don’t forget to register to attend on MyChatham Happenings:
Women’s Ice Hockey:
Friday January 27th, 7pm vs Alvernia
Saturday January 28th, 7pm vs Alvernia
Friday February 10th, 7pm vs Neumann
Saturday February 11th, 7pm vs Neumann
Men’s Ice Hockey:
Tuesday January 24th, 7 PM vs Buffalo State
Friday January 27th, 3 PM vs Fredonia
Friday February 3rd, 7 PM vs Arcadia
Saturday February 4th, 7 PM vs Arcadia – Senior Night
Friday February 17th, 7 PM vs Nazareth
Saturday February 18th, 7 PM vs Nazareth