Okay - Next time, we'll get a fish!
Okay - Next time, we'll get a fish!
York's Cronin suiting up for Boston Blades hockey team
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Courtesy photo York’s Mandy Cronin, shown here with the Brampton Thunder, now plays with the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
By Mike Sullivan
October 31, 2010 9:35 AM
At 11 o'clock this morning, when many of you are getting your little ghosts and goblins in costume for trick-or-treating, Mandy Cronin of York, Maine, will be donning a costume of her own — a Boston Blades uniform.
Cronin, who played goalie for the UMaine-Orono women's hockey team (Class of 2002), isn't going on the prowl for candy, though. She's going to be playing professional hockey in the Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The Blades are the newest entry in the professional Canadian Women's Hockey League, and they have the distinction of being the first United States-based team the league has had since its inception in 2007.
The Blades played their first-ever game Saturday at Harvard, and their second game is this morning in Durham. Cronin, 30, is excited to be at "The Whitt" as it's a place she remembers well. One memory in particular stands out.
"Everyone knows the UNH fans throw a big fish on the ice when the Wildcats score their first goal," Cronin said. "Well, someone on our team my sophomore or junior year, who I won't name, found the fish before the game and stole it. It went right in the dressing room trash can. So when they scored their first goal, there was no fish for them to throw out," Cronin recalled with a laugh.
"Unfortunately, on their second goal, the fish had been found or they went and got another one because it landed out on the ice," she said.
Now she returns to Durham on a team that wants to see the fish come out, and on a team composed of professionals. That pro status comes with some responsibility and challenges not normally associated with a modern-day professional athlete, though; Cronin isn't yet getting paid for this gig. Nobody in the league, players or coaches, is.
Cronin is depending on sponsorships to help her make the concept of being home in New England a permanent arrangement. That would, at least in theory at this point, include expanding her Toronto-based hockey school M-Power Hockey, to this area.
"If I can find sponsors, it will help me financially, and allow me to be in the local community more, giving back on and off the ice," said Cronin, who began her hockey career in York at the age of 5. "I've wanted to do this for so long."
Because she still has obligations and responsibilities related to M-Power Hockey, Cronin will have to at times endure a heavy commute to Toronto. That's a 10-hour process if you want to just skip the MapQuest, so the motivation to find sponsors that will allow her to be more local is great.
Speaking of local, the Blades are being coached by a familiar face here in Durham, Erin (Whitten) Hamlen. The longtime U.S. National Team member starred in goal for UNH (Class of 1993) and served as associate head coach under Brian McCloskey for the past 10 seasons. Hamlen, a Hampton resident, is perhaps the perfect coach for Cronin. Both have many years of pro hockey experience under their belt, and they're obviously both goalies so there is much to share and a lot of techniques, ideas and approaches to bounce off of each other.
Although Cronin just joined the team two weeks ago, Hamlen likes what she has seen thus far.
"Her work ethic is very impressive," Hamlen pointed out. "She appears to be a goalie that takes practice to the full extent and gets upset when she lets in goals that she knows she should have saved. I know she'll continue to work hard to push our players."
Cronin isn't all business all the time, though.
"Though she remains focused, Mandy also seems to be having fun out there," Hamlen added. "This shows me that she can remain relaxed and focused and as long as she carries this into games, I won't worry about our goaltending."
Goaltending in the CWHL (formerly the National Women's Hockey League) is nothing new to Cronin, mind you. She has played professionally for eight years and most recently has been a goaltender for the Brampton Thunder for the past four, helping them win back-to-back league championships in 2007 and 2008.
Still, there are some butterflies floating around in her stomach.
"There are definitely nerves that come with it because this is a startup program and not being in Canada, we're the league newbies," Cronin said. "I'm happy to be able to bring my veteran status here. I've been in this league a long time. I played for a dominant team in Brampton, and now I want to make sure I'm a good representative for the Blades and help this team make a strong impression."
Boston's schedule includes stops at arenas all around New England this season. That, according to general manager Paul Hendrickson, is by design. And to say Hendrickson is glad Cronin is a part of it would be an understatement.
"I had seen Mandy on the ice the last two years," Hendrickson said. "I've been to many CWHL games and I've very familiar with her play on the ice. It's really been a delight getting to know her. She's really outgoing and we're glad to have her."
Cronin is joined on the Blades by several U.S. National team veterans, including Angela Ruggiero, not to mention many former UNH standouts like Kacey Bellamy, among others.
"Aside from the Olympics, this is the top brand of women's hockey you'll see," Cronin said. "We're all trying to make it work for the love of the game. We all want to make this work."
You'll see that effort firsthand today at UNH. If by chance you see a fish land on the ice, it means the Boston Blades are having a happy Halloween.
