NCAA Hockey Tournament: Managers help teams get geared up
Skate sharpener. Laundromat manager. Seamstress. Mr. Fix-It. Psychologist. Guru. Life coach. Travel agent. Brother. Den Mother.
The hours are long, the work can be tedious and the checklists stretch for miles. But working from behind the scenes, equipment managers know that without their efforts, the games would suffer.
During the whirlwind of high-stakes hockey that takes place at the NCAA West Regional - for which three out-of-town teams descended upon World Arena on Wednesday and two depart after losing Friday - Colorado College equipment manager Ed Warner and three other equipment managers will band together to get the teams ready for puck drop.
Despite the provisions of a skate sharpener and riveting machine for road teams, the visiting equipment managers still must schlep as many as 15 body-sized bags and hard cases, which contain things such as shampoo, a hammer and spare sticks and helmets.
When that equipment hits the baggage belt at the airport, it often falls on freshmen to make sure it gets to the bus.
Patrick Robertson, who must pack Alaska-Anchorage for at least nine plane trips per season - the Seawolves can't even bus to play in-state rival Alaska-Fairbanks - said it takes just a few trips to figure out how to streamline.
"You learn how to pack stuff for the airlines," said Robertson, 25, who used to work in an Anchorage hockey shop. "We can have extra bags, but they can't be over 50 pounds, so I'll pack two bags instead of one."
The brotherhood between equipment managers always helps.
Within the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, equipment managers have agreed that the hosting manager must provide certain items for each visiting locker room, adhering to a list reminiscent of a rock band's rider.
Gum, coffee and an iPod dock are among the required items.
"You're here to help the other guy because you know when you're on the road you might need something," said Warner, who once had to trek to every hockey supply store in the greater St. Cloud, Minn., area looking for a specific stick blade. Warner, 35, became a hockey gear head growing up in the ice rink his parents owned in upstate New York.
As much as the equipment managers are responsible for repairing tattered equipment, they also tend to patch up egos that have been rattled during lineup shifts and scoring slumps that happen during the course of a six-month season.
To summon the hockey gods' blessings, drastic measures are sometimes required, including propping a snake-bitten forward's sticks in front of the television to watch hockey's greatest movies: "Slap Shot" and "Miracle."
Other times, equipment managers become part of players' pregame routines, casually tossing them reminders of their talent or that stick of gum that always seems to make the difference.
"Sometimes a guy just needs to get his tires pumped," Warner said. "They would never admit it, but they want somebody to tell them they're going to do well in the game and that's not the coaches' job."
