January 8, 2008

By Mike Scandura
Special to usahockey.com

Lou Santini had no way of knowing it at the time. But when he obtained his associate degree (i.e. first level) in coaching from USA Hockey in 1990 - shortly after graduating from Iona College where he played goal - it would lead to a career in coaching at the college level as well as a long affiliation with USA Hockey.

What Santini (North Tarrytown, N.Y.) did know while at Iona was he wanted to emulate John Davidson and call hockey games on radio or TV, which is why he obtained a BA in communication arts/broadcasting with a minor in speech.

“John was a goalie like me and I thought I could get into radio and TV like he did,” said Santini, who’s in his fourth season as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart, after coaching for a total of three years in the IHL, the ECHL and the USHL. “But when I graduated from college, stations weren’t even hiring interns at the time. Then, after I got my degree from USA Hockey, a couple of guys suggested I should get into coaching. They said they thought I would be pretty good at it.”

Santini eventually landed a job as an assistant coach at Iona. Then, from 1994-2000, he moved to Middlebury, where he became an assistant coach to the venerable Bill Beaney (who has long-standing ties with USA Hockey). The timing couldn’t have been better because during that span, the Panthers won six consecutive NCAA Division III championships and posted an overall record of 137-19-10.

Just as important - if not more so - was the time he served as a coach and instructor for USA Hockey Player Development Programs in New York, Michigan and Minnesota.

“I found out that New York had a USA Hockey Development Program and they needed coaches,” recalled Santini. “The director, Bill Hall, asked me if I would go to Fredonia State. Initially I started with the U-15 camp but Bill was the one who got me hooked on this.”

“Hooked” to the point where he worked at camps from 1990-2002 and instructed every age group from 14 through 17.

“In all honesty, the skill level is pretty high at all the camps,” recalled Santini. “You get the top players from all around the country. When I look at my drill sheets now, they haven’t changed much.

“But the 14s do walk in with that eyes-wide-open syndrome. With the 15s, for the first time you have kids who’ve played high school. There’s a big maturing factor from 14 to 15. And with the 16s and 17s, their mental preparation is a little different because they’ve had opportunities to move on and play for U-16 and U-17 teams that go to Europe and the NTDP.”

USA Hockey afforded Santini opportunities to work with coaches like Tim Taylor (currently an assistant coach with the U.S. National U-18 team), Providence College’s Tim Army and the late Dave Peterson.

It was a perfect complement to the years he spent with Beaney, who’s coached USA Hockey’s Junior Olympic team and the U.S. Women’s Junior National team.

“I learned a lot about the coaching aspect of being on a championship team,” said Santini. “The players never talked about winning a championship going into each season. They would just practice.

“Bill also would play a seven-game series with each team comprised of half of our American kids and half Canadians. It was amazing how hard the kids would compete against each other. As a result, the kids never came out flat … they always came out so hard. That was a big reason why we were so successful because we wore teams down.”

Interestingly, Sanitini really wasn’t exposed to college hockey until he was playing high school hockey for Iona Prep.

The NCAA, in conjunction with the 1986 Frozen Four at the former Providence Civic Center, held a high school clinic and Santini was the goalie for the Iona Prep team that made the trek to Rhode Island.

“The clinic was on a Saturday morning and the championship game was that night,” recalled Santini. “The (college) coaches were on the ice with us which was something I never would have expected.”

Sanitini got to watch Michigan State edge Harvard, 6-5, for the national championship. 

“That was something I’ll always remember,” said Santini. “Looking back, though, I know some excellent junior coaches who like to coach the juniors. I was in the UHL and I know that process. But I seemed to have found my niche in college.”

Due in part to the foundation he received with USA Hockey.

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.