10 Questions with Coach Craig McAlister

Was the seasons fast start just a flash in the pan?

We came out strong to start the season, with everything going our way.  It seemed all the bounces were finding our sticks.  We still were allowing roughly 30 shots on goal per game, but the big difference is that we were finding the net with our offense.  In our early wins, we were scoring at least 5 goals a game.  Now, we are struggling a bit on offense and our defense hasn’t shut down our opponents.  We are not winning the 1 or 2 goal games, but if we eliminate a mistake here or there we can turn this season back around.

Any surprises this season?

Actually, it’s the maturity of the freshman this season.  We rely heavily upon this group of players and they must contribute each game in order for us to be successful.  Right from the start, they showed that they would be an integral part of of this program.

What were you thinking when you made this seasons schedule?

Well, it just kind of worked out this way.  It has been my policy not to back away from a challenge.  If a team like Illinois wants to play us on their rink, then so be it.  Playing teams like Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Lindenwood, Iowa State, West Chester, West Virginia, Niagara, Ohio and OU can only make us stronger and more experience.  It may not show up right now, but in the long run we will be a better team. 

Speaking of Illinois, what makes their rink so unique?

The University of Illinois arena is something you have to experience in order to understand how it affects your game.  It is beyond an Olympic sized rink, which makes it extremely wide.  They nicknamed it the “Pond”, because it seems like you need a signal flare in order communicate with each other of the ice.  The rink affects the goaltenders angles and it takes a young team like ours about two periods to adjust but completely solve.  What makes it even more intimidating is the fact that Illinois is a very good hockey team.  They have been ranked number one the last few years for a reason. 

What has been your longest bus ride?

We have to travel great distances to play some of the teams we play.  When we leave our backyard, we travel via bus to Arizona, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, but the worst or longest bus ride we’ve ever had was to Minot State in North Dakota.  I felt that we would never get there.  It took us 19 hours to get to Minot. 

Do you every fly?

Sure, when we went to the ACHA Showcase in New York and we are flying to Pittsburgh to play Robert Morris University later this season.  We have to be careful because we try to control the costs as we are very budget oriented.

Is UCO ever going to join a league?

We have actually been talking to some leagues, but at this time, we are still an independent team.  That is not to say that we are not developing rivalries with teams.  We have had some great battles with some teams, but we are still a young team in an area of the United States that doesn’t have a great amount of ACHA Division 1 teams.  There is still talk of developing a league which would include Arizona State, OU and UCO along with a lot of possibilities, but we have been slowed by personalities. 

The Division 1 Commissioner,  Brian Moran, offered his expertise, but the independents involved at the time didn’t want to corporate.  It is not necessary to get into a league, but it would make sense for us to play for a conference championship as well as a national championship.  

When is the new arena going to host its first game?

That is a good question.  Most of the major construction is done.  They want to start making ice in two weeks, but there is about 100 small things to get done including getting to building inspected prior to opening night. 

With all that being said, we hope by the University of Oklahoma series.

It looks really big compared to the current arena, does it seat more fans?

It will double our capacity.  The permanent seating in the stands will seat roughly 1000 people and we can bring in temporary stands like at Blazer Ice Arena to increase our capacity to around 1500.  Perfect size for a great atmosphere to watch College Hockey.

Will your season be a disaster if you don’t make the National Tournament?

What people don’t understand is that we are in our second year.  We have improved our talent level over last season and with a lot of work we will improve our talent level once again next season. 

We are a very young team and while it would be tremendous to make the tournament, we are not willing to say the season is a failure for not making the Nationals.  Our schedule is very difficult, even for a seasoned team with lots of seniors.  It will always be a goal to not just make Nationals, but compete hard and make a run in the National Tournament. 

Realistically, we should be mature enough as a team for a run in the Nationals next season.  We should be balanced enough next season to even out the ups and downs that we are experiencing right now.  But as a football coach in this state will tell you, the team is only as good as it should be, if it plays up to its potential.