Team no longer skating on thin ice, thanks to NHL star coach

Thursday, June 4, 1998

Team no longer skating on thin ice, thanks to NHL star coach

ICE HOCKEY Daryl Evans, as head coach, expected to help out
struggling team

By Evan Lovett

Daily Bruin Contributor

They are the most improved team at UCLA. Their coach was
selected as coach of the year in his first season at the helm. They
were featured in the motion picture "Senseless." The team was named
1997-1998 UCLA Club Sport of the Year.

The Bruin Ice Hockey team has officially arrived. The
designation of ex-NHL star Daryl Evans as head coach was a godsend
for the once-struggling club sport.

"I cannot stress the benefits of having Coach Evans heading the
team," raves Defenseman Patrick Masson.

Coach Daryl Evans was perhaps best known for his game winning
goal in "The miracle on Manchester," the game that propelled the
Los Angeles Kings to victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the 1982
Stanley Cup playoffs. He finished a solid career and went on to
coach professionally in Europe before settling in Los Angeles and
guiding the Bruins.

Captain and left wing Mike Siegel could not be happier. "He
(Coach Evans) brings more of a flow … his knowledge of the game
and the discipline he instilled in us is tremendous."

The Bruins were once the laughingstock of the Pacific Eight, a
Division II league in the Western Conference of the American
Collegiate Hockey Association. As recently as 1996-1997, UCLA
finished last in the division comprised of the same teams as the
Pacific 10 with the exception of Oregon State and Arizona.

"We had poor team morale and no cohesiveness as a unit …
everybody was off doing their own thing" noted Siegel. "This year
was different. Our camaraderie was one of our biggest assets."

Masson is quick to agree. "This camaraderie is so important in a
sport where individualism can become prevalent … if everyone is
already friends and gets along well off the ice, players are more
willing to share the puck, with gratification coming from the
achievements of their friends."

The camaraderie that they speak of comes from road trips,
fund-raisers, and long hours practicing at 11:00 p.m. in Culver
City. A bond develops between the players and the coach, and play
improves accordingly.

"The dedication from all of the players who worked hard week
after week gave the team its character," says defenseman Ben
Caplan.

The Bruin hockey team does have its worries. Despite being the
top club sport at UCLA, funding is always a pressing issue.
Approximately $4,000 of the teams’ $28,000 budget is supplied by
the university, and the rest comes from players’ pockets and
fund-raisers. The team is currently looking for a sponsor to help
support some of the costs and give the Bruins one less worry on the
ice. In the meantime, kid’s clinics, summer roller and ice hockey
camps, and the occasional role as extras in feature films will have
to make do.

The lack of fan support is also disheartening to the players,
who play home games at the Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank. Though as
many as a thousand fans show up for the games against crosstown
rival USC, only fifty to one hundred come to see teams such as
Oregon and Washington take the ice.

Mike Siegel hopes that the improved Bruin squad will result in a
larger fan base.

"Toward the end of the season, the support was getting better.
The exciting games and the fact that we were winning definitely led
to the word getting out that our games are worth going to."

Next year promises to be even better, Siegel assures the fans,
"We’re going to start off great and just improve from there. We are
probably going to be the best team in the league."