Standbrook digs hard to find players Dedicated recruiter enjoys coaching them even more

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Grant Standbrook, University of Maine men’s hockey assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, is in his 15th season with the program as he continues to add to his legendary resume.

He has recruited and coached 27 All-Americans, 10 Olympians (U.S. and Canadian), and two Hobey Baker Award winners (Scott Pellerin and Paul Kariya) at Maine.

Prior to coming to Maine, he was an assistant at Wisconsin under the legendary Bob Johnson. Standbrook recruited and coached 18 All-Americans and 19 Olympians in Madison, including NHL stars Chris Chelios and Mike Richter.

He has an all-time record of 694-326-64 as an assistant coach, including a 368-159-48 mark at Maine.

The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native and former Dartmouth College hockey, soccer, and lacrosse coach has coached several teams for USA Hockey and was an assistant for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team.

“He is the heart and soul of our program,” said Maine second-year head coach Tim Whitehead. “He is as good an assistant coach as there is in the game right now. He’s a fierce recruiter and competitor. And he is great with [teaching] the goalies. He is a positive influence on all of us.”

BU head coach Jack Parker called Standbrook a “great recruiter” and added that he does an excellent job with Maine’s goalies and in preparing the team for games.

Providence’s Paul Pooley said Standbrook has a knack for finding and developing players.

“I’ve seen him recruit kids who were OK players in juniors, and then they keep getting better and better and better at Maine,” said Pooley. “He has the ability to evaluate players and what they need to work on and turn them into outstanding college hockey players.”

Standbrook answered a variety of questions after he was located, appropriately enough, recruiting in British Columbia.

What is the first thing you look for?

Hockey sense, heart, and skills.

In that order?

Uh-huh. If you could get them in a 250-pound package, that would be great.

How important is character?

It goes without saying. You can’t have a bad apple in the barrel. When it comes down to crunch time, it’s the guys with character who show up. Sometimes you are fooled. Sometimes it’s an oversight. It was easier to prevent mistakes in past years because you didn’t have the number restriction on the amount of times you can watch a player. So you used to be able to give him tender, loving care and get to know him as a person. Now there isn’t that much opportunity to do so.

How has recruiting changed over the years?

It’s more sophisticated from the standpoint of our opponent: Major Junior A teams. They do a great job of marketing. They identify players coming out of bantams and they can be in their living room at any age. That’s usually three or four years before we are allowed to talk to them. They can entice them with their sales pitch. There are also more United States colleges recruiting players. The job is tougher now. There are college coaches at every game. There are a lot more [recruiting] mistakes being made now. A lot of coaches shake their heads when you talk to them about players being taken. They’re as perplexed as anyone. Nobody is immune to the possibility [of making a recruiting mistake]. And then you might have a real fine selection but a lot can happen in the player’s life that may negatively influence the way they play, like a girlfriend, being homesick, academic problems to a multitude of other things.

What do you sell to a recruit: the program, the school, the atmosphere at Alfond Arena?

All of the above. You not only have to know everything about your school academically, but you have to know the other schools, too. We have a great product at Maine. It is a tremendous institution. We have a wide range of majors, a great faculty, and a lot of support academically. And Maine is internationally accredited, which is very important.

Have you ever figured how many miles you travel in a normal year?

[Laughter.] It varies from year to year. On this trip, I watched a game in Boston, a player [verbally] committed to us; I flew to Detroit; I picked up a car and drove to Toronto; then I went to Cornwall, Ontario; I went back to watch a tournament in Detroit, and flew to Vancouver. I’ve been in the province [British Columbia] quite a while now.

How do you stay sane with all that travel?

I bring a large bag, heavily laden with books. As the journey progresses, the car turns in to bookstores by itself. It knows all the routes. When my wife [Joy] wants to find me in a shopping mall, she’ll go to a bookstore and find me curled up in the back with a book.

Have you ever tried those books on tape?

They put me to sleep. I don’t like them.

What do you do when you get tired?

Sleep deprivation can be a problem. My rule is the first time there is any indication that I’m tired, I pull over to the side of road, drop the seat back and sleep for half an hour. Then I keep going. I don’t fool around with drinking coffee. That gives you a false indication of how you’re feeling.

How difficult was recruiting last year after [former coach] Shawn Walsh died?

I think Tim did a tremendous job in making a smooth transition. The unfortunate part from a recruiting standpoint was I was unable to get out on the road. Campbell [assistant Campbell Blair] wasn’t on board yet and Tim wanted me there until January. We suffered the consequences recruiting-wise.

Who are the most memorable players you have coached and what made them memorable?

They were all memorable to me whether they were good or not as good. I’ve kept in touch with them. They’re all good people.

People may not know this, but besides playing hockey at Minnesota-Duluth, you also pole-vaulted and ran sprints there and you had previously played for a national championship soccer team in Canada. You also played lacrosse and football and competed in judo. Have you always been interested in so many different sports?

I’ve always had an interest in all sports. My dad played soccer and was always involved in soccer. I had an opportunity early on to play on our Manitoba team that played in Chicago and St. Louis. I played senior men’s league soccer when I was 14. In hockey, I went to a Springfield Indians training camp with [NHL Hall of Famer] Eddie Shore when I was 17 or 18. There were only six teams in the American Hockey League at the time. I was just a little guy. My weight wasn’t much different than it is now. I had quit school to play hockey. I was going to circumvent the bridge of college hockey to the pros. But I didn’t make it because I was 155 pounds and didn’t have the requisite ability. I went to the University of Minnesota-Duluth for two years before playing again. I focused on academics. Then I ran into the football coach, Jim Malosky, and he asked me if I was from Canada. I said I was and he said ‘I thought all you Canadians played hockey.’ I told him I had played a lot of hockey and he said if you’re thinking of coaching some day, you should really go back and play hockey. So I did and I was the captain my senior year. We were 15-5 my first year and 15-3 my second year.

How did you get started in coaching?

When I was 14, the coach of the under-12 hockey team quit for one reason or another. They couldn’t find a coach, so I said I’d do it. I really enjoyed it. I didn’t know it would subsequently become my profession, but my enjoyment of that experience led to it.

It must be easier to recruit now that you have a nationally recognized program.

I’m really surprised at how many people think they know me. They’ve never seen me before, but they’ve seen my picture on the Internet. It is easier, but it is very competitive because of the all the factors I mentioned earlier. You don’t know the players as well as you did in the past. You have to do a lot of it through letter writing and email, and it’s not quite the same. Young players thinking about going to college now are on the computer all the time and they know the difference between the schools. They can compare them on the Internet. They can read about the hockey programs and the academic programs. Or they can go to their library and compare them.

You have been very successful recruiting western Canadians. How has that come about?

Players in British Columbia [BC Junior Hockey League] are here because they want to obtain a college scholarship. They have already decided against playing Major Junior. My relatives are dispersed all across western Canada and they have become a vital link in informing me about young prospects coming along. I went to a family function and had 33 first cousins and 11 second cousins there.

Do you still enjoy the job?

Yes, but I don’t like the time I have to be away. It’s not fair to my wife. It’s fun watching players progress and improve and get on with their lives. I like to keep in touch with them. Hockey is so important when they come in. They think it’s the only thing in the world, like I did when I quit school to play hockey. But once the reality sets in and they realize there is a lot of parity, the academic aspects become more important and more vital to their overall plan.

Do you like this year’s team?

Yes, I do, and I really like the team for next year. I really like the kids coming in. The most enjoyable part of this year, so far, is I had a whole week on the ice with the team. That reinforced the fact that coaching is what I love. The travel is vital and necessary. You see a lot of hockey games and players before you find one you want.