During the 2009 Canes Cup, the ice hockey club players throwing their bodies around on the ice were not the ones at risk; it was the members of the coaching staff that were dropping like flies.
With N.C. State head coach David Kurtz home with his wife after welcoming a child two days earlier, a wayward clearing attempt struck assistant coach Kevin Thomas behind the bench, leaving the Pack with only one of its three coaches.
“They were clearing it out of the zone, and it came across the bench,” assistant coach Nicholas Zefeldt, who escaped the game unharmed, said. “He was talking to a player, and he took it off the nose.”
One of Thomas’ players, who wished to remain, nameless to preserve his ice time, said his coach had it coming.
“It is his own fault, he didnít move,î the player said with a laugh.
Thomas was taken to the hospital for stitches, capping off a wild weekend that pitted N.C. State against several tough opponents that they donít face regularly, including University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Rowan College and Rhode Island College in addition to ACC rival Duke. Boston College was scheduled to attend but canceled earlier in the season.
“We brought in some better competition this year from out of state instead of our usual opponents — Carolina, ECU,” Zefeldt said. “The tournament definitely got better this year.”
The tournament is hosted by the Carolina Hurricanes and held at the RecZone. State took the trophy for the first several years after the tournament began, but Duke won the title in 2007 and Virginia Tech claimed it in 2008.
State finished the tournament 1-2, clobbering Rhode Island College 16-2 in its opening match-up before being shut out, 7-0, against UMBC on Saturday night in what Martucci called an “atrocious” loss.
Team captain Chris Martucci, playing in his third Canes Cup, said this was the first year that State invited six teams to participate instead of four.
“As much as people like to see us play those teams, the level of competition isn’t as good as you get with some northern rivals,” Martucci, a senior in environmental engineering, said.
After Thomas was injured, the Wolfpack — playing on a 5-on-3 power play with the game tied at 6 and little more than five minutes remaining — rallied for two quick goals.
“That was less of a ‘let’s do it for coach’ moment and more like a ‘I don’t want to lose’ moment,” Martucci said.
Jonathan Hires, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, said the team responded well after getting shut out the night before.
“We came out swinging,” Hires said. “We had a solid win on Friday night, last night was a tough loss for us, getting shut out, but it was good that we were able to come together as a team in response in a game against a tough opponent like that.”
Although the game appeared to be over, Kennesaw State answered with two goals of its own and scored the game-winner with just less than a minute left.
This wasn’t the first time a late collapse has killed the Pack. Earlier this year, against league-leading Virginia Tech, State allowed an assured overtime berth slip away when it allowed a goal with under a minute left in regulation.
“That’s hurt us all season, dying late,” Zefeldt said. “That’s why we called the time-out, trying to get everyone calmed down and re-focus our defense. Hopefully eventually they’ll learn to play 60 minutes instead of 55.”
According to Martucci, the shutout loss to UMBC was “atrocious.”
“Obviously, it hurts,” Martucci said. “Especially with the types of goals they were — it always sucks, not only to lose a tournament you host, but to lose in front of the people who come out to see you.”
Though the team has plenty to work on this week, Hires said several players performed exceptionally throughout the tournament. He said the play of senior Ben Dombrowski, junior Paul Kovach, and freshman Brian Coules stood out, and that new captain Martucci led the team well.
“This was his first three home games as the captain of our team, and he really stepped up and had a great weekend,” Hires said.
State goes back to league play next weekend against Georgetown. The team will face UNC-Chapel Hill Jan. 31 away and will play the Tarheels at home Feb. 6. According to Zefeldt, “we should destroy them both times.”