Cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made for a quiet winter throughout New England’s Division 3 hockey scene, but the men’s and women’s teams at Colby College were still able to make some noise.
Despite not having any New England Small College Athletic Conference games to play in 2020-21, the Mules broke in their brand-new home ice — Jack Kelley Rink at the O’Neil | O’Donnell Forum, inside the $200 million Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center — on campus in Waterville, Maine.
Both teams got a special experience in mid-October, breaking in the ice with their first practices. Unlike many other programs, they were able to come together as full teams during an academic term without any game play.
“It has been a difficult year for everybody, but it’s been great to be with each other as an entire team and share this new facility,” said Blaise MacDonald (Billerica, Mass.), who is in his ninth year as Jack Kelley Head Coach for Colby Men’s Hockey. “The opportunity to share those moments was fabulous. We’re very fortunate. As a school and within the athletic department, I think we functioned about as close to normally as you could during these times.”
The hockey arena, which represents 38,650 of the 350,000 total square feet in the building, includes seating for 1,796 fans, a four-sided, center-hanging scoreboard, spacious locker rooms for both programs, a multipurpose space for meetings and events that overlooks the ice, and much more. The ice will be available for year-round use.
It didn’t take long for both teams to feel comfortable in their new home and start thinking about what their first NESCAC games with a crowd will be like.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget the first time I stepped on the ice,” said Lexi Cafiero, the women’s team’s junior captain from Taft School and Guilford, Conn. “It’s easily the nicest rink I’ve ever played in, and it was a privilege to step out there even though we didn’t play any games. Imagining how incredible it will feel to play a game with the rink packed with fans was extremely motivating for us. We’re so lucky.”
The hockey-specific amenities will help the Mules continue to build programs that have enjoyed plenty of success in recent years.
MacDonald led the tradition-rich men’s program to the NESCAC championship and its first-ever NCAA Division 3 Frozen Four appearance back in 2018. As a result, he became just the fourth NESCAC coach in 25 years to win the Edward Jeremiah Award as National Coach of the Year.
The women’s team’s win total has improved during each of reigning NEHJ Division 3 Women’s Coach of the Year Holley Tyng’s (East Orleans, Mass.) first four seasons at the helm, earning a national ranking for the first time ever while finishing second in the NESCAC standings last winter. Colby was winless in conference play during Tyng’s first year on the bench.
“The facility is second to none in D-3 and probably rivals some D-1 schools around the country,” said Quinn Doyle, a junior forward from Rochester, N.Y., who prepped at Phillips Andover. “We take a lot of pride in the people who came before us and laid the groundwork at the old place. We want to build on the hard-nosed tradition and what it means to play here.”
Though the thrill of outside competition will have to wait until next winter, the two programs were able to put on two joint scrimmages, marking their first taste of what a game night will be like in the new home of the Mules.
For Tyng, taking the ice for the November series marked a welcomed sense of normalcy amidst the pandemic and a unique opportunity to bring together two teams that are extremely supportive of one another.
“Being able to be together and skate in our new facility every day, it was almost easy to forget everything else going on (in the world),” Tyng said. “It was an amazing opportunity to kind of christen this facility. From a women’s hockey perspective, those games were so unique in history. Since we had our first program in 1973, these women were practicing at 11 p.m. or 5 a.m., borrowing equipment from the men that was literally about to be thrown out. We had to fight and claw for everything to break into this game, and we still are, but to be associated with Blaise and a program that has so much respect for their female counterparts is special.”
Both MacDonald’s coaching position and the new rink are named in honor of legendary coach Jack Kelley. That association carries added significance during this unique year as the legendary coach passed away in September at the age of 93.
Kelley began his coaching career at Colby before returning to Boston University, his alma mater, and leading the Terriers to their first two national championships in 1971 and 1972. His legacy remains an important part of the Mules, and MacDonald is excited to represent him and an incredible alumni base as the program moves into a new era in its new facility.
“It speaks to the role that coaches, teachers and mentors have to their student-athletes,” MacDonald said. “It could be any sport, but he had such influence in our program right up until the very end and was such a dear friend of mine and gave me tremendous advice, mentorship, friendship. It’s humbling to have that relationship, but I also think of the other coaches that came before and after him. Their influence was so strong. Our alumni base is nothing like I’ve ever seen in my 35 years of coaching. We can’t wait for everyone to see this facility.”
Made possible in large part from the generous support of a longtime contributor, the Harold Alfond Foundation, the Athletics and Recreation Center as a whole is the largest of Colby’s investments into best-in-class facilities for its 30 varsity teams, recreational activities, and the greater Waterville community.
It is the nation’s most comprehensive facility at the D-3 level, also housing the only Olympic-sized pool in Maine, three regulation basketball and volleyball courts, an indoor track and tennis courts, nine squash courts, a three-level fitness center, and athletic training suite.
For the hockey teams, some of the biggest upgrades come in the form of functional spaces that just weren’t available in a historic rink that was built in the 1950s and are becoming more commonplace in these types of athletic facilities.
“We have a video room that allows us to meet with the power play or special teams right before practice and then they can go right out and execute,” Tyng said. “There’s a meeting room that the kids are using as a study space, but it’s floor-to-ceiling glass that looks right out over the venue and you can imagine a postgame reception in there. The functional spaces that we’ve gained have been really noticeable right off the bat.”
For Dexter Southfield product Johnny McElaney (Walpole, Mass.), the new facility and all of its bells and whistles were a major selling point in his decision to choose Colby to begin his college career this year.
“Anyone with the opportunity to play in a rink like this would take it in a heartbeat, but I really could see myself fitting in after meeting the guys and talking to Coach MacDonald and Coach (Tyler) Walsh,” McElaney said. “It’s a real hard-working group and a tight-knit community, and the team culture is something I wanted to be a part of.
“The rink just makes it all even better. We haven’t even had a game yet, but you can already imagine what it will be like playing Bowdoin and it’s a packed barn with everyone right on top of you.”
