UNews - hockey coach

'94 Hockey Horns reminisce with Babcock

trevor.kenney — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:38:24 +0000

Mark Wobick (BSc'96) works in the financial sector and is a hockey coach to his novice-aged son; Trevor Ellerman (BMgt '94) is the head professional at a golf course; Mike Babcock just coached the Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team to a gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics. What all three have in common is 1994, the year they were all ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns and winners of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (then CIAU) men's national hockey title.

"When you win together, you walk together, forever," says Babcock, as much a Horn now as he was in 1994, despite the fame and fortune he's since experienced.

The majority of the group was back together at the sold-out 1st Annual Calgary and Friends Alumni Dinner in Calgary this past spring, with Babcock as the keynote speaker. The bond they established 16 years ago is still evident.

"I've seen probably four or five guys who I hadn't seen in 13 or 14 years, and it's like I just saw them yesterday," says Ellerman, the head pro at the Riverview Golf Club in Redcliff, Alta.
"Looking back, that closeness we had, that was the whole key to our success."

Wobick, who works with Meyers Norris Penny in Lethbridge, says the players reached a point where they completely trusted one another.

"I don't think I ever experienced a team that had that type of a bond. You just lived and breathed for everybody and Mike made us believe," says Wobick.

For Wobick, that has translated into lasting relationships with his teammates and successes that trace back to that championship season.

"As you get older you better understand what you accomplished," says Ellerman. "At the time, you won and you think it'll last forever and you don't really grasp the concept. I think if you look at our team, the successful careers the players forged for themselves away from hockey, the foundation was laid there in 1993/1994. Winning builds success, friendships and bonds, and this was a special group."

To view the entire issue of SAM in a flipbook format, follow this link.

A working man's approach

trevor.kenney — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:13:11 +0000

Logan Lavorato has never been afraid of a little hard work. Had he been, he certainly wouldn't be completing his fifth year of hockey at the Canada West level, nor would he be a three-time Academic All Canadian preparing to graduate this spring.

"You know what you're going to get from him," ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey coach Greg Gatto says succinctly. "He's been our first-line centre, our fourth-line centre, he's played wing and one weekend in Calgary we even put him on (defence) for a couple shifts. You couldn't ask for anything more than what he gives you."

That's pretty much been the story for Lavorato's entire career – he'll do what he has to in order to get the job done.

Lavorato, a Lethbridge native and Catholic Central High School grad, is a five-foot-nine inch grinder who never scored more than 15 goals in junior hockey and has 19 career goals in five years at the Canada West level. While the numbers are not outstanding, testament to the value of his role is the fact he wore the 'A' of an assistant captain for two seasons.

"That's how I got to the junior level and how I got to this level and what's allowed me to stay here for five years," Lavorato says. "I don't think there's any shame in not being that top scoring guy. Everyone's got a role on the team, and I've kind of risen to that hard-working, mucking it up kind of role."

He takes the same attitude to the classroom, where study habits mimic his on-ice tendencies – he works to achieve his goals.

"I'm a believer that you get out of it what you put into it, so the harder you work at it, the more you'll get out of your education," he says.

Preparing to graduate with a degree in finance from the Faculty of Management, Lavorato dabbled in a number of areas over his years at the U of L and for a while, looked like he was going to become a teacher.

"I enjoyed my experience in education but decided it wasn't what I wanted to do forever, and thought that I had a few more options in the management faculty."

That he managed to maintain his high academic standing despite the shift in focus is impressive but not unexpected. Lavorato knew all along that when he came to university, his studies were the prime focus.

"I've always been a pretty good student, so I'd had those study habits already developed coming in here. With my family, it's always been an emphasis to perform well in school," he says, acknowledging the recognition of being named to the Academic All Canadian roster is a point of pride.
"You bet. It shows a lot as far as time management skills. It's rewarding to know you've put in some hard work over the past year, and it's nice to get that little bit of cash and a plaque to prove you did it."

As a fifth-year student, Lavorato took a step back from his official leadership duties with the Horns, declining to wear a letter on his sweater this season. Ironically, it may have further cemented his role as a team leader.

"Coming into my last year, I just thought that my priorities and focus might be in a little different place. I really wanted to focus on school and finish that up right and put some extra effort there," he says. "Not having a letter doesn't change who I am, I'm the same person. I thought it was time for some of the younger guys to maybe take the reins."

Lavorato is already transitioning into his post-hockey career. A representative on Student Athletes Council, Lavorato says the committee has been working hard to establish a stronger connection between all the Pronghorn programs. He also plans to be an active alumnus, supporting the men's hockey program in any manner he can. He sees a program moving forward and with his local roots, wants to continue to see homegrown players donning Pronghorns blue.

"That's just (Lavorato), anything you ask him to do, he always steps up," says Gatto.

That's why, as the next phase of his life begins, the transition will be greeted with a similar work ethic.

"My options are pretty open right now but the tough thing is I'm facing the realization I'm entering the real world in a couple months," he laughs. "I'd like to stay around southern Alberta but we'll see where it takes me."

Likely, wherever he wants to go.

Well-grounded, well-rounded

trevor.kenney — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:10:44 +0000

We think we know Mike Babcock by who we see on our television screens. He comes off as a steely-eyed competitor, a taskmaster who pushes and prods his players to strive for an on-ice perfection that, by the nature of the game, is unattainable. In the end, we see a hockey coach and a man who has won at virtually every level of the sport – a champion.

That Mike Babcock is for public consumption. He is the button-down, blazer-wearing Stanley Cup champion and coach of Canada's 2010 Canadian Olympic Men's Hockey Team. He is just a sliver of the true Mike Babcock. For as much as Babcock strives to be at the pinnacle of his sport, his upbringing and family values tell him that true success is measured off the ice.

"My wife always laughs — she sees me wearing a suit behind the bench and wonders who that is because I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and ball hat most of the summer; I'm just like everybody else," says Babcock. "It's just that when people see me, they have me in that different light – my kids don't know who that guy is, either."

That guy is the one who never saw himself as a hockey coach but rather an academic and educator. He's the guy who resurrected a seemingly stalled coaching career by rejuvenating an on-the-ropes hockey program at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and guided the Pronghorns to an unlikely 1994 national title.

"I never dreamed I was going to be a coach in the first place. I thought I was going to be in the college world the rest of my life. I thought I'd go on and get a PhD and teach," says Babcock, who has an undergraduate education degree and graduate degree in sports psychology from McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. "I liked being in the college environment. I thought it'd be a great job to be around young, excited people getting better and going places. I thought I'd always be a part of that."

After previously taking Red Deer College to a national final, Babcock accepted a coaching challenge at the U of L. The 1993-94 Pronghorns were not considered a championship contender. The program itself was in trouble and faced the prospect of being cut from the U of L athletic landscape. The Horns had never made the playoffs or even finished a season above the .500 mark.

"When I came to the U of L I had a pretty strong belief in how I thought hockey should be played and what we needed to do to have success; we instilled that from day one," says Babcock.

"I believe there's a right way to play the game and there's a right way to approach life, and I tell that to my kids all the time. I'm not a very cautious person; I'm not a very careful person. I believe in living and getting the most out of every day, and I believe that's also how you play the game."

It's a philosophy that has stood the test of time. Following his one-year stint with the Horns, Babcock guided the Spokane Chiefs for six seasons, twice advancing to the WHL championship series. In 1997, he led Canada to a World Junior Championship gold medal. Two years later, after a brief stop in the American Hockey League, he was coaching the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the National Hockey League. In his first season he took the Ducks to the Stanley Cup final and in the five years since, he's been to two more Cup finals with the Detroit Red Wings, capturing hockey's Holy Grail in 2007-08.

"You have to get better each and every year if you're going to be successful in all walks of life," he says. "It's all about lifelong learning. The things I did at the U of L, technically I might not do anymore, but believing in people and getting them to work hard, to commit to one another and to the team are exactly the same things we talk about today in Detroit."

With the 2010 Olympic opportunity just around the bend, Babcock's approach will not vary. Why would it?

"What a great thing, eh? I'm excited like you can't believe. It's a dream come true to have the chance to be an Olympian," Babcock says, relishing the expectations of, and pressure from, a nation of rabid hockey fans.

"The reason we have expectations is because we have a chance. The tournament now is going to be closer than it's ever been, everybody has a chance to win; we're just big believers that we're going to find a way to get it done. I don't know exactly how we're going to do that, I just know we are."

It's been 15 years since Babcock guided the U of L Horns to that national title, and while everything around him has changed, he still sees himself essentially as the man he was in the fall of 1993, hunting in the foothills every day following practice, looking after his family and striving to be a better person and coach.

"I've always been a little fearful of not being good enough, so that gives me a little bit of drive to try and be better," says Babcock.

Born in Manitouwadge, Ont., Babcock spent much of his childhood in the Northwest Territories, where his father worked as a mining engineer. When Babcock was 12, his family moved to Saskatoon, Sask., where his father still lives today. In the off-season, it's also the area where Babcock, his wife and three children call home.

"I want my kids to be grounded," says Babcock. "My kids are growing up different than I did, but in saying that, we're hoping to raise really good people who are confident and who are going to be difference-makers in the world. That's how my mom spoke to me, and that's how I speak to my kids."

He lost his mother to cancer in 1992, but the lessons she taught still resonate with him today. They are part of the values with which he raises his family and that he also takes to the rink.

"I always say I learned to work hard from my dad, and I learned to talk to people from my mom," says Babcock.

His growth as a coach has garnered the respect of the hockey world and allowed him to work with the most talented players and personalities in the game. Still, despite his rise in professional status, he manages to stay true to the principles by which he was raised.

"It's been a work in progress, and I like to think that I keep getting better, and I'm going to be a better coach next year than I was last year," says Babcock. "You have to be in a constant stage of development if you want to be the best you can be.

"Am I still the same person? I'd sure like to think so. I tell people all the time, the measure of me as a man isn't going to be about the number of games I win, it's going to be about the family I raise."

Former Horn coach heads to Wisconsin

trevor.kenney — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:47:41 +0000

Former ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns women's hockey coach, Rob Morgan, has been chosen to build a new women's hockey program at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin.

Morgan, the 2000-01 Canada West coach of the year following his one season behind the Pronghorns bench, heads to St. Norbert after a six-year stint as associate head coach at Dartmouth College. While there, he helped lead the Big Green to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons as they compiled a 128-53-18 record.

A graduate of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta in 1992, Morgan earned his master's degree from the U of L and coached the Pronghorns to a fourth-place finish in the Canada West standings in 2000-01. The Horns compiled a 4-5-3 regular season record before finishing second in a three-team West semifinal playoff series with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia. Overall, the Horns were 16-11-3 on the season.

Morgan left the U of L to take over head coaching duties at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake, N.Y. before assuming the position at Dartmouth.

Ptycia scores with U of L degree

trevor.kenney — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:15:46 +0000

On frozen ponds or in heated arenas, Canadians love their hockey. Dale Ptycia (BASc '85) also has a passion for the game, but he took it one step farther, turning it into a career as senior manager of licensing and merchandising for Hockey Canada (HC).

Ptycia's love of the game started in Lethbridge where he grew up playing minor hockey. While he admits he loved playing hockey, it never got in the way of his education.

"My dad quit school in Grade 9 to work on the family farm, so my parents always taught us how lucky we were that we had a chance to complete high school," remembers Ptycia.

Within two years of graduating from Catholic Central High School in 1976, Ptycia apprenticed as a carpenter, attended the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge part time and married his high school sweetheart.

"With the economic downturn, I decided it would be a good idea to pursue a post-secondary education to follow a new career path," says Ptycia. "I enrolled at the U of L as a mature student in 1980."

In his second year, Ptycia focused on physical education classes and entered the Faculty of Education, but by his third year, he decided not to become a teacher. His passion lay in the administrative and coaching side of sport. In his last two years at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, he participated as a student representative with the Salary, Tenure and Promotion Committee, and the General Facilities Planning Committee for the Department of Physical Education.

"That experience was great. It gave me a lot of insight into administration, with respect to strategic planning, and has led me to some of the components that I now exercise with HC," says Ptycia. "I am in awe of the knowledge and expertise of the professors and faculty at the U of L and how the information they imparted helps me in my day-to-day responsibilities."

After graduation in 1985, Ptycia worked as the administrator for Lethbridge Hire-a-Student, before moving to Calgary in 1987 to become a program coordinator at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Calgary, however, was not to become his new home.

"David McDowell, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's first hockey coach and a former instructor of mine, led me to my present career with HC. He put me in touch with people in Ottawa, and I was fortunate to be offered a job there in 1988 with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, now recognized as HC," says Ptycia.

Over the years, Ptycia's job evolved from program manager to senior manager of licensing and merchandising. In charge of creating revenue streams for HC, Ptycia sets up licensing contracts that allow companies access to intellectual property and trademark designs. Royalties generated from merchandise support grassroots hockey programs across the country. He is grateful to be a part of an organization that gives to so many people.

"I see myself as coming full circle, working in the field of hockey as a result of my academic career and then giving back to the community whether by volunteering as a hockey coach, mentoring interns or donating to the U of L," says Ptycia.

Recently, Ptycia and other alumni gathered with U of L President, Dr. Bill Cade, and MP Rick Casson in Ottawa.

"It was a great opportunity to gather as alumni and talk about some of the opportunities that lay ahead for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and to learn about the incredible growth and evolution of the campus," says Ptycia. "It is a priority for my family to give back to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ that gave me the ability to work in a field that I have such a passion for."

UNews - hockey coach

'94 Hockey Horns reminisce with Babcock

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A working man's approach

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