Central Montana Times

Argo hockey staff hits the recruiting trail

The season might have only been four games, the roster may not have been completely full, but the experiences and wins that did come along with a building of a new culture has given rise to a new University of Providence hockey team that is now set up for a bright future.  

After previous coach Jeff Heimel resigned last spring, an exhaustive search for a new coach that lasted into the fall caused concern that there would be no hockey for the Argos in 2022-2023. That fear was nearly realized until Tommaso DeAngelis was hired in late October, giving hope to the returning players. For the next two months, DeAngelis and the administration at Providence recruited from both afar and on campus.  

DeAngelis, an east coast native who has coached at Rutgers, various successful club teams, and with the Nashville Predators of the NHL, arrived in Great Falls the first week of January and went to work immediately making sure uniforms were ordered, practice times were set, games were scheduled, and players were eligible. What started as a 25-man roster quickly shrank to 14 and that roster of seven returnees and seven newcomers went to work to become a team. That roster also included Argo soccer players and golfers. 

The seven returning Argos had made the ACHA quarterfinals the year before and were happy to have a season, for many a final season. "Very excited," said Taylor McCall before the season began. "We are all very privileged to have Tommaso coming in here and doing all he can to get things going."  

The season started January 20 with the first of two games at the University of Montana. Despite a 5-3 loss, the feeling was that the Argos could have easily taken the game. The next night, also in Missoula, Providence left no doubts about their talents and how quickly they gelled as a team with a 6-2 rout of the Grizzlies.  

After nine practices and a 1-1 record, Providence hockey was back. Around campus, excitement was building once again for hockey. The next game on the schedule took the Argos to Bozeman to face Montana State's M3 team, a JV team. Providence once again showed its mettle with a 5-2 victory over the Bobcats.  

Then came the season finale, a 9-0 throttling of the 'Cats on senior night. A night many did not believe would happen just a couple of months before. Cooper Page scored a hat trick and Tristan Lewis tossed the shutout in between the pipes.  

After the game, DeAngelis spoke highly of those two, "It was an honor to coach Cooper. During practice, he works hard and plays smart, gives 100%. He always wants to win and has various leadership qualities on and off the ice." 

On Lewis, DeAngelis made a comparison to a hall of fame NHL goalie, "I nicknamed him Patrick Roy. Great goalie, plays smart, works smart and is naturally talented. In my mind, he can go play pro if he wanted to. The scouts missed a great one, as they always do, and it was an honor to coach him as well." 

Now, the work begins to find the next batch of hockey players to continue building on Argo culture. Recruiting trips mean finding not just the right talent that will win on the ice, but also finding those athletes that fit with the "student" part of student-athlete.  

"We finished with three wins and one loss, and I am very happy about that," says DeAngelis. "This was an incredibly unique and special team, probably will be inducted into the hall of fame here at the school at some point. The team was put together within a month and was playing like a championship team." 

Original source can be found here.