After Syracuse’s victory over McGill, SU head coach Paul Flanagan began his usual postgame handshake routine, following his players and giving one final handshake to McGill head coach Peter Smith.

It wasn’t the first time the coaches crossed paths. While Flanagan was at the helm at St. Lawrence, his teams often made the 115-mile trip to take on Smith’s McGill squads.

‘I’ve known Paul for a long time,’ Smith said. ‘McGill and St. Lawrence are pretty close together geographically, so there’s a logic rivalry.’

Although it was only an exhibition, Syracuse’s 2-1 win over McGill on Friday added another chapter to the rivalry between Smith and Flanagan. Both coaches are using their relationship to form a bond between these two programs. Flanagan hopes to challenge his players against better competition, and Smith sees it as a chance to keep his team in check against a tough opponent.

Flanagan started his tenure at St. Lawrence in 1999. That same year, Smith took over the McGill program. During Flanagan’s nine years at the helm for the Saints, the two programs played multiple times.

The coaches also saw each other often during international play.

Flanagan established himself with the U.S. Women’s National team, helping the team win a gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden in 2008. Smith made some noise of his own, leading the Canadian National Women’s team to five gold medals as an assistant coach before being elevated to head coach in June 2007.

When the U.S. and Canadian women’s national teams competed at the 2008 IIHF world championships, the coaches faced off again. Smith guided the Canadians to a silver medal while the Americans failed to advance to the medal round. The matchup only added to the respect the coaches had for each other.

It’s that respect that led them to scheduling Friday’s exhibition.

‘I like playing against coaches that want to play games and don’t care about their reputation; they just want to go out and play,’ Smith said. ‘I want to give my team a variety of experiences, and I think having a good relationship with the other coaches helps foster that ability.’

In SU’s inaugural season in 2008, Flanagan and the Orange struggled to schedule opponents. But McGill agreed to host Syracuse in an exhibition. The Martlets defeated the Orange 4-2 in that game.

After that experience and with the history dating back to his days at St. Lawrence, Flanagan knew he wanted to carry on the tradition.

‘(At St. Lawrence) we always played back and forth at least once or twice a year, and when I came (to Syracuse), we were struggling to find games early on,’ Flanagan said. ‘We’d like to keep this going if we can.’

Although it was only an exhibition, the game was a moral victory for the Orange and proved that SU could beat bigger and better competition.

Sophomore goaltender Jenesica Drinkwater, who made 22 saves on Friday, said Syracuse’s exposure to highly skilled international hockey programs such as McGill will only make her and the team better.

‘It’s only going to get me better at coming up with the saves,’ Drinkwater said. ‘It’s pushing our team to play with them and play our own game.’

Flanagan and Smith share a competitive nature and wanted to challenge their teams early in the season. The teams used the exhibition game to improve, with both coaches treating it as a checkpoint in their respective seasons, making the most out of something that doesn’t count toward their records.

‘We came to battle, and that’s what you want out of an exhibition game. It doesn’t do you any good to bring in some U-19 team and beat them 8-1,’ Flanagan said. ‘It’s just about the value we leave the ice with having played a good team.’

awmirmin@syr.edu

Published on November 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm