Greg Carvel: Architect of a UMass rebuild for the ages

UMass coach Greg Carvel hoists the NCAA trophy after winning the school’s first Frozen Four title. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

After spending more than a decade getting his self-described “Ph.D” in hockey as an NHL assistant, 41-year-old Greg Carvel decided to try his hand as a head coach in the NCAA, taking the reins of his alma mater — St. Lawrence University — in the 2012-13 season.

His Saints slogged through a losing season, culminating in a first-round knockout in the ECAC playoffs. Carvel sought help within seconds of elimination.

“My first year we lost to Yale in the quarterfinals,” said Carvel. “I had a ton of respect for Keith Allain and how that team played. After the game, we shook hands, and I said, ‘Can I talk to you for a few minutes?’”

The two men shuffled across the ice and headed into the bowels of the Yale Whale. Carvel got right to the point. “I want my team to be like yours.” Allain replied in kind. “Hey, it takes three years to turn it.”

Yale, which had made the NCAA tourney in three years under Allain, went on to win the national championship a month after defeating St. Lawrence. Carvel realized that if he were going to succeed in college hockey, he needed to further his education.

Carvel envisioned a three-year plan. By the end of his third season in Canton, N.Y., he had shaped the Saints into 20-game winners, going on to secure consecutive berths in the ECAC Championship in Lake Placid, the jamboree of North Country hockey. But even more important than climbing the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, Carvel had found the equivalent of a team-sports professor in his midst at Canton. Sports psychologist Mark Randall, a fellow Canton native, taught Carvel the fundamentals necessary to create a sustainable winning climate. Randall’s method contained no shortcut. It required full commitment to achieve the necessary cultural overhaul.

After their success in the North Country, Carvel brought Randall with him to UMass, leaving a successful SLU program in “a leap of faith,” to confront the ultimate challenge — rebuilding the historically mediocre Minutemen into NCAA contenders. Randall was a critical component to that vision.

“Mark taught me how high-functioning, peak-performance programs should be handled,” said Carvel, who realized that being successful in college hockey required much more than X’s and O’s. “When you come from the NHL, you know all the systems, but that’s not what builds programs. Mark’s been super important in teaching me management of people.”

According to Carvel, Randall’s method requires top-down communication, delivering a consistent message to the players through every member of the hockey staff. “He’s not even worried about (communicating with) the players,” said Carvel. “Whatever channels through us will go to the players, and what the players are seeing, that’s how they’re going to act.”

The theme of the “Randall Plan” is for student-athletes to strive for excellence in every facet of their campus life.

The resulting paradigm shift of UMass hockey was a case of the proverbial rising tide — all ships rose, both on the ice and in the classroom. Minutemen hockey is now the pride of UMass athletics with its cumulative 3.5 GPA. The results in the rink are even more impressive, and again, it took just three years. UMass went from five-win humiliation in Carvel’s first year (“It wasn’t fun, by any means …”) to the 2019 NCAA title game.

The follow-up was even more impressive: a 21-victory campaign — without Cale Makar — in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season, then a shiny brass ring in their next spin on the NCAA merry-go-round. A combined 7-1 record in the national tournament, commencing in year three.

Everyone wants to know the “secret sauce” that has propelled UMass to college hockey’s pinnacle. Junior scoring star and Walter Brown Award winner Bobby Trivigno of Setauket, N.Y., did his best to spell it out.

“The culture is embedded in everything we do,” said Trivigno, using the current buzzword that has stoked the curiosity of the sporting world. “I can see how it’s a little confusing for everyone outside looking in. It’s just being the best at everything, not just playing the game. It’s off the ice, the way you handle yourself in a public setting, around the community, in school.”

Adding to the mystery of Randall’s blueprint is the fact that the master chooses not to discuss his methods. “I’m a private person and approach my work in the performance world in the same manner,” said Randall by email, “staying in the shadows of those I have the honor and privilege to work with.”

Freshman centerman Josh Lopina has interacted only virtually with the shadowy Randall. “I’ve never actually met him in person,” said Lopina from campus. “Over Zoom he got us into the culture of UMass hockey. I’ve learned so much from him. You become so much stronger mentally, able to overcome things maybe you couldn’t before.”

Lopina was pressed on specifics of the foundations of Randall’s teachings. “It’s our team values that we’ve picked out personally for our team. We talk about those, and breathing techniques, our work ethic, and integrity. The biggest thing is, leave the jersey in a better place than when it got there, because it’s a testament to the guys that have been here before us.”

Carvel will be the first to admit that the most important ingredient to the Minuteman “culture” is having quality kids such as Lopina. UMass assistants Jared DeMichiel and Ben Barr (now at UMaine) have been flooding the program with both talent and integrity the past four years. Senior Jake Gaudet was one of the original 13 recruits brought in to resurrect that infamous 29-loss team.

“He had a dream of competing at the national level,” said the captain about his coach, “of building a culture of good kids that worked really hard and are high character. Like-minded people willing to push themselves and learn from their mistakes.”

Carvel brims with gratitude for his first recruiting class and their contributions. “Jake Gaudet, captain of a national championship team; Matt Murray leads with (goaltending) records. We don’t establish the culture we have if those kids don’t turn it. I’ll always fondly remember them as ‘culture builders.’”

A product of small-town Canton, Carvel — much like his current players — benefitted immensely from selfless faculty while becoming a man. He spent two years developing into a Division 1 prospect at Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. That experience of hands-on educators investing in him colors his mission in Amherst. He does not mind playing strict father figure to impressionable players on the cusp of adulthood.

“We’re like parents, and they’re like our kids,” said an emotional Carvel after bagging the national championship. “Any good parent holds their kids to high standards and supports them in a way they feel cared for. That’s how we try to coach.”

It’s not hard to read between the lines of Carvel’s insistence on “high standards.” That means working them relentlessly, insisting on classroom excellence, and never being afraid to engage in straight talk.

“You have to build trust,” said Carvel. “You have to be honest at all times, having hard discussions, not (just) when it’s easy.”

Some of the hardest discussions Carvel has had the past three season are with his goaltenders, in particular the blunt truth he imbued on his talented stopper, Filip Lindberg.

“He came to me this summer and said, ‘I want to play more.’ I got angry at him,” said Carvel. “You want to play every game? Get a .940 save percentage and be under two goals per game. I know Matt (Murray) is a good goalie. If you want to play more, then be better than him!’ ”

Goaltending is a raw subject for Carvel on multiple levels: It leads to second guessing in the media; he’s privately struggled between two deserving goalies for the past three seasons; and he knows his decisions could stunt the development of Lindberg or Murray, or even both. Moments after recalling the hot confrontation with Lindberg, Carvel noticeably softened.

“It hasn’t been fair to either kid. It’s better that they own the net, and know they are going to play every night. I understand it wasn’t great for their development, but it was the circumstances. It’s not ideal for a goaltending situation.”

Despite the uncomfortable nature of those confrontations, Carvel followed the Randall blueprint, and reaped the ultimate reward.

“You’re not tiptoeing around, you’re attacking things. You go through your day deliberately attacking things. You do it as efficiently as possible, all things taught to us by Mark Randall.”

Lindberg has no hard feelings, especially in the glow of a national title. “It comes down to standards, what we do every day when we show up at the rink,” said Lindberg. “We worked hard every single day for big games like this. That’s what winning culture comes down to.”

Carvel is aware that the college hockey landscape is undergoing the equivalent of free agency via the transfer portal. He can only hope that the culture created by his staff and Randall will translate to player loyalty. Budding star Lopina has clearly bought in.

“This is the only place I want to be,” said Lopina. “It’s the only culture/team/campus I want to be part of. Yeah, I’m never leaving.”

And what about Carvel, the man who left his alma mater because of a new and bigger challenge? NHL fans on both coasts covet his services. Will the bright lights and a fat salary entice him to jump once again?

“I feel very fortunate to be where I am,” said Carvel from his UMass office. “I loved my time in the NHL, but I knew this is where I wanted to be because of the type of coach I am. What I want to do, the full human development, can’t be done at the NHL level. In pro, the player’s contract is determined on what they do individually, not what the team does.

“In college, during a season, everybody’s in, you’re not getting traded, not getting sent down, you can fully invest in people. It’s really strong stuff that lasts a lifetime.”