One of the first things Paul Flanagan sees are the banners. Every morning he walks into the back entrance of Tennity Ice Pavilion, makes sure the ice is ready and identifies the blue pieces of felt that represent the last 12 years of his career.

In March 2019, after six second-place finishes in the College Hockey America tournament, Flanagan’s Syracuse ice hockey team finally won. A team that could never string together a consistent weekend of hockey won three games in three days. SU coaches said that of all the teams to make the run, last season’s was among the least-likely. The phones of Flanagan’s assistant coaches, Brendon Knight and Julie Knerr, buzzed. A ring company sent Flanagan an email asking for sizes. He then tabbed Knight, a graphic design buff, to handle the banners — one for the CHA title, the other for the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance.

Flanagan had the spot for the banners picked already. High above Tennity’s rink, directly over the SU bench and across from the stands. They’re pinned to the rafters, as if the angled roof of Tennity spat them up. Among the seven others hanging in Tennity, the SU title banners stick out.

“It’s not a big rink,” Flanagan said, “so (the banners) are right there. It’s not like we’re in this cavernous arena.”

Flanagan’s 2019-20 campaign, his 12th at Syracuse (1-9) and 21st overall, could’ve been a victory tour. Instead, it’s been the worst start in program history. The Orange paired one-goal losses against ranked opponents with blowouts. Conference play can either turn the season around — SU has won 49% of its CHA games, opposed to 33.5% non-conference — or confound its problems. That’s just on the ice.

Other coaches in the CHA still leverage their facilities against Tennity in recruiting battles, coaches said. And while Syracuse’s athletic department applauded the NCAA berth, it hasn’t resulted in more money or resources directly for the program (in 2016, the university spent $2.4 million on the program, first in the CHA). Aside from the locker room, Tennity hasn’t been renovated in its 19-year history, 12 of which it’s housed Division I games. Currently, the university is continuing its $118 million campus framework plan that includes renovations to the Carrier Dome, a plan Flanagan said will have residual positives for the athletic department and ice hockey program.

As of Wednesday evening, Syracuse’s athletic department did not respond to a request for comment regarding any future plans to renovate Tennity.

Eva Suppa | Digital Design Editor

One of 11 coaches in women’s college hockey’s 300-win club, Flanagan hears the critiques of his program, understands the limits, and doesn’t care. It’s his nature as a coach. The tropes of the profession — constantly-motivated, hyper-competitive — are ingrained in Flanagan, who’s known for speaking in axioms. He knew what he was getting into when accepted the Syracuse job, leaving a legacy position at his alma mater when SU had yet to build him an office.

With the CHA tournament now the only chance at an NCAA bid, Flanagan and the Orange will once again have a chance to answer the concerns.

• • •

During his first months at Syracuse, Flanagan guided recruits and their parents through Tennity and out a side door to a grove of oak trees. He’d point to a handful of stumps and showed them where the team’s locker room would be. To the side was an artist’s mock-up of the unit with a health center, weight room and coaches office. Like much of Flanagan’s early days on campus, his recruiting pitch was built on promise.

Knight, then a head coach at Hamilton College, and other coaches took notice when Flanagan left St. Lawrence for SU. The sport seemed to be growing. A premier school in the Atlantic Coast Conference was starting a hockey program and secured a perennial Frozen Four contending coach at the helm. Rumors swirled in the coaching community about how much Syracuse paid to lure Flanagan.

“I joke with him all the time about the money,” Knight said, “But it really was a big deal.”

Flanagan graduated from St. Lawrence in 1980 as a team captain, joined the men’s coaching staff as an assistant in 1998 and took over the women’s team later that year. The Saints never slipped outside the top-eight during Flanagan’s tenure. His old boss, former St. Lawrence head coach Joe Marsh, was there for 26 years and “mentored” Flanagan, teaching him about longevity.

Flanagan, 63, was 52 when he received two phone calls. One from Jamie Mullin, an SU senior associate athletics director, and the other from another smaller school’s athletic department. Syracuse’s academic standing and large campus appealed to Flanagan as recruiting tools even though he wasn’t sure if they had a rink on campus. In May 2008, he signed a five-year contract. It’d be a program built from scratch, but it’d be his.

“(Syracuse) had no infrastructure. There was nothing,” Flanagan said regarding the facilities. “I knew I was going to take a huge step back.”

Daily Orange File Photo

When Flanagan arrived at Manley Field House for his first day, Flanagan found Mullin and asked where his office was. “We’re working on that,” Mullin responded jokingly. For his initial weeks on the job, Flanagan temporarily operated out of Mullin’s office with a phone and a directive: He had five months to build a team. Most new programs take a season to recruit and hire a staff, Flanagan said, but SU expedited the process.

Before his first time hosting a group of recruits at Syracuse, Flanagan went to the Marshall St. Sheraton lobby and grabbed a map of campus. He still lived in Canton, two hours away, and didn’t know his way around. Acting as a tour guide, he learned his new environment with the recruits.

The Orange rented a storage pod behind the arena for equipment in its first season. The team shared a locker room with the university’s men’s club hockey team. On Tuesday nights, the Division I program had to move its gear for intramural games. A trainer hauled a portable skate sharpener around underneath the bleachers. When Knight arrived at the facility in 2012, he didn’t know if they played half their games at the War Memorial Arena in downtown Syracuse.

Syracuse won nine games in its first season. Though temporarily ranked in 2009, it settled in the CHA — a lower-tier conference. It hasn’t been ranked since. Flanagan knew that coaches were judged on wins, though he saw a bigger picture. His wife had settled in her new job, and they liked living in a bigger city. He believed in the on-ice progression.

“We felt that we were doing the right things and sooner or later we’d break through,” Flanagan said.

Eva Suppa | Digital Design Editor

• • •

Weeks after returning from an NCAA tournament defeat to Wisconsin in March 2019, Flanagan was shoveling his driveway at his Fayetteville home when a neighbor up the street walked outside. All they’d ever do is wave and exchange small talk. Flanagan knew his name was Dave and he was a New York Rangers fan. But this time, Dave yelled from his doorway.

“Hey,” Flanagan remembered hearing, “fabulous season!”

Other Syracuse coaches have had similar interactions in the last few months, they said. Around the university, there seemed to be more interest in the NCAA tournament appearance itself — not the rollercoaster season that preceded it.

After starting 4-6-1, SU skid through 10 straight losses, a program record. The coaching staff wondered about their jobs. Then, the Orange defeated Robert Morris in overtime in the regular season to break the streak. On Mar. 6, they kickstarted an offensive run of 4.67 goals per contest in the CHA tournament, toppling RMU in the title game, 6-2.

During the two-hour bus ride from Buffalo to campus, there wasn’t a moment of silence. Players sung and chanted, all gathering near the front of the bus. Former players buzzed Knerr, a member of two prior Orange teams who lost in the title game. Knight had 50 text messages, most of which came from coaches around the sport. Before Flanagan started thinking about the banners, he found himself in his seat, hearing the euphoria around him and started to reflect.

Flanagan ranks seventh among active coaches with 394 career wins. He’s won international trophies, coached gold medalists and had just built a program from nothing into a champion. The bus rides are always the best part.

Ally Walsh | Staff Photographer

• • •

Before a recent early morning practice, Flanagan parked his car behind Tennity and walked into the video room for a one-on-one meeting with a player. Despite the highs of last March, Flanagan is looking for answers.

Mostly, it’s been a season of missed opportunities. SU’s veteran roster had scored three goals in its last three contests, before erupting for five against Union on Oct. 29. Coaches wondered if two early season losses to then-No. 3 Clarkson and No. 7 BC bounced into wins, could they be ranked? Flanagan has scarcely referenced the CHA title to his team, usually only bringing it up when he thinks there’s a lack of hustle.

“We didn’t have anything tangible to fall back on,” Flanagan said.

The CHA title victory also hasn’t changed the state of Syracuse’s facilities. Tennity is operated by SU’s Recreational Services. It features the hockey rink and a smaller figure skating rink near its entrance. A few years ago during the national anthem performances pregame, the smaller rink would be full of kids skating around — which could be seen on SU’s game film shared with other teams.

On the recruiting trail, a facility’s quality can swing a commit. This makes the banners a recruiting tool, and the team spent months finalizing where they’d put them. Others, like the athletic department and recreational services, had their own ideas. Flanagan wanted the banners across the stands, so that fans, recruits and any broadcasts can catch sight of them.

Eva Suppa | Digital Design Editor

Last August, Flanagan’s old school, St. Lawrence, a D-I hockey program, initiated an $18 million arena renovation project. While Orange coaches consider their locker room one of the best in the conference, Flanagan met with a university architect last spring to address the rest of Tennity. The program’s wish list includes heat for the arena, individual seating and more parking in the soon-to-be 20-year-old venue. Currently, the program’s operating budget accounts for a $150 daily payment to Rec Services to rent out the ice.

“We know where we stand in the hierarchy,” Flanagan said. “We get that, in terms of the athletic department. We get it as coaches, our kids get it. But when you feel like you’re part of an awesome athletic department and the university as a whole, it makes you feel good about what you’re doing. When your time comes, you relish it.”

While prepping for Princeton earlier this season, Flanagan received an email about the men’s club hockey team’s upcoming hall of fame weekend. As part of the ceremonies, the email said the team plans to hoist a banner for the title they won last season.

Flanagan doesn’t know where it will be raised.

Published on October 30, 2019 at 11:31 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez