Creating the Dynasty: Three More Men's NCAA Teams to be Inducted into Hall of Fame
Photo by Mike Dickie from the 2009 Harris Cup Championship
Two years ago, I wrote a piece about the inaugural Men's NCAA team and the beginning of the dynasty that became the Men's NCAA hockey team here at Adrian College when they were inducted into the Adrian College Athletics Hall of Fame in September 2017. It was recently announced that the three teams from the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 teams will take their places alongside the inaugural team in the Athletics Hall of Fame this fall.
While the inaugural Men's NCAA team was the beginning of a dynasty, the three teams that followed and the first recruiting class to graduate as Bulldogs undoubtedly were the reason that the team ultimately was a dynasty.
The 2008-09 season began just as the inaugural season ended, with win after win. The Bulldogs continued to steamroll through the MCHA as they went undefeated through their second straight season in the league and won the Harris Cup yet again, this time in front of their hometown crowd as they thumped MSOE 7-1. They outscored their opponents 189-49 that season while scoring 70 power play goals and only losing one game all season and tying once.
Their third season in 2009-10 went nearly the same way with the Bulldogs scoring 188 goals while only allowing 69 through 28 games where they went 24-4. The team went on to win the regular season and Harris Cup yet again in front of a home crowd that season and earned their first berth into the NCAA DIII National Tournament where they fell to the St. Norbert College Green Knights in the first round of the tournament.
The 2010-11 season would see the same results with another regular season and Harris Cup title for the Bulldogs and another berth to the NCAA Tournament. This time, the Bulldogs went all the way to the National Championship Game. Unfortunately, the historic first graduating class ended their careers in 2011 with a loss in the National Championship Game to the St. Norbert Green Knights.
"It was a tremendous accomplishment for our program to make it to the National Championship game within the first four years of our program," said former forward and now Women's NCAA Head Coach Shawn Skelly, "That speaks highly of how well our coaches recruited and put together a really good team in order to make it all the way to the last game of the year. This accomplishment was amazing and the worst thing ever at the same time because of the heartbreak losing in the final our senior year but at the end of the day we had the opportunity to put Adrian College on the college hockey map on a National scale and it has only grown since our class went through here. That also is a very humbling experience to be a part of."
While that second place finish was heartbreaking at the time, it showed just how great the Adrian College Hockey program had become in just four short years. The Bulldogs had already made a name for themselves in the MCHA (now the NCHA), winning the regular season and playoff titles all four seasons and compiling a 38-1-1 conference record and a 76-18-2 record in three seasons, but now the Bulldogs were making a name for themselves at the national level.
In that final season for the inaugural recruiting class, Skelly would become the program's first player to be named First Team All American.
After thirteen seasons of hockey at Adrian College, it comes as no surprise when players sign to Amateur Tryout Contracts when their senior year of hockey comes to a close and each summer more and more graduated seniors seem to be signing pro contracts. But back in 2007 when the program first began, it wasn't exactly expected to see players graduate and continue their hockey career and there are many people who still think that Division III athletes don't have a good chance of continuing their careers beyond college.
But now Head Coach and inaugural captain Adam Krug became the first Bulldog to go pro in 2010 when he signed in a league in the Netherlands and headed off to Europe. Six members of the Class of 2011 joined him as "Pro-Dawgs" after their careers came to a close at the end of the 2010-11 season.
Skelly played professional hockey for five years in the SPHL and ECHL. He then came back to Adrian in 2016 as an assistant coach for the women's NCAA team, then for his former team in 2017 before being named the head coach of the Women's NCAA team last summer.
"Going into my senior year I had a thought that I would love to get the opportunity to continue my hockey career beyond Adrian College," said Skelly, "Fortunately, our team was able to have a great season during my senior year which helped put me in a good spot to get signed to play pro hockey immediately after our conclusion of our season."
Goaltender Brad Fogal went on to play in the CHL, ECHL and SPHL in his professional career that lasted through the 2014-15 season.
Defenseman Jeremy Klaver would play in the SPHL and ECHL before retiring after the 2013-14 season.
Forward Mike Towns went on to play in the SPHL, CHL and ECHL before retiring at the end of the 2013-14 season and beginning a career in coaching. Towns currently coaches at American International College as an Associate Head Coach.
Forward Kyle Watson spent three seasons in the SPHL after graduating from Adrian.
Forward Joel Workman spent a season playing professionally in the Czech Republic the season following his senior year at Adrian,
Since the historic inaugural recruiting class played their final games as Bulldogs in 2011, twenty-four former Bulldogs have taken their talents to various pro leagues throughout North America and Europe. There's no doubt that the Class of 2011 and those on the first four Bulldog hockey squad set the bar high for the future of Bulldog hockey.
"Our program has developed some really good pro hockey players and being an alum watching and coaching these players has been a pleasure to see," said Skelly, who not only saw many of his teammates go pro but had three of his players from the Women's NCAA sign NWHL contracts after his first year as assistant coach, "As the program continues its progression to the top in the country, it will only continue to produce good pro hockey players in multiple leagues."
Photo by Mike Dickie
The three teams will be inducted into the Adrian College Athletics Hall of Fame and join the inaugural team as a part of Adrian College Athletics history forever.
"It's beyond humbling to have all four teams during my college career be inducted into the Hall of Fame," said Skelly, "I know all of my teammates from those year feel the same way and we had so much success during those amazing four years that it's great to see the school acknowledge our program's accomplishments. I couldn't thank our administration enough for starting hockey in 2007 and it was an unreal experience to be a part of the first ever class to graduate through the hockey program here at Adrian. And as all my teammates would say, thanks so much to our coach Ron Fogarty for bringing such an amazing group together to start a brotherhood and a tradition that will never graduate."
The Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on September 19th as a part of the homecoming festivities.
Special thanks to Mike Dickie for these "vintage" photos he sent me back in 2017.