Ice Hockey Head Coach Matt Alvey elected into college’s Hall of Fame
Staff Writer
Ice hockey head coach Matt Alvey was inducted into his university’s Hall of Fame with the rest of his hockey team on Oct. 25. Alvey played college hockey for the Lake Superior State University Lakers, where they just celebrated their 20th anniversary of their Men’s Division I College National Championship 9-1 win over Boston University in 1994.
Alvey recorded the game winning goal in the game.
Two weeks ago, the whole team was brought back to Marie, Michigan where they were inducted into the Hall of Fame. “It’s good to know that people still recognize that it’s a good achievement that we had”, said Alvey when referring to going back to LSSU for the induction ceremony.
“I hadn’t been there in 17 years, but I wanted to go back now that I had a family to show them where all of my stories had come from. It was great to get back to see some old friends and talk about old times,” said Alvey.
In order to get to that game, Alvey and the Lakers had a tough road. After a 3-0 loss to Michigan in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association conference tournament, the Lakers received an at-large bid to get into the national tournament. They faced Michigan again in the semifinals and winner of that game would advance to the frozen four. Michigan had beaten Lake Superior State all four meetings prior to the national’s matchup.
This time it was the Lakers who would beat the Wolverines when things had mattered the most. The Lakers ended up winning 5-4 in overtime.
“It felt fantastic to beat Michigan,” said Alvey. The Lakers and the Wolverines shared the same division, which was one of the best in Division I hockey.
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association dissolved in 2013 to make way for the Big 10 hockey conference. The CCHA was a powerhouse conference in the college hockey landscape and was home to a quarter of the teams that played in the NCAA national hockey tournament in 1994.
“It was an absolute awesome hockey league that we played in,” said Alvey. He also stated that “it was sad to see it go.” Many compare the demise of the CCHA to the Big East Conference, which recently has done the same.
In regards to his favorite part of his college days, Alvey said it was the “camaraderie with his teammates.”
“We spent all of our time together as a team and we did everything together,” he said. Even though Lake Superior State was a DI school, it still had only about 2,600 students. The community and the hockey team were a tight knit group.
“Once you turn pro you don’t have that experience anymore. After the game ends, everyone goes their separate ways,” said Alvey.
Alvey was drafted in the second round in 1993 by the Boston Bruins. He played in the AHL for five seasons before injuries took a toll and forced him out of the playing side of the game.
Now coaching the Vikings, Alvey earned Region III coach of the year last year. He also took the Vikings to nationals for the second straight year and hopes to do the same for this upcoming season.
Coach Alvey had a couple different goals in mind for the upcoming season. “Our goal is always to win game number one”, said Alvey, which they did. He then said that his main goal was to make sure “his student athletes were doing well in the classroom.”
This Saturday, the Vikings will host the Broome Hornets out of Binghamton at 1 p.m. for their first home game of the season.