2008 Woodie Awards
A sense of ice
Ryan Young - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
On Nov. 11, IceHawks head coach Kevin Harter stood high above a sea of helmet-covered heads. Dressed in a black polyester jumpsuit and a matching baseball cap, he directed his budding troops on the ice from his perch on the bench.
But at just 25, Harter is only a few years older than his senior players. His boyishly round face and the silver earring he sports on his left earlobe helped earn him the title as the youngest coach in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association.
"A lot of referees will skate right by me and go to [assistant] coach [Simon] Excoffon, just because he's older, and they'll introduce themselves," Harter said. "Now that I've been around this league for a few years, guys have started to recognize my face and given me a little bit more respect, as the years have gone along."
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Despite being a third-year head coach, Harter is no stranger to the team or the game. Over the course of his college career, he played one semester at Division-I Nebraska-Omaha as a freshman before transferring to Iowa, where he played goaltender for the next three years.
But when Harter's senior year came to an end, he was presented with an unusual proposition.
As a club team, the IceHawks had never required a head coach, and when the league implemented a new rule demanding one to be present at all games, they were left with no one to take over. Immediately, Harter struck while the ice was coldest and decided to become the new head coach.
"I wanted to take the next step to coaching, so I jumped at it," he said. "I saw it as an extension of my playing days, now that they were over."
Harter was 22 when he took over the reins in his first season, and, awkwardly enough, he found himself coaching the same players he had grown up with throughout his career.
"I caught a lot of flack for a long time the entire first season," he said. "The second season, guys let the authority figure in me take over and understood it was necessary to advance the program as a whole."
Initially during his first season, Harter sought to continue building on camaraderie, but as the year came to a close, he realized it would wind up better than expected. In 2005, the team ended with a record of 14-9-1, as well as a Silver division conference trophy - the first in club history.
The following season, the squad made the playoffs again but lost to McKendree College in an upset.
Harter is planning for this winter to be his last in Iowa City; he has tentative plans to become a high-school hockey coach. Overseeing the IceHawks the last three years has been a tremendous stride toward his goal, he said.
"Watching the program over the years has given me a great background and a good steppingstone to get started and get to that next level," he said. "Being my age and with my lack of experience, this was a gigantic opportunity for me."
E-mail DI reporter Ryan Young at:
ryan-c-young@uiowa.edu
Related stories:
But at just 25, Harter is only a few years older than his senior players. His boyishly round face and the silver earring he sports on his left earlobe helped earn him the title as the youngest coach in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association.
"A lot of referees will skate right by me and go to [assistant] coach [Simon] Excoffon, just because he's older, and they'll introduce themselves," Harter said. "Now that I've been around this league for a few years, guys have started to recognize my face and given me a little bit more respect, as the years have gone along."
( Video feature )
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Despite being a third-year head coach, Harter is no stranger to the team or the game. Over the course of his college career, he played one semester at Division-I Nebraska-Omaha as a freshman before transferring to Iowa, where he played goaltender for the next three years.
But when Harter's senior year came to an end, he was presented with an unusual proposition.
As a club team, the IceHawks had never required a head coach, and when the league implemented a new rule demanding one to be present at all games, they were left with no one to take over. Immediately, Harter struck while the ice was coldest and decided to become the new head coach.
"I wanted to take the next step to coaching, so I jumped at it," he said. "I saw it as an extension of my playing days, now that they were over."
Harter was 22 when he took over the reins in his first season, and, awkwardly enough, he found himself coaching the same players he had grown up with throughout his career.
"I caught a lot of flack for a long time the entire first season," he said. "The second season, guys let the authority figure in me take over and understood it was necessary to advance the program as a whole."
Initially during his first season, Harter sought to continue building on camaraderie, but as the year came to a close, he realized it would wind up better than expected. In 2005, the team ended with a record of 14-9-1, as well as a Silver division conference trophy - the first in club history.
The following season, the squad made the playoffs again but lost to McKendree College in an upset.
Harter is planning for this winter to be his last in Iowa City; he has tentative plans to become a high-school hockey coach. Overseeing the IceHawks the last three years has been a tremendous stride toward his goal, he said.
"Watching the program over the years has given me a great background and a good steppingstone to get started and get to that next level," he said. "Being my age and with my lack of experience, this was a gigantic opportunity for me."
E-mail DI reporter Ryan Young at:
ryan-c-young@uiowa.edu
Related stories:
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