Article in the Troy Record discussing Ned Harkness's health which has been deteriorating recently: http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=20128597&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=665218&rfi=8 Today is is his 89th birthday.
It is being reported in the Capital District that he has passed away. :-(
http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2008/9/19/MHOCK_0919081903.aspx?path=hockey
:`-(
Cornell Athletics' article (http://cornellbigred.com/news/2008/9/19/MICE_0919082724.aspx) - a longer article is promised later.
Sad - but he lived to be 89 and accomplished a hell of a lot. RIP, Ned.
Well that sucks.
How many people helped an entire quarter of a conference come into existence?
God Speed, Ned.
Through college hockey, you've brought a tremendous amount of enjoyment into my life for the past 40+ years. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to thank you for all of this.
My life would have been different if Ned had not come to Ithaca..... ::cry::
[quote French Rage]Well that sucks.
How many people helped an entire quarter of a conference come into existence?[/quote]
I shouldn't belittle Harkness's achievements, especially at this time, but couldn't one also say that about someone at each of the 4 CHA schools? (Actually, he didn't start the programs at any of the 3 ECAC schools. He restarted those at RPI and Union after long absences and got Cornell's program out of the doldrums.)
Very sad.
I like the tribute on the eLynah Forum logo, Age.
Classy banner on the homepage logo, Age.
[quote ursusminor][quote French Rage]Well that sucks.
How many people helped an entire quarter of a conference come into existence?[/quote]
I shouldn't belittle Harkness's achievements, especially at this time, but couldn't one also say that about someone at each of the 4 CHA schools? (Actually, he didn't start the programs at any of the 3 ECAC schools. He restarted those at RPI and Union after long absences and got Cornell's program out of the doldrums.)[/quote]
- The difference would be that the ECAC schools won 3 national titles in his time whereas the CHA won none.
- I suppose I shouldn't have said "come into existence" as much as "stay in existence".
In addition to the main article on Ned's passing on the Cornell Big Red site, there is a reprint of a 2006 interview: "A Visit With A Legend: Catching Up With Ned Harkness" http://cornellbigred.com/news/2008/9/19/MICE_0919085335.aspx The two players in the background of the photo on that page are Brian Cropper and Brian McCutcheon.
A number of of photos of Ned and others: http://cornellbigred.com/custompages/gallery/080919_Harkness/
And a tribute from RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2008/9/19/MHOCK_0919081903.aspx
An article by Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette: http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/sep/19/Harkness_919/
His passing is a great loss for all of College Hockey and its fans.
Rest in peace Ned.
I had just moved to the Capital District when Union announced Ned as their coach, before they even built their rink. One day I came home to find Ned's business card stuck in my screen door - he actually was going door-to-door to promote his team.
I bought season tickets the same day, figuring I'd sit through a losing season or two, but after that they would sell out.
Wrong.
His first team was all freshmen (admittedly, some were really old freshmen) and they immediately started winning, and three or four games into the season Achilles rink was already sold out. Like at Lynah, fans would arrive when the doors opened and the place would be rocking before the team took the ice as Starship's "Miracles" blared through the speakers.
They made the ECAC Div III playoffs that first year, losing to Army who just out-muscled them in the quarterfinal round.
His second year had two highlights. In the first, his still Div III team beat the Div I National number 1 ranked UNH in a game played during a white-out snowstorm. In spite of that storm, the rink was still at SRO, chanting and howling as the UNH team arrived late to the rink and had to walk in with their bags over their shoulders past a screaming howling crowd. Beautiful. The second highlight was the Division III ECAC championship game, which the entirely Frosh-Soph team narrowly lost.
Sadly, the next year the program imploded when campus politics and a NESCAC recruiting violation resulted in Ned resigning. His whole team showed their support by resigning with him. Achilles Rink turned into a ghost town, as the Union AD tried to finish the schedule with whoever was on campus and willing to skate.
Many of those Union players transferred to Colgate, and as fate would have it, Colgate was scheduled to play at Union the next season. For that game, the fans packed the arena again. That game was notable for a huge brawl when Union students threw things at the Colgate bench, players went over the glass and police had to restore order.
It was many years before Union could rebuild even a Div III team, and I give (grudging) credit to their athletic administration that they resuscitated the program to today's Div I team that gets some strong support. But they still can't get back the atmosphere, community support, and clearly, the on-ice success that Ned brought.
Ned had been brought in by Union's President to rebuild the hockey program. There was a faction who felt that Admission standards had been lowered to bring in certain hockey players and that hockey skill should not be a factor in Admission decisions. This became a heated debate involving faculty members and press. The final straw that prompted Ned's resignation was when someone in Admissions leaked the GPA's of the entire hockey team to the school paper, which published them. Ned felt that if his players couldn't be assured of the same privacy as other students, it was time to move on.
Ned Harkness memorial service.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=728733&category=SPORTS
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/oct/11/service-rekindles-blades-gm-brushs-fond-memories-h/
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/10/12/news/local/doc48f0e36e28e97672320365.txt
[quote ursusminor]Ned Harkness memorial service.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=728733&category=SPORTS
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/oct/11/service-rekindles-blades-gm-brushs-fond-memories-h/
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/10/12/news/local/doc48f0e36e28e97672320365.txt[/quote]
Thanks, but I couldn't get the Post-Star link to work. This may work. (http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/10/12/news/local/13996381.txt)
Memories of Ned Harkness in the Rensselaer Magazine (RPI's alumni mag) http://www.rpi.edu/dept/metasite/news/magazine/dec2008/one_last_thing.html and http://www.rpi.edu/dept/metasite/news/magazine/dec2008/mail.html. Also note that PDF file attached to the first link http://www.rpi.edu/dept/metasite/news/magazine/dec2008/Celebrating_Ned_Harkness.pdf.
This RPI tribute to Uncle Ned http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RPIathletics#p/u/2/Pi4J7xA6rUA was posted a couple of days ago. I don't know why it was just posted, but IMHO it was quite well done. Conceivably it is shown in the Harkness room at RPI's ECAV. It doesn't get to Cornell until about 4:50.
Rensselaer did a nice job. Thanks for posting the link, Ralph.