Ghilarducci jumps to collegiate hockey

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI

When the bantam AA Deux Rives Dauphins were eliminated in overtime by the Lakeshore Panthers in a sudden-death regional playoff hockey game last spring, Dauphins head coach Sam Ghilarducci was devastated.

Tears flowed down the Ile Bizard resident’s face, shed not only because his troops were sent packing, but because it was the end of the line for them as a group after achieving tremendous success beginning from the peewee level. Several players went on to try out for and make this year’s version of the midget AAA Lac St. Louis Lions, while others ended up on the midget espoir Lac St. Louis Tigers or at other levels.

Ghilarducci’s son Simon became a Tiger, causing many observers to surmise that would be where Sam would end up as well. It wasn’t to be. Instead, Ghilarducci answered an ad calling for a new head coach of the John Abbott College Lady Islanders to replace Al Smith, who was retiring after six years at the helm. Abbott athletic director Glenn Ruiter liked what he saw and hired him.

“I’m a head coach at heart,� said Ghilarducci, who led his peewee AA Dauphins to a bronze medal at the 2004 Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament, the best finish ever by a local team at he prestigious event. “Being an assistant coach is not in my genes, so that was not an alternative. I was looking for a challenge anyway, and the collegiate/university level is something I really believe in from an education viewpoint. Unfortunately, there is no CEGEP hockey for boys, so I decided to try it on the girls’ side.�Last September, Ghilarducci set off on a three-year plan that he hopes will lift an Abbott women’s hockey program that was literally saved from extinction last year by Smith to a level where it will not only thrive, but be able to compete on a constant basis with top teams like Dawson and St. Jerome.

The very first thing he did was change the club’s atmosphere, which he said felt a little too much like a country club, into one that reflected his own ethic of hard work and constant effort. Secondly, he tried to convince the 17 starters and four substitutes, all of who had no clue who he was, to play his brand of hockey, which is to give it your best effort at the best of your ability. It has been tough sledding so far, with the team hovering around, or slightly above, .500. However, it may have turned a corner recently by winning gold at the Thanksgiving Weekend Hockey Tournament in Pittsburgh.

Isles veteran goaltender Cindy Fortin believes one big difference Ghilarducci and his coaching staff has brought in this year is an extra practice per week. “We now practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and that prepares us better for Friday night games.�

Those practices, said Islanders captain Sarah Bachand, are fast-paced, featuring skating, skating and even more skating with everyone participating in all facets.

“I believe they’re building a program of excellence, one intended to make the players not only have fun out there, but to be able to win their share of games as well,� Bachand said.