Good morning!
The college hockey community was stunned this week to hear that Jack Arena had stepped down as the Amherst College hockey coach after 41 years and 539 wins.

According to a carefully worded press release, “Arena will continue work at Amherst in other capacities [including] talent evaluation as well as coaching development and mentorship.” 

Someone called it a “phased retirement.” How ridiculous.

Explaining his rationale he said, “I always thought it would be better to leave a year early than a year late.” 

That seems to mean he’d still be coaching if that light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t a speeding train filled with pronouns.

Amherst after all is an epicenter of woke ideology, and athletics isn’t a top priority. Arena quite likely sees his friend EJ Mills, the longtime football coach, being hamstrung by an indifferent admissions office and struggling to field a competitive football team. Twelve years ago Mills had the first of back-to-back undefeated seasons; this year he had two wins and eight total since 2023. It’s not easy making Mammoth soup out of mammoth crap.

Arena was born and raised in Randolph and attended Milton Academy, the same alma mater as T.S. Eliot, Robert F. Kennedy and Buckminster Fuller. He enrolled at Amherst, played hockey and finished tied for fourth on the school’s all-time scoring list. His senior season he was named the D-III player of the year.

After the coach left for a Division I school, the athletic director asked Arena if he wanted the job. “They went easy on me,” Arena said of coaching his former teammates, and an 18-5-1 record propelled him to 27 winning seasons, two trips to the D-III Frozen Four and three NESCAC titles, together with various coach of the year honors.

“Jack’s earned his place in the pantheon of college hockey coaches,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “He’s a very smart hockey guy but he’s also funny, humble and kind. That’s a rarity in this day and age.”

In 1997 Carvel was Arena’s grad assistant and joked, “I added nothing to the program but he became a mentor and a great life-long friend. I turned to him when I was deciding if I should take the UMass position. He told me I could win and I trusted him then as I have for close to thirty years. He’s been very good to me.”      

Arena’s last game was a double overtime loss to Colby College in the conference semifinals on March 1 in Waterville, Maine. “Jack and I have been coaching for a long time, 39 years for me,” Colby coach Blaise MacDonald said in a telephone interview. “I like to think we are special people and Jack undeniably is at the top of the list. He did it the right way, he took the long view and taught them to influence and support others.”

In an article in Amherst’s alumni magazine a few years ago, assistant coach Greg DiNardo said that wherever he was recruiting the last thing everyone said was, “Give my best to Jack.”

Indeed, Jack Arena will long be remembered for the good he has sewn.

Journalism’s the hunch play in today’s Kentucky Derby, although some will think I should wait for a more aptly named steed like Hack or Poison Pen. Owner Aaron Wellman said he gave his $825,000 colt that name because he was the sports editor of his high school newspaper in Beverly Hills.

“I’ve been accused at times of acting and sounding like a disgruntled sports writer,” Wellman told The Brief. “I embrace that and hope it bodes well for Journalism.”

At this writing Journalism had been bet down to 2-1 in advance wagering so there must be a lot of Damon Runyons out there.

Serious bettors would like to hear what John Dobrydnio thinks.

“The horse I’m keying on is Burnham Square. I’ll need a laboring track but this horse can run on all day long.”

Dobrydnio said he’d use Bob Baffert’s one horse Citizen Bull in the gimmicks “and you’re forced to use Journalism he’s such a nice horse, and somehow I gotta include the Japanese horse Luxor Cafe.”

Post time is 6:57 p.m. In the words of the late great Harvey Pack, may the horse be with you.

Scott Thayer is enjoying the sweet glow of success. His Pioneer Panthers hoops team wrapped up a perfect 26-0 season in March by winning the D-5 state title at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. “It’s time to enjoy the fruits of our labor and revel over something special,” said Thayer, whose grandfather F. Sumner Turner was the school’s first superintendent. “How many kids get a chance to go out as state champions?

“I’ve been coaching for 35 years and don’t know of any team that was 26-0,” he added. “We went out and played free and easy and had fun. The mind can strangle the body but we never feared losing.”

What now for Pioneer’s fab five? His son Brayden will do a PG year at NMH, assistant coach Fred Redeker’s nephew Kurt will attend St. John Fisher University in Rochester, N.Y., Alex McClelland is headed north to Vermont State University at Castleton, Ben Werner is undecided and Will Glazier and team manager Braeden Tsipenyuk will enroll at Springfield College.

“No matter where they go they’ll always be connected,” said Thayer.

■■■■    

High fives to Pioneer sophomore Natalie Rios who broke her own record in the javelin on Tuesday with a throw of 117 feet, 1 inch. “I’m proud of her,” said her father Pedro. “She’s a good student as well and a good person.”

High school hoops historian Mike Cadran has some all-time Western Mass. hoops records to report. Adam Harrington holds the career record for most career points. Harrington scored 2,347 points at Pioneer. After he graduated in 1998, Harrington played at NC State and Auburn and spent one season in the NBA. He’s currently the head coach of the Phantom BC of the Unrivaled League, a women’s professional 3-on-3 league. 

In Hatfield, Smith Academy’s Bob Kovalski holds the WMass mark for season scoring average (37.6) and most points in a season (865) both in 1961.

Springfield Central’s Travis Best holds the record for most points in a game with 81 for Springfield Central in 1991. Best played 708 games in 10 NBA seasons.

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir of the permanently closed New Leadership Charter School in Springfield holds every WMass schoolgirl record. In 2009 she averaged 41.8 points and her 878 points for the season lifted her to 3,070 overall. She subsequently played college ball at Memphis and Indiana State.

Four players from the MAC were taken in the draft: Toledo defensive tackle Darius Alexander (Giants); Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. (Browns); Western Michigan defensive back Bilhal Kone (Ravens) and Central Michigan DB Donte Kent (Steelers). Not a huge representation but more than were chosen from the Big Sky, Conference USA and Pac-12.

Condolences to Bill Pedigree on the passing of brother Bob at age 93 in Texas. Pedigree graduated from GHS in 1949, did a year at Deerfield, enrolled at UMass and captained the baseball team his senior year when it played in the College World Series under former TFHS coach Earl Lorden.

After college Pedigree played for the Cleveland Indians farm system in Double-A Reading and Triple A Mobile where he wed Jane Fowler to a long-term deal.

One sentence in the obituary summed up Pedigree’s time on earth: “Bob’s life was a testament to the strength of familial bonds and the joy of everyday moments.” 

SQUIBBERS: Draft analyst Dane Brugler to Ross Tucker: “Shedeur Sanders is a perfect example of how important the interview process is. He does plenty of good things, but when you go into the draft thinking you have all the leverage, that’s going to rub people the wrong way.” … We’ve been hearing that a Greenfield golfer with country club connections won $100,000 by predicting in exact order the top six Masters finishers: Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Patrick Reed, Scottie Sheffler, S.J. Im, and Bryson DeChambeau. … In D-III softball news, Springfield College pitcher Lily McAuliffe leads the nation with a 0.60 ERA, and Williams College pitcher Sadie Leonard leads the nation in strikeouts with 208 in 115.1 innings. … BSJ’s Greg Bedard was hoping the Patriots would use their third pick on tight end Mason Taylor of LSU. “I covered his father Jason with the Miami Dolphins and his uncle Zach Thomas. Great family.” Alas, the Jets took Taylor in the second round with the 42nd overall selection and the Pats took Washington State wide receiver Kyle Williams with the 69th pick. … In case you’re wondering, the Red Sox and Yankees don’t meet until early next month when they play three games in New York and three in Boston sandwiched by three games at Fenway versus the Rays. …Robert Parish played 14 seasons for the Celtics but quite possibly the first time he played in Massachusetts was when Centenary lost to Charlotte, 69-66, in a benefit game at the Springfield Civic Center on Nov. 29, 1974. … TMZ reports that Bill Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson calls herself the Chief Operating Officer of Belichick Productions. Bill Parcells must be rolling his eyes, but we’ve all been there.

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@gmail.com