Robert Morris changes course and plans to resuscitate men’s and women’s hockey programs

Robert Morris hockey could have a way back to existence.

Three months after university officials announced they were eliminating the men’s and women’s hockey programs, the school said on Wednesday it had turned the tide and hopes to resuscitate the programs.

University officials said they would work with the newly formed Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation to raise funds to keep the two programs afloat.

Robert Morris announced that he would partner with the foundation “in an effort to raise sufficient funds to support the reestablishment of RMU’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s ice hockey programs in time for the 2021 season. -22 “.

Representatives of the school and the foundation met on Monday, the statement said. They agreed to work on what was needed in terms of raising “enough additional funds by July 31 to bring the teams back and position them to be financially viable for the foreseeable future – with an overall fundraising goal of $ 7 million over the next five years. ”

“I would say they don’t need to have all the $ 7 million raised by then, but we will assess by the end of July whether there is a clear path to long-term sustainability,” Sporting director Chris King told the Trib. “We kind of need to assess what kind of momentum and (what) potential funding reality is that might be able to restore the programs.”

When asked if this was still a questionable situation, King replied “yes”.

The foundation was established shortly after the university decided to cut the programs on May 26. It is made up of former players, family members and Colonial hockey supporters who have dedicated themselves to the efforts to keep RMU hockey alive.

Brianne McLaughlin, a former Olympic goaltender who is an alumnus of the women’s team, heads the board. Her husband, Logan Bittle, is a former men’s team and a former assistant coach of the women’s program.

“The plan is to save the programs,” McLaughlin said. “The plan we have in place is not to save the programs for a year or two, but to save them for the long term. The plan from our point of view is that we don’t want to bring the programs back just to stop them again. We are raising funds to save these teams.

To date, the organization claims to have raised more than $ 500,000 in funds.

RMU’s change of mind comes 15 days after a coalition of players retained the services of lawyer Jeffrey Kessler. He was the lawyer who successfully represented the athletes in a 9-0 Supreme Court decision against the NCAA in June. But he is perhaps best known in Pittsburgh as Tom Brady’s lawyer in his legal battle against the NFL in “Deflategate.”

Kessler had also recently sailed in re-establishing some programs that had been cut at Stanford under similar circumstances to Robert Morris.

A second legal investigation emerged from Ohio the same day Kessler contacted RMU on behalf of the players. It came from Cleveland lawyer Kevin Spellacy, whose son Aidan was a colonial during the first three seasons of his college career.

The decision to cut programs came after both teams enjoyed successful seasons. The women’s team won the CHA conference and made it to the NCAA tournament. The men won the Western Division of the Atlantic hockey regular season.

University officials have come under heavy criticism from media and gamers for the way they exposed the program cuts and for the timing of the announcement.

Players learned that the teams were eliminated on May 26 in a hastily organized 15-minute virtual meeting. It was at least three weeks after school officials formalized their intention to disband the teams.

It was also more than two months after seasons ended – well in an offseason that featured an NCAA transfer portal that was already bloated due to relaxed regulations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the complaints from the players was that university officials have blocked fundraising attempts. Notably, RMU administrators seemed less interested in exploring options regarding rink upgrades at RMU Island Sports Center or perhaps partnering with the Penguins on plans to expand the UPMC Lemieux sports complex in Cranberry.

Now the parties have moved on to the other side of those conversations to cooperation.

“It’s a two-way street of trust,” Bittle said. “You just have to know that at the end of the day, the players and the coaches and anyone who has been affected by it is always Robert Morris. It is still our school. Whether you are a former of what we have built or a current player of what you are currently building, the most important thing is that the decision was made and it was difficult, but now we are back in the same. team. We are back on the same page. We are collecting this money to save these programs.

For players and coaches, the excitement generated by Wednesday’s announcement will be tempered by a tidal wave of questions.

For Colonials who have already been transferred, can they come back and do they even want to? Sources within the sports department told TribLIVE that head coaches Derek Schooley (men) and Paul Colontino (women) are technically no longer under contract. On the contrary, they worked under the terms of their separation agreements. Will Schooley and Colontino have to reapply or just be reinstated? That’s if they still want the jobs, let alone the task of replacing some assistants who are gone.

And, at least on the men’s side, the Colonials are no longer part of the next Atlantic hockey calendar. They need to plan games and maybe find a conference that will host them for 2021-2022, or ask Atlantic Hockey to reinstate them.

This is all set to happen as coaches put together a roster, restart recruiting efforts for next year’s class, and ostensibly resurrect programs left for dead.

“Our focus right now is to fundraise here over the next few weeks, see the teams reinstate, so that’s when we’ll have these discussions,” King said.

Despite the massive undertaking, Bittle said the goal is for teams to train by September or early October.