Flanagan Starts Building Orange Women's Ice Hockey Program
4/17/2008 10:23:20 AM | Ice Hockey
New Syracuse women's ice hockey coach Paul Flanagan was on campus on Wednesday, April 16 to begin building the Department of Athletics newest program. Flanagan spent the day familiarizing himself with the city and the campus and met with recruits. Flanagan recently returned from the IIHG Women's World Championship in China. He served as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team that won the gold medal.
"This is my first real day here. Having been born and raised and living most of my life in northern New York, all I've done is drive through Syracuse on Interstate 81," Flanagan said. "Now I get the chance to experience the campus firsthand. I'm getting a feel for the campus and the campus community."
Flanagan's first priorities are to hire his staff and put together the roster that will take the ice in October.
"There's been a great response, I've received a ton of e-mails," Flanagan said of his recruiting efforts. "There's a lot of interest which speaks well for Syracuse University and the reputation of the school. Obviously the Athletics Department draws people here initially. It will my job and the job of the staff to get this thing up and running."
Flanagan comes to Syracuse from St. Lawrence where he led the Saints to five Frozen Four appearances and he is looking for specific qualities in the student-athletes he brings to Syracuse to start the Orange program.
"It's important to get some quality kids, real character kids that come here for the right reason," Flanagan said. "We want kids who understand they are going to be part of something special - to build a program from the ground up."
Recruits who are interested in obtaining more information about the Syracuse women's ice hockey program can e-mail Coach Flanagan at PjFlan01@syr.edu.
