A changing of the old guard
For decades, Dan Shine and Bob Conceison enjoyed unique vantage points of their respective hockey teams from behind the bench.
Their new reality, as retired coaches, became official Wednesday night, when Arlington Catholic and Burlington opened their respective 2022-23 seasons with new hires in place.
Shine, still directing the athletic department at Arlington Catholic after a 44-year run as coach, watched the Cougars skate to a 2-0 Catholic Central win over Bishop Feehan at Ed Burns Arena. On the bench? One of his former players, Curt Colarullo (Class of 1997), a forward on the school’s Super 8 winner his senior year.
Conceison, who guided Burlington for 35 seasons, was at O’Brien Rink as a spectator as the Red Devils dropped a 2-1 Middlesex League decision to Winchester, with his son, 2002-03 captain Bob Conceison Jr., in charge after a 10-year stint as his father’s assistant.
“I feel like I’ve been a part of the program for a long time, as a fan when I was young, then playing for Burlington, then the last 10 years on the coaching staff,” said Conceison Jr. “I thought it was a good experience working with my dad, coaching in a good program. I figured I’d take it year by year and see what happens, it just so happened to work out my dad left on his own terms and I got the job.”
Ditto for Colarullo, who spent the past decade in a lead role at ConcordCarlisle for two seasons and the last eight at Lexington before he was drawn home by the chance to coach at a place where he’d enjoyed so much success as a player.
“You want to go back and give back to the community that gave you so much,” Colarullo said. “It was kind of a no-brainer and a perfect fit.”
Stepping out of the shadow of coaches who’ve been synonymous with their programs won’t happen overnight — even if neither Conceison nor Shine had attended any practices/ scrimmages for their old clubs prior to the opener.
The matter is a tad more complicated at AC, where Shine is still on campus every day after winning 575 games and three state championships.
“It’s been a fine line of walking in and taking over the program, knowing he’s still there and I want to be sensitive to the fact that now it’s my program . . . but he did so much,” Colarullo said. “You don’t want to go in and change everything right away.”
Colarullo has former teammate Matt Moran (’97) on his staff, as well as former player Mike Adams (’06).
Burlington retained another familiar face in assistant Donald Morgan, Conceison’s classmate who was a Red Devils co-captain 20 years ago. Longtime assistant Steve Rolli retired along with Conceison.
“It worked as a good tandem,” Bob Sr. said. “We think they’re ready. They have a lot of kids back from last year. I know they’re going to do a good job with the program.”
Bobby Jr. first got his start as a volunteer at Stonehill College, where he played for one season; his sister, Chrissy, led the Wakefield High girls’ team from 2018-20.
One of his brothers, Paul, is a volunteer with the Burlington junior varsity.
Bob Sr. is still in the game.
In addition to teaching English part-time at Merrimack College, he is in his first year as an assistant coach for the school’s club hockey program. He will attend as many Red Devil games as possible, and also provide analysis on My Hockey Live broadcasts.
“I’m a busy retired guy,” he said. Conceison Jr., a guidance counselor at Simonds Middle School in Burlington, said he understands he won’t be able to fill the shoes of his father (472 wins, two state championships), but plans on trying to put his own stamp on things while continuing that legacy — all while learning first-hand of some of the logistical challenges being the head coach entails, such as scheduling, uniforms, and the tryout process.
Thomas Driscoll, Arlington Catholic’s lone captain, said that the buy-in has come almost immediately under Colarullo.
“Coach Shine, he just knows hockey up and down,” said Driscoll, who scored an empty netter in the opener. “He’s seen probably every style of hockey you can imagine. Out there with him, it’s grit, grit, grit.
“With coach [Colarullo], it’s more systems. Both styles are different, but both styles work.”
Burlington tri-captain Dillon O’Reilly downplayed any nerves players may have had with the coaching change heading into the opener, noting he just wants to get back to the tournament after the Red Devils missed it last winter for the first time since 2004.
“We just want to win,” O’Reilly said.
Ice chips
R Connor Brickley has a passion for community and hockey. In his first season behind the bench at Nauset, the Chatham firefighter — a former NHL player and nephew of Bruins player and TV commentator Andy Brickley — has the Warriors off to a 2-0 start.
An Everett native who played at Belmont Hill, the University of Vermont, and 81 total games with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers, Brickley founded Endless Potential Hockey, a skills camp focused on honing and improving on-ice abilities.
A year ago, with no intent to coach initially, Brickley directed the Cape
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“Being a hockey player for as long as I did, you get in touch with what that truly means,” said Brickley. “I really love what hockey does for people, bringing communities and people together for one event — that’s what sports is all about.”
Logan Poulin (11 points in two games), a sophomore from Truro, left the Boston Advantage to suit up for Nauset. Senior captains Cooper McIntire, Pete Murphy, and Dan Deering encapsulate the heart and soul of the team.
R Mark Bates assisted his cousin, Shawn Bates, at Medford for 13 years. Now he is leading the Mustangs, who have posted back-to-back victories, outscoring opponents, 15-0.
Senior captain Devon Page, a hard worker in all three zones, and junior Tyler Taddia, who Bates describes as having “natural ability that you don’t see every day at the high school level,” have led the way.
A 5-0 Greater Boston League win over Somerville was a good start.
“It was certainly a relief, I was a little nervous going in there,” said Bates. “Last year, we had a 4-1 lead against [Somerville], they came and tied it.
The team was a little tentative and it was a big monkey off of our backs and gave us a lot of confidence.”