Saginaw Valley State University’s hockey e-board fired Brandon Orth in his third season as head coach following continued struggles resulting in an eight-game losing streak. The e-board hired Mel Rettell, who most recently coached the Tawas Braves Varsity hockey team for four years.
Joe Blair, e-board vice president, commented on the decision.
“It was really hard for us five,” he stated. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do personally. He had so much to give us. It wasn’t a messy fallout, it wasn’t personal.”
After 3 years as head coach, Orth hadn’t brought the program to where it needed to be, Blair said. The e-board felt that it was time to make a change.
“Things were feeling chaotic, and guys weren’t feeling excited,” said Blair. “It’s hard to follow the lead of a lead that’s messy.”
Despite this, Orth wasn’t universally disliked among the team, including those responsible for his firing. Blair mentioned there were several members of the team that truly enjoyed having him as coach and are still feeling the loss. He also spoke highly of Orth’s willingness to be involved with the e-board and the future of the program, including starting a women’s team within the next few years.
Due to Orth’s dismissal, the e-board had to conduct interviews to fill the open position. After they interviewed Coach Rettell, it was no-brainer for them.
“When he left we were all amazed,” said Blair on the e-board’s interview with Rettell. “He hit every answer right on the head. After that interview we all had a gut feeling this was going to be our guy.”
Rettell made a good first impression on the rest of the team during his first practice in mid-November.
Sophomore goaltender Nick Pike shared his thoughts on the newly hired coach.
“It seems he knows a lot about hockey,” he stated. “He did research on us. He watched a lot of game footage.”
Rettell’s impact on the team can be seen through their record. The team has won seven of their last eight games, a stark contrast to their eight-game losing streak with their former coach.
Pike spoke about the team’s ambition to beat Northwood University at the end of the regular season in February.
“We have to beat the teams we’re supposed to beat and when it comes to Northwood,” he said. “They don’t have more skill; they’ve just been together longer than us.”
Blair echoed this sentiment.
“This is a really exciting time for the team,” he stated. “We’ve got a really good shot here. We’ve got good teams in our conference, but we’re good enough to play in our conference championship game. We need to get the division back in our hands.”
SVSU will be back in action at Team Toledo Ice House playing against the University of Toledo Jan. 31. Their home game against the University of Toledo will be held at Gladwin Community Arena Feb. 1.
