Some coaches quit after a bad season. Some get fired. But George Crowe, head coach of the women's ice hockey team, stepped down with "style." At the peak of the program and his career, Crowe announced his resignation last week.
After one of the best seasons of the program's 22-year history, Crowe leaves the Big Green. Crowe was named the Coach of the Year by the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and the New England Hockey Writers Association after winning the Ivy League with 20 victories.
"I have been coaching hockey for about forty years now, including twenty-some years with Dartmouth," Crowe said. "But the timing was right."
Judy Parish '91, the team's associate head coach, will take over Crowe's spot immediately. Parish has been coaching at Dartmouth for five years.
"Judy is ready to take over," Crowe said. "She has been with me for a long time. She was a player, captain and assistant coach for me. And the timing is just right."
Crowe, who said he will stay in the area and run hockey camps, said the time commitment of coaching is his primary reason for stepping down.
"It takes a lot of your time to coach any Division I team," Crowe said. "For hockey, there are practices every day and two games per week from October to March. In addition, there is all sorts of paper work, office work and recruiting in the off- season. It's a year-round job."
Crowe has been behind the bench for the Big Green since 1975 when he started as the head coach for the men's team. After two NCAA semifinal appearances, he was named the national Coach of the Year by the Hockey News in 1980.
In 1986, Crowe became the head coach for the still-young women's team. Since then, the Big Green women's icers have had a record of 196-107-20 record without a sub .500 season. Last season, the Big Green tied a school record with 20 victories along with an appearance in the semi-final of the ECAC tournament.
"We had some great teams," Crowe said. "We always had set a realistic goal at the beginning of the seasons, which was to win the Ivy League title. We have done it five times already."
"It's been a great experience," Crowe said. "Women's ice hockey is the fastest growing sport in the United States now. Every year, there are five or six teams joining the Division I. It was very exciting to be part of the growing process."
Crowe said "the fun part" of coaching was the personal relationships he formed with his players.
As a player, Parish was three-time first team All-Ivy selection. She still holds eight school records, including assists (126). She is third in goals (89) and second in points (215), just behind the Olympic gold medal winner Gretchen Ulion '94.
Parish led the Big Green to a 10-0 Ivy League record in 1990-91 to be named team's MVP. She also played on the first women's U.S. national hockey team and won a silver medal in the first World Championship.
Parish spent a year teaching and coaching ice hockey at the Taft School, and then a year in Japan teaching English and playing hockey on one of Japan's top women's teams.
Parish was away on a recruiting trip and unavailable for comment.
