Grant Standbrook was respected as one of the top recruiters in college hockey.
His tireless work ethic and tenacity, unique eye for talent and ability to sell the program were vital ingredients in the University of Maine’s 493-216-66 record, two national championships and 11 Frozen Four appearances in his 18 years.
The longtime assistant coached 34 All-Americans and 10 Olympians.
Standbrook’s numerous accomplishments have earned the Winnipeg, Manitoba, native a spot in the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame. He will be inducted on Sept. 8, when the 1993 NCAA championship team will also be among the inductees.
“I never knew that anyone except athletes got inducted. I was just an assistant. It was a total surprise” said Standbrook, who turns 80 on Sept. 18.
“It obviously means a lot. It’s awesome,” said Standbrook, who is enshrined in the Manitoba Hall of Fame. “I’m very thankful and appreciative.”
Standbrook won three NCAA championships during his 12-year tenure as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin prior to coaching at UMaine. He was the 2005 winner of the Terry Flanagan Award given to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Between UMaine and Wisconsin, Standbrook has helped develop 67 National Hockey League players.
Standbrook, who retired from coaching in 2013, said coaching was always a labor of love.
He stays involved with the game and sent valuable text messages to University of Denver coach and former UMaine All-American Jim Montgomery last year as the Pioneers won the national championship.
Montgomery previously hired Standbrook as a special consultant when Montgomery was the general manager and head coach of the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the United States Hockey League.
The Fighting Saints won two Clark Cup USHL playoff championships in three seasons.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of coaching,” said Standbrook, who has three children with wife Joy and six grandchildren. “It’s great fun to think you could have a job that you like so much. It wasn’t work for me.
“I love teaching. Kids are like sponges. It was great,” said Standbrook, who coached under the late Shawn Walsh and then Tim Whitehead.
He also cherishes the relationships.
“That’s what it’s all about, getting to know the players and their families. It makes you proud that you are part of their lives. I stay in touch with as many as possible,” said Standbrook, who played hockey at Minnesota Duluth.
He said his favorite team was UMaine’s 1998-1999 club that captured the school’s second NCAA championship despite having only eight of a possible 18 scholarships at their disposal. UMaine lost 10 scholarships due to NCAA sanctions for violations.
“It was a credit card team,” quipped Standbrook. “When we recruited players (for that team), we told the parents we didn’t have any scholarship money for the first year but if their son came to Maine, we’d see how he did (and possibly award him a scholarship in the future).”
“The parents would say ‘Are you kidding me?,” recalled Standbrook. “I didn’t think they would come. But they did.
“That team refused to lose. They were tough. We dominated neutral ice. There were a lot of teams that were probably a lot better than we were on paper. That was a lot of fun,” added Standbrook.
In assembling a successful team, Standbrook said a blend is needed.
“You had to have guys who could score, guys who could check, guys who could pass the puck,” said Standbrook.
“It was fun trying to read a player and what you had to do to make him an NCAA championship (caliber) player,” said Standbrook, who added that it was “beyond my wildest dreams” to be involved in so many Frozen Fours and NCAA championship games and to have such an extensive coaching career.
Standbrook, a former U.S. Olympic team and U.S. National team coach and head coach at Dartmouth College, gauged the type of person he was recruiting by watching them interact with their parents.
“That would tell you how he would be in the dressing room. It’s difficult to change people,” said Standbrook.
He was an innovator teaching the fundamentals and the subtle skills that would give his players an edge. He was also a goalie guru.
He remembers the glory days at UMaine when a ticket to a hockey game at Alfond Arena was a valued item.
“The lines before a game were so long, you couldn’t see the end of them. You had people camping out in sleeping bags and pizza trucks would come in and out. It was a social event. That rink was vital. It had a great impact on the financial end for the athletic department. It helped a lot of the other teams,” said Standbrook.