With ice-shattering expectations, and Dr. Timothy Winegard at the helm, CMU hockey is off to a commanding 6-3 start, and is doing it all in style. Fresh off a sweep against the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), winning 6-3 and 4-1, the Mavericks are proving they can skate with anyone in the nation.
Winegard, the CMU history professor who founded the hockey program in 2014, says this year’s group has the talent and mentality to go far.
“This is definitely the best team that we’ve had since about 2017-18,” Winegard said. “We beat Air Force, who’s ranked No. 2 in the country. We lost to ASU in overtime, and they’re No. 8. We are competing with, or beating, the best teams in the nation.”
Winegard grew up skating on backyard ice in Ontario, and he brings more than hockey experience behind the bench. He spent nine years as an officer in the Canadian and British armies and applied the lessons he learned to his program.
“In the army, it is us and we, never I,” he said. “That is how we coach. It is a collective unit. Your success depends on each other, and that is exactly how hockey should be played.”
Balancing life as a coach, professor, author and husband has shaped his leadership style.
“Hockey brings balance to being a professor, and teaching brings balance to coaching,” Winegard said. “It is a huge part of my life. My parents always say I need the hockey boys as much as they need me.”
That culture shows up on the ice. Junior defenseman Brayden Wair from Arvada reflected on the opening weekend against Air Force.
“We came out slow in the first one,” Wair said of the 4-0 loss. “But we turned it around.” Mesa shut out Air Force 2-0 the next night.
“Coach made us believe in ourselves,” Wair said. “After the [(2-0)] win, I gave him the game puck, and he taped a little message on it that says ‘Believe.’ That has been our motto.”
With explosive energy and a locker room built on “playing for everybody else in the room,” the Mavericks are skating with confidence.
“It is going to be a fun season,” Wair said. “I hope we pack the barn and make it loud.” Winegard kept his message clear and simple for the fans.
“Come watch the greatest sport in the world. You will get hooked.”
