Guzior the right man for Mount Carmel hockey

Updated: June 24, 2011 4:34PM

Say this about Mount Carmel athletic directory Dan LaCount: He’s a man of his word.

In a March 29 column in this space, LaCount promised to leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of hiring a new coach for his school’s slumping hockey program.

“We owe it to our history to do a thorough job finding the right guy,” LaCount said then. “This is very, very important to our school. We’re going to find a coach who understands the history of Mount Carmel hockey.”

LaCount realized he needed a coach who’d excite the masses and have the ability to restore the roar to the most storied hockey program in the Southland. A hockey program that has won 20 Kennedy Cups — but none since 2000 — and five state titles deserves as much.

The logical name, of course, was Craig Ferguson. “Fergie,” however, wasn’t about to leave St. Rita, which he’s built into a state powerhouse, to return to his alma mater and former coaching ground, no matter how tempting the proposition.

Even so, Dan still found his man.

In hiring Marist great Russ Guzior, Mount Carmel managed to hit one out of the park.

If Guzior, dubbed the “Great Guzior” by yours truly during his playing days, can motivate and educate high school players with half the success he had stickhandling and scoring, Mount Carmel will drink from the Kennedy Cup very soon and often.

Guzior remains one of the most remarkable talents the area ever has produced. A forward at Marist in the early ’90s, he performed magic with the puck and in doing so left multiple jock straps from opposing defenders along the blue line.

I’m sure Caravan fans initially cringed when told of the hire, recalling how Guzior rallied Marist from a 1-0 hole in the 1992 Kennedy Cup finals to a 2-1 series win.

He left Marist for the Culver Military Academy his senior year and was an 11th-round draft pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. He played at Providence College for four years before starting a pro career that lasted eight years.

Guzior never made it to the NHL — his ultimate goal. Now the Palos Park native is ready to begin another daunting chapter in his life: guiding Mount Carmel back to the top of the Catholic League.

“I am extremely excited and look forward to working at a school with so much tradition and excellence in academics and sports,” Guzior said. “It’s going to be a challenge. To be able to bring it back to the top would mean so much to so many people.”

Guzior has his work cut out, but not as much as some believe. Yes, the Caravan struggled in recent years, finishing sixth in the Catholic League in 2011.

But there is young talent ready to blossom, and for that former coach Dave Kurow deserves his share of credit.

More skill and development is required, however, if the Caravan is to unseat St. Rita and Fenwick from the top of the standings. The local recruiting landscape is treacherous, with St. Rita, Marist, Providence, Mount Carmel and Brother Rice all competing for the same talent.

Guzior has built-in selling points the others do not: a massive tradition and professional playing experience. Guzior can count the Blackhawks’ Fernando Pisani and three-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Recchi as former teammates.

And coaching the Triple A Fury, based out of Orland Park, should provide an edge to talented youth players.

“I played with a lot of great players,” said Guzior, who resides in Lemont. “I was happy playing pro hockey and getting to an NHL training camp. I have no regrets.

“With my position the last three years with the Fury, I have a lot of ties with those kids and kids from the area, I also coach a St. Jude’s Pee-Wee team.”

Knowing the significance of a strong ice product, Mount Carmel pretty much gave Guzior the keys to its hockey kingdom. That was a must.

“I had a list of requests and if they had said, ‘no’ to any of them I wouldn’t have taken the job,” Guzior, 37, said.

Among his requests were bringing in top-notch coaches, providing additional ice time, offering youth camps and possibly adding another freshman squad.

One of his first orders of business, however, should be restoring the pride to wearing the famed brown-and-white jersey.

Another is emphasizing that it’s unacceptable for any Mount Carmel team to finish sixth in the standings.

“The school has so much tradition and excellence,” said Guzior, a devout Christian who will be married July 31. “The school offers a college readiness program, which was a big selling point for me. I’m extremely motivated and the school has been so supportive.”

Sounds like a win-win.

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