Robert Morris reverses course, eyes path to resurrect men's and women's hockey programs

Robert Morris hockey might have a path back to existence.

Three months after university officials said they were eliminating the men’s and women’s hockey programs, the school announced Wednesday it had reversed course and is hoping to resurrect the programs.

University officials said they would work with the recently formed Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation to raise funds as a way to keep both programs afloat.

Robert Morris announced it would partner with the foundation “in an effort to raise sufficient funds to support the reinstatement of RMU’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s ice hockey programs in time for the 2021-22 season.”

Representatives from the school and foundation met Monday, according to the release. They agreed to work toward what was needed in terms of raising “sufficient additional funds by July 31 to bring the teams back and position them to be financially sustainable for the foreseeable future — with an overall fundraising goal of $7 million over the next five years.”

“I’d say they don’t need to have all $7 million raised by then, but we will assess by the end of July whether there is a clear path to long-term sustainability,” Athletic Director Chris King told the Trib. “We need to kind of gauge what kind of momentum and (what) the reality is of the potential funding that may be able to reinstate the programs.”

When asked whether this is still an iffy situation, King replied, “Yes.”

The foundation was created shortly after the university decided to cut the programs May 26. It is composed of former players, their family members and Colonials hockey supporters who have been dedicated to efforts to keep RMU hockey alive.

Brianne McLaughlin, a former Olympic goaltender who is an alumnus of the women’s team, is the head of the board of directors. Her husband, Logan Bittle, is an alumnus of the men’s team and a former assistant coach of the women’s program.

“The plan is to save the programs,” McLaughlin said. “The plan we put in place isn’t to save the programs for a year or two but save them long-term. The plan from our perspective is we don’t want to bring the programs back just for them to shut down again. We’re raising the money to save these teams.”

To date, the organization claims to have raised more than $500,000 in funds.

RMU’s change of heart comes 15 days after a coalition of players retained the services of attorney Jeffrey Kessler. He was the lawyer who successfully represented athletes in a 9-0 Supreme Court decision against the NCAA in June. But he might be best known in Pittsburgh as Tom Brady’s lawyer in his legal battle against the NFL in “Deflategate.”

Kessler also recently had navigated the reinstatement of some programs that had been cut at Stanford under similar circumstances as that at Robert Morris.

Speaking Wednesday evening, Kessler praised RMU’s decision to cooperate with the foundation’s fundraising quest and seemed pleased with the progress.

“Our clients are very happy,” Kessler said. “We are 100% confident that the teams are being restored. The majority of money being sought is already being committed. So this is going to happen.”

Kessler added that if something negative were to happen between the two sides within the next two weeks, he’d be willing to enter the fray again. Although he makes it sound as though that is unnecessary.

“We are continuing to advise the coalition,” Kessler said. “We are certainly confident that this is going to be the restoration of the teams. If that does not turn out to be the case, we might have to provide other advice. But I really think we are past that.”

A second legal inquiry emerged from Ohio on the same day Kessler contacted RMU on behalf of the players. It came from Cleveland attorney Kevin Spellacy, whose son, Aidan, was a Colonial for the first three seasons of his college career.

The decision to cut the programs came after both teams enjoyed successful seasons. The women’s team won the CHA conference and went to the NCAA tournament. The men won Atlantic Hockey’s regular-season West Division.

University officials received harsh criticism from the media and players for the manner in which they revealed the program cuts and for the timing of the announcement.

Players learned about the teams being eliminated May 26 in a hurriedly arranged, 15-minute virtual meeting. That was at least three weeks after executives at the school formalized plans to dissolve the teams.

It was also more than two months after the seasons had ended — well into an offseason that featured an NCAA transfer portal that already was bloated because of relaxed regulations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The concept that they might have moved too quickly (to cut the teams), and/or that they waited too long to tell anybody, was a consideration that had to be brought to their attention,” Spellacy said. “That it could be detrimental, not only to hockey, but to the school. So they had to rethink their movement of how they got to this decision.”

Another complaint from the players was that university officials stonewalled attempts to raise funds. Notably, RMU administrators seemed less than interested in investigating options regarding rink improvements at the RMU Island Sports Center or perhaps partnering with the Penguins on plans to expand the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

Now the sides have gone from being on opposite ends of those conversations to cooperating.

“It’s a two-way street of trust,” Bittle said. “You just have to know that at the end of the day, the players and the coaches and whoever was affected by this, it’s still Robert Morris. It’s still our school. Whether you’re an alum of what we built or you’re a current player of what you’re currently building, the biggest thing is, the decision was made and it was tough, but now we’re back on the same team. We’re back on the same page. We’re raising this money to save these programs.”

As far as the players and coaches, whatever excitement is generated by Wednesday’s announcement will be tempered by a tidal wave of questions.

For those Colonials who already have transferred, can they come back and do they even want to? Sources within the athletic department have told TribLIVE that head coaches Derek Schooley (men) and Paul Colontino (women) are technically no longer under contract. Rather, they have been working under terms of their severance agreements. Will Schooley and Colontino have to reapply for their jobs or simply be reinstated? That’s if they still want the jobs, not to mention the task of replacing some assistants who have left.

And, at least on the men’s side, the Colonials are no longer part of the upcoming Atlantic Hockey schedule. They need to schedule games and perhaps find a conference that will welcome them for 2021-22 or get Atlantic Hockey to reinstate them.

This all has to happen as coaches patch together a roster, reboot recruitment efforts for next year’s class and ostensibly resurrect programs that were left for dead.

“Our focus right now is fundraising here in the next several weeks, see about having the teams reinstated, so at that point is when we would have those discussions,” King said.

Despite the massive undertaking, Bittle said the goal is to have the teams practicing by September or early October.

Tim Benz and Jerry DiPaola are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can reach Tim at tbenz@triblive.com and Jerry at jdipaola@triblive.com.