A View from the PA booth

Stepping onto Merrimack’s campus for the first time as a student in the summer of 2016, I quickly found myself inside Lawler Arena. Not as a fan taking in a hockey game like I had done frequently as someone who grew up in the Merrimack Valley, I was there for work. As a member of the physical plant crew, I was sent over to help reconstruct Lawler to begin the ice installation process following commencement in May of that year. It wasn’t fun work, but it was necessary, as I spent the majority of my time there hand wiping the individual pieces of glass, before the change to plexi was made a few years later, in order to place all 120-plus pieces back into their dedicated spots around the rink. Shortly after, I began working specifically in the rink as a member of the ice crew, and on game nights, taking to lots of tasks. Tending to the nets, cleaning out the marsh peg holes to be set for play after a flood, and not too long after, driving a zamboni during games. Something I still do today.

I had made hundreds of trips to Merrimack for hockey games, even played a large number of games there as a little kid who skated in local youth hockey. It was a small little place, always has been, and that makes it stand out. No question about it, though—when it’s packed for premiere college hockey action, the building comes to life and is a tough place to win in for opposing teams.

I can think back to the wooden bleachers on the sides of the rink, the doorway onto the ice was smack in the middle of the Merrimack defensive zone, in front of where the band now is for home games. I know Mike can think about stuff even further back than this, but we don’t need to or have to get into that. Dressing in the same visiting rooms that some of the best names to ever come through the league did, skating on the same ice as them. It was always a special experience going there for games.

In the late summer of 2019, the voice of Lawler Arena, Bill Neville, who had been on the microphone for Warrior hockey games I attended in the years leading up to and including my first couple years on campus, was leaving. The microphone, and the games, needed a new voice. I was contacted by a former member of the Merrimack Athletic Department and was asked if I wanted to take on opening night on a tryout basis. I had spent a little time doing PA work at other games around the campus, mostly baseball, lacrosse, softball, and every now and then filling in at Hammel for Bill Jensen at basketball games when he was out of town. I wasn’t a stranger to it, but this? Division 1 college hockey—for someone who knows how intense and fun it can be, this was different.

Opening night, October 12th; Merrimack hosted the University of Wisconsin Badgers. Boy, did I get a warm welcome to life at Division 1 hockey. Wisconsin 11, Merrimack 5. Sixteen goals, close to forty minutes in penalties, and somehow it all worked out. I got a call back to the offices the following work week and had been given the job moving forward.

It took some time to become comfortable and find my footing in the role, but I did, and man, has it always been fun. Having one of the best seats in the house each and every game night to watch, in my opinion, the best college hockey league in the country night in and night out—it’s something I really have to thank those who gave me a shot for. I love the game of hockey, and being at a place like Merrimack that also does is a great feeling.

Merrimack, that 2019–20 season, would win just nine games; of those nine, there were just four at Lawler, and the first wasn’t until Nov. 30th, in the final game of the Turkey Leg Classic against RPI. The next couple years that followed, the wins at home were few and far between. “Join Together” by The Who; played over the sound system so frequently following games that I came to detest the song. Because it signified the visitors had come into the building and won a game. It wasn’t what I wanted to see as a student, as a fan, and someone who loved showing up to the building to work games and be a part of the game night experience. And, of course, those in the program did get what they wanted to see—it wasn’t a win.

Flash forward to this past Saturday night, March 21st; 2026 is a day that will now never be erased in the history books of Merrimack College Hockey. It simply cannot be taken away. Sitting in the loge of the TD Garden, surrounded by a sea of blue and gold, the Warriors won the 2026 Hockey East Championship. At the end of the day, take the job of “PA Guy” out of it—I got to be a fan with so many familiar faces I see on game nights. Walking the concourse, seeing fans, other former students and classmates, alumni across all decades. You could see just how much this moment meant to the Merrimack community.

I know we don’t want to wish this incredible run away, but come October, Merrimack gets to raise a banner. They get to cement a moment in time up to the low-hanging rafters of Lawler. But, until we get there, let’s soak it all in.

A 13-5-2 mark since the calendar turned to 2026, including 8-1-1 inside J. Thom Lawler Arena; it once again is a tough place to come into as a visitor and win. Saturday night almost doesn’t feel as though it really happened—but it did. Sioux Falls is the next destination for those on the “Mission Merrimack” train as we get set for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. When we, including myself and Mike, a pair of Merrimack alum, look back at some point down the line, however this season wraps up, 3/21/2026 was a night for Warriors everywhere—past, present, and future.

So queue up “One More Time” and play it just a little louder, because with the latest “WARRIOR WIN,” the Merrimack College Warriors are, FINALLY, Champions of Hockey East.

“WOOOOOO!”