864 days seems like a lifetime ago. That’s how long it has been since former RMU president Chris Howard ended hockey at Robert Morris — or so he thought.
From there it was a fight. A fight to get him to acknowledge the true reasons why the programs were folded. A fight to reinstate the teams. A fight to put the teams back together.
You see, it’s tough to bet against members of a colony who band together for the common good.
And just like any other rendition of a Robert Morris hockey team, both men and women, they dug in their skates and they fought and grinded through those days.
It sure was an uphill battle to raise the money, but both programs and the Robert Morris athletic department had the support of Pittsburgh and the college hockey community behind them the entire time.
It showed in the reinstatement of the programs in December of 2021 with the programs slated to return in the 2023-2024 season as head coaches Derek Schooley and Logan Bittle worked to fill their rosters for the relaunch of Robert Morris hockey.
Schooley and Bittle were no strangers to the program and in fact, both could be considered founding fathers with Schooley putting the original men’s roster together from a computer-less office back in August of 2003.
It’s been over 21 years since the moment Schooley was hired by the late Susan Hofacre. Now, the father of RMU hockey has once again built the program from scratch.
Saturday features a return to the ice with rosters that Bittle and Schooley have put together. It’s also a day that many have been longing for since the infamous Memorial Day Weekend press release that announced the teams would no longer exist.
The moment the men and women hit the ice at Clearview Arena there won’t be a clear line of sight in the building. There will be emotions and enough tears to coat one of the many rinks at Neville Island.
Of course, that moment has been 864 days in the making.
