From replacing broken sticks to setting up the locker room to post-game cleanup and laundry, there may be dull skate blades, but never a dull moment for Dana Gobeil.
Dana Gobeil made his Beanpot debut last year. While the Huskies were on the TD Garden ice celebrating their second straight title, the Northeastern men’s hockey equipment manager was handing out championship hats to the players and coaches while also preparing his team of student assistants to begin packing up for the trip back to Matthews Arena.
“We did go on the ice for pictures to enjoy the moment,” Gobeil says. “I’d never been a part of anything like that so I was just going with the flow.”
Tending to the equipment needs of a nationally renowned Division 1 team is a big responsibility for Gobeil, who came to Northeastern last season after serving as equipment manager at Bentley University and Merrimack College. Gobeil’s sense of responsibility is heightened around the Beanpot.
“You see these players pretty much six days a week for six or seven months,” says Gobeil, who grew up playing hockey and served as team captain at the University of New England. “You definitely form a bond and friendship with them. It’s almost like an extended family.
“There’s nothing more satisfying. The team plays well and you get that sense of satisfaction like, wow, that went awesome.”
Preparation is the key for Gobeil as he looks ahead to his second Beanpot at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, against Boston College at TD Garden.
“It’s almost a year-round thing,” says Gobeil, who started his career selling and maintaining hockey equipment in retail before working for hockey teams at Merrimack and Bentley. “In May or June, I’m ordering for the following season anything custom-made — sticks, gloves, skates.”
Gobeil and his student assistants load up a transportation truck on Beanpot day.
“We’ll pack the players’ bags several hours before and then we’ll take that U-Haul over to the Garden and unpack it,” he says. “I’ve got name tags for the [locker room] stalls and we’ll unpack the bags, undo the sticks. We’ve got a snack table, tape table, everything.
“We can usually get the room set up in an hour and 45 minutes to two hours.
“So pretty much when the players are walking off that bus, they’re not carrying anything. They’re just worried about playing. They’ll come in and everything will be set up for them. We like to give them a professional experience.”
Gobeil worries constantly about every last detail.
“In the locker room I have myself and the students look at empty stalls to make sure we didn’t miss anything,” he says. “Up until puck drop I’m pretty worried and making sure everything’s in place. That’s my game time and I’m definitely nervous until we get going.”
Gobeil spends a lot of time sharpening skates, but not every sharpening is the same. The bottom of a skate blade is not flat. It’s hollowed out, leaving “edges” on the sides.
Some like a deep cut — the skates will feel sharper — while others prefer a shallow cut.
“It’s more the forwards who like their skates on the sharper end,” Gobeil says. “Those guys love the bite, digging into the ice with the ability to turn on a dime.
“I’d say the majority of the team has the duller sharpening — they want to glide. Each style has its benefits. Whatever they want, I’ll do for them.”
During the Beanpot — or any game — Gobeil is on the lookout for broken skates.
“I’ll have three sets of extra steel for each player,” he says. “If they lose an edge, they’ll signal me and I’ll swap the blades for them. I usually get a few of those each game.”
Blades these days easily pop on and off.
“I’ve been around so long that I can tell when guys need it, so I’m pretty much ready when they come off,” Gobeil says. “It happened recently that I had to change a player’s steel — and two shifts later he needed another switch. It’s uncommon but that’s why we have the three sets, just in case.
“Usually where I’m standing, it’s almost by the exit [from the bench]. So they can come to me, kneel down, put their skate on the ground, and I have a tool where I just pop off the steel. They can be in and out in 30 seconds. That’s the goal because you don’t want them to miss a shift.”
Gobeil is quick to replace a player’s broken stick, so they don’t need to leave the ice.
“If a player is just getting on the ice and they break their stick, obviously they want to stay out there. I’ll be on the bench right by the sticks and I’ll hand the new one to them without them getting off the ice.
“There have been three times this year where a player breaks his stick immediately, I hand a stick to him and that player scores later that shift. So that’s pretty cool. I never had that happen before in my career. There’s always something I’m dealing with that’s new.”
Last year, Gobeil worked while celebrating the Huskies’ Beanpot championship.
“Once you get in the locker room, sticks and gloves are everywhere. There’s just so much going on,” he says.
“That night back at Matthews I had between an hour and an hour-and-a-half of laundry to do. I like to have everything done and set in place before I leave, so I think I left the rink around 1 or 1:30 in the morning. It was definitely a marathon of a day.”