KATEY STONE REDUX

Sheesh.

I can’t believe what I just learned.

Apparently Katey Stone, of whom I was enamored as a highly successful women’s collegiate and Olympic ice hockey coach, (see accompanying piece written in March 2022) isn’t what I thought she was.

According to The Boston Globe’s Bob Hohler, Stone created an environment that was not quite as pristine as her image.

Or as winning.

Racial and ethnic discrimination, hazing, berating, degrading, abusiveness, toxicity and favoritism all reared their ugly heads.

Repeatedly.

Sometimes abjectly.

Under her watch.

Resulting in defections from both the squad, and in one case, from the university altogether.

[Sidebar:

Across today’s Division I NCAA landscape, a scholarship athlete is entitled to leave a team, graduate from the university and preserve eligibility, presumably to transfer elsewhere and play.]

Taze Thompson had to get away.

She felt compelled to create physical/geographical space–albeit only a couple of miles-worth.

Thompson, the 2021-’22 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and the daughter of former NHL player Rocky Thompson, ultimately decided to do just that.

Last February, Stone’s Crimson team was collapsing in the ECAC playoffs after a regular season that earned her Ivy League Coach of the Year honors.

Morale was low.

In the opening round of the NCAA tournament, Harvard lost to Minnesota-Duluth 4–0.

Shortly afterward, an administrative review was opened to examine the complaints and allegations against Stone.

Some players–former and current–offered support; some were sharply critical.

Six months later the review was wrapped up with Harvard AD Erin McDermott offering this, in an email to the team:

“Most importantly, I want you to know that Coach Stone is our head coach and will remain our head coach.

The findings of the review affirm that decision while also identifying opportunities for improvement, particularly with communication across several areas.”

Three days after McDermott’s letter, Northeastern University announced that Taze Thompson was transferring to play for the Huskies.

A stunning move for a Harvard student-athlete.

Unprecedented, perhaps.

Nearly every other player who has left Stone’s program since 2016 has remained at Harvard as a student.

This season, Thompson is a key contributor on a Northeastern club ranked first in Hockey East and fifth in the country (23–2–1).

Stone’s current Harvard edition?

6–12–3.

What can I say?

New leadership needed?

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in January 2023.]