NCDC 2024-25 Awards: Cyclones’ Bill Flanagan Named New England Division Ryan Frew Memorial Coach Of The Year
By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
It’s been four and a half years since the unexpected passing of the late, great hockey coach Ryan Frew. The former NCDC New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Head Coach was beloved by all who knew him, even the owner and head coach of the team he saw most often. And not just in the NCDC, as they also had a history with and against each other in their prior league as well.
“I love Ryan Frew. On and off the ice, he was a good friend, even though on the ice, I wanted to beat him 10-0 every time we saw him,” said Northern Cyclones Owner and Head Coach Bill Flanagan, the recipient of the 2024-25 New England Division Ryan Frew Memorial Coach of the Year Award. “Our relationship was very special. I’ve been very involved with his family, supported his family, and his children play in my organization now. To get an award with his name on it, I don’t have the words to express how special and meaningful that is to me.”
What is also special to Flanagan is that the award is voted on by his peers in the division.
“Any time that you’r recognized by your peer group, it’s really special and genuine and I think that’s the way the awards should be given out,” said Flanagan. “I think we have a lot of terrific coaches in our league. Any one of them deserves this, as a testament to how much sacrifice and commitment it takes on a daily basis to coach in this league.”
The Cyclones won their first-ever NCDC New England Division Championship this year, defeating the 2023-24 Dineen Cup Champion and 2024-25 Founders Cup regular season champion South Shore Kings in four games. That helped the Cyclones punch their ticket to the Dineen Cup Championships, where the Cyclones fell in two overtime games, including a triple-OT New England Championship rematch against the Kings.
“I think it was a special group that accomplished special things. You don’t win division championships without special people,” Flanagan added. “Every championship I’ve won, I can remember every player, because they’re all special people.”
This year, the Cyclones returned 10 veterans from the 2023-24 season, which gave them a huge building block right off the bat for this season.
“It starts with the fact that we got commitments from players to return. It’s not easy to play for me, so those guys all went through the ups and downs, and what works and what doesn’t,” said Flanagan. “It all started with those veteran guys returning, and the younger players were willing to follow. Not only did we have the most skill we ever had, but we had great kids, terrific human beings. I enjoyed coming to the rink each and every day, playing in every game, because it was a great group and they were a blessing to be around.”
Flanagan also has the benefit of a fantastic Cyclones staff in essentially every possible department. On the bench and in the hockey operations office, he’s assisted by General Manager and Asst. Coach Bill Weiand, as well as Asst. Coach Chris Zuccaro. The Cyclones junior staff additionally includes Director of Player Personnel and Development Tony Dalessio, Certified Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach Paul Andrade, Academic Director Janet Sisson, Elite Head Coach Tim Plummer, Skills Director Fred Hein, Goaltending Coach Joe Fallon, and Equipment Manager Alex Russo.
“It always takes a village, not one person. All these people have been with me for multiple seasons, they love the Cyclones, they love the players, they love the game of hockey, and it shows each and every day from Bill to Paul to our skills guy Fred to everyone that’s involved, they’re all a part of this award,” Flanagan added.
There’s so much that makes a good coach in the 2020s, but the main ingredient according to Flanagan is to always look out for No. 1 – the players, and definitely not yourself as coach.
“I’ve been doing it for 33 years, and with coaching it’s all about making a commitment to others and excluding yourself most of the time,” said Flanagan. “You have to be selfless. At the end of the day, it is a commitment that will bring you so many extra things in life – relationships, memories, experiences. All of it is more worth it than money or anything else.”