The Foundation of a Coach

How Ed Gosek’s years as a player and assistant coach helped shape the future of Oswego hockey

Long before Ed Gosek spent decades behind the Oswego State bench, he was sitting in the locker room as a player, learning what Lakers hockey meant before he would eventually help define it himself.

When Gosek looks back at his playing career at Oswego, his memories do not begin with goals, wins or statistics. Instead, they started with Romney Field House and an atmosphere that felt bigger than the game itself.

“Romney Fieldhouse, you know-those were special memories that it’s hard to explain,” Gosek said.

The atmosphere looked much different than it does today. Whiteout nights, where Oswego fans pack the arena in white outfits and hurl their best insults while facing their rival Plattsburgh, and playoff hockey now bring some of the largest crowds. However, Gosek remembers a time when that energy existed almost every weekend.

“Picture White Out literally like every Friday and Saturday night,” Gosek said.

Students packed the building before puck drop and sometimes stood outside waiting in snowstorms just to get inside.

“The college kids had all come after having a few adult beverages,” Gosek said. “It wasn’t like it is today.”

He laughed while remembering some of the details.

“You could see, right from the bench, passing the bottles down the grandstands,” Gosek said. “Then sneak kegs of beer in on the back turf where the back bleachers were and have a keg set up there. It was crazy.”

For opposing teams, the environment could be overwhelming.

“It was honestly the best college atmosphere in this whole area,” Gosek said. “Teams hated to come play here.”

The memories Gosek carries from those years extended beyond the rink itself. The friendships built during his playing days lasted long after games ended.

“They’re still friends now,” Gosek said. “I mean, we’re still always in touch.”

For Gosek, hockey at Oswego was personal even before he arrived on campus. Growing up in Oswego, he eventually found his way back to play for a familiar face.

“How rare or lucky is this that I grew up here?” Gosek said. “My high school coach ended up taking over here at the college, Don Unger… that gave me the opportunity to play here.”

Before arriving at Oswego State, Gosek starred as a player at Bishop Cunningham High School, where he helped lead the team to become Division II Section III Champions, earned MVP honors, won the Bishop Cunningham Memorial Trophy, and played in the Central New York High School Hockey League Exceptional Senior Game.

After graduating from Bishop Cunningham, Gosek honed in his skills at North Country Community College before transferring to SUNY Oswego.

Gosek’s path through hockey also included a unique experience before arriving at Oswego. While attending school in the Lake Placid area during the 1980 Winter Olympics, he found himself witnessing history, serving as a chauffeur for U.S. Olympic Committee President Robert Kane.

“Got to see the gold medal game, the game against the Russians, all of it,” Gosek said. “So it was a great experience.”

What started as a playing career eventually grew into something much larger.

“The love of the game led me into a career of coaching,” Gosek said.

But moving from player to assistant coach required a different perspective. Instead of immediately becoming the loudest voice in the room, Gosek said he first had to learn how to lead.

“The biggest part was just shut up, work on the right things,” Gosek said.

That learning process continued when George Roll arrived at Oswego and chose to keep Gosek on staff. From 1997 to 2003, Roll served as the head coach of the men’s hockey team. Roll is a man who loves humor as much as winning, and with Oswego, both of these facets were covered.

“Longest seven years of my life”, Roll said between laughs. This kind of sarcastic banter seemed to be a recurring theme between Gosek and Roll.

“He could have got rid of me,” Gosek said. “He could have brought in his own guys, but thank God he kept me and taught me a ton.”

Roll said he quickly recognized qualities in Gosek that extended beyond hockey knowledge.

“I just knew Eddie would be successful,” Roll said. “He just had the work ethic, the knowledge, the interpersonal skills.”

As the years passed, the relationship between the two developed beyond hockey.

“George and I became very good friends, and our kids became friends,” Gosek said.

Roll echoed those feelings.

“Eddie’s such… a guy that doesn’t have a big ego and is down to earth as they come,” Roll said. “I love him. He’s just a great person and I can’t say enough about our friendship and what he’s meant to me.”

The assistant coaching years also helped shape ideas that later became central to Gosek’s philosophy. Gosek began his coaching career working with young players. He started with the Oswego Squirt Road Hockey Team in 1983, followed by the OMHA Lion’s Club Bantams in 1984, and then the OMHA Lake City Police Club PeeWee Hockey Team from 1990-1992. These early experiences coaching youngsters helped prepare him before he moved up to the college level.

As head coach of the Oswego Speedway sponsored Squirt Road Hockey Team in 1983, Gosek led the squad to the New York State Championship in Buffalo after they qualified by winning the sectional tournament in New Hartford.

“It was a total team effort as all players contributed both on and off the ice. This team attitude made the difference between winning or losing throughout the season,” Gosek said of the Squirt title run.

In 1992, Gosek (alongside assistant Pete Welsh) guided the Oswego Lake City Police Club Peewee “B” hockey team to the New York State Championship at Crisafulli Rink and then to the national tournament in Mentor, Ohio — one of only eight teams out of 1,342 in the country selected.

“We’re going to try to stress to the kids not to worry about the teams we’re playing. Instead, we have to concentrate on what we have to do to be successful,” Gosek said ahead of the nationals.

“If you don’t have the trust of your players, then I don’t care how talented you are,” Gosek said.

Relationships mattered just as much as systems. Gosek eventually built around what he called “commitment, brotherhood, passion,” values that later became synonymous with the Oswego program.

Roll said those qualities were visible long before Gosek officially became the head coach.

“He had the personality to be successful and that came to fruition,” Roll said.

For Gosek, what began as playing hockey in a packed Romney Field House eventually turned into a life around the sport.

“This isn’t even a job,” Gosek said. “I don’t consider it a job.”