College women's hockey: SUNY Canton turns to Potsdam's Grant for coaching job

Cap Carey, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·4 min read

Aug. 9—CANTON — Former St. Lawrence University women's hockey captain Kalie Grant is coming home to become the head coach of the SUNY Canton women's hockey team.

Grant, a Potsdam native, graduated from SLU in 2020 and spent the past two years as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III powerhouse Adrian College.

Her first game will draw a large family crowd as the Kangaroos are scheduled to play an exhibition against Utica College at 3 p.m. Oct. 21 in Canton. One of Utica's best players is former Parishville-Hopkinton standout Erica Sloan, who is Grant's cousin.

"It's been the joke in the family," Grant said. "When I went to Adrian our first game was supposed to be against Utica, but it was canceled because of COVID. It will an interesting cousin rivalry. The whole family (about 20 people) will be here."

SUNY Canton's job opened when former coach Dave LaBaff, also a Potsdam native, took the job as women's head coach at Wilkes University.

"I'm extremely excited," said Grant, who is 24. "After two years at Adrian I couldn't be more excited to be back in the north country. I think coming right out of college, from St. Lawrence, and landing my first job at Adrian was a great opportunity in itself. Now, to be a head coach, and be 24, it's definitely exciting. I feel like the biggest thing is I can relate to the girls."

SUNY Canton athletic director Randy Sieminski was familiar with Grant as a local player and became more impressed as he got to know her during the hiring process.

Grant will join former Clarkson men's player Alex Boak, a Norwood native who coaches the men's team, as a pair of former local NCAA Division I athletes running SUNY Canton programs. "It's rare that we have two successful local hockey players as coaches at SUNY Canton," Sieminski said. "She's not going to have to learn all the north country connections. She knows where the towns and cities and colleges are. She played junior hockey here, high school hockey here. She knows where the prep schools are and who the connections are. It's a terrific advantage for her to hit the ground running. She's familiar with the towns and teams and the people. That will be a huge help for her."

Grant is even already familiar with the SUNY Canton facilities. She played most of her senior season for SLU at SUNY Canton while Appleton Arena was undergoing a major renovation.

"They were showing me around the facilities and I said, 'This is familiar,'" Grant joked. "The facilities at SUNY Canton are top of the line, especially at the (Division III) level. I feel that's a big recruiting tool. A lot of (Division III) schools don't even have rinks on campus. It is a huge benefit."

Grant worked for head coach Shawn Skelly at Adrian and the Bulldogs went a combined 40-7-2 in her two seasons there.

A major influence on Grant's coaching style is her former SLU head coach, Canton native Chris Wells.

"Chris Wells has had a major impact on me as a player and a person," Grant said. "I see a lot of the way that I have coached based on things he taught us as players at St. Lawrence. It was the best four years of my life. As a coach I appreciate it even more now. I feel like we have a ton of similarities. He used to use the phrase, 'We are going to work hard, but have fun doing it.'"

Said Wells, "SUNY Canton has made a great hire. Kalie will continue to build on what (LaBaff) had started. Being from the north country, playing at a high level and getting very applicable work experience at Adrian will allow her to jump right in and feel comfortable. She comes from a hockey family that has had a lot of success. It will be fun to watch."

Grant inherits a team that went 13-10-1 overall last year and 7-10-1 in the New England Women's Hockey League.

The roster for this year is mostly set, so her recruiting impact will be felt in future years as she develops a vision for the program.

"(LaBaff) did a good job of getting high quality athletes here," Grant said. "I want to build upon that and create something special here. It's an awesome spot, in terms of facilities and location. Like any program, it takes a couple years. My long-term goal would be to win the league. SUNY Canton hasn't made the playoffs for the last couple years.

"The biggest thing I always like is a team that plays for one another, which is sometimes easier said than done. I like to play a fast pace, high intensity, wearing the other team down. I believe in being the most fit team on the ice."