"Playing this game is a privilege — don’t take it for granted." Shane Buckley has preached it to his players countless times coaching college hockey. He heard it when he played. You never know when you’ll lace your skates for the last time.
“February of 2025," said Buckley, "got an email on a Wednesday, basically saying, ‘Hey, the school is closing down.’ That weekend was actually playoffs for hockey, so we weren't even done with our season yet."
He was the head men’s hockey coach at Division-3 Northland College, a tiny school in northern Wisconsin steps from Lake Superior, which was also his alma mater.
The news of Northland’s abrupt closure was shocking. It was a lot to process, but Buckley’s first thought was about the team.
“These 27 guys," said Buckley, "where are they going to go next year?”
He quickly called the team together. They heard the news the same time he did. Even though they were in the middle of playoff prep, he gave them a choice: do you want to go home, or do you want to get out on the ice?
“Hockey is like our getaway," said Defenseman Sam Holy. "All the problems go away once you hit the ice. I think that’s what everyone wanted to do, was just kind of forget about it and just do the thing that we love the most.”
The Northland women' s team was also preparing for a playoff game. Forward Kennedy Gruhlke says the closure was hard to believe, but they knew the college was struggling. Northland nearly closed the previous year and raised over $1 million to keep the doors open. But Gruhlke says they were promised they’d have more time.
“All the incoming freshmen from last year assumed that they'd be able to graduate," she said. "The year after, recruits that came in were told that they'd be able to graduate as well."
That week was a whirlwind. Gruhlke’s teammate Rachel Fussy says it brought the community together. But putting on her Northland jersey for the last time was really hard -- especially knowing it would be the last time anyone would put on that jersey.
“We're leaving all our best friends behind, and it was very emotional,” said Fussy. “For me, it was almost hard to focus on the game, because I was so caught up in what's going to happen after this.”
On the same day he learned the college was closing, Shane Buckley got an email from Beloit College. They didn’t have a hockey program but were interested in starting one -- by bringing in Northland’s players and coaches.
Buckley told his seniors, like Holy, but didn’t want to get the team’s hopes up too much, in case the opportunity fell through.
“Last year, I was the only captain on the team, and he put that trust in me," said Holy. "So, to show him that I have trust in him, I was just like, ‘Hey, wherever you end up going, that's where I want to be.’”
Quickly thereafter, Buckley and other coaches took a trip from Ashland, on Wisconsin’s northern tip, down to the southern border to visit Beloit.
Karen Schedin is Beloit’s VP for enrollment, marketing, and athletics. She’s the one who reached out to Buckley that first day. As the college tries to increase enrollment and athletic offerings, here in Wisconsin, she says, ice hockey seemed like a no-brainer.
“It's sad to see another institution close,” she said. “So really, our thought process was all about getting students a new home.”
It was a good fit. 37 students transferred from Northland to Beloit -- only a few were not on the hockey team. It’s a lot, especially considering Northland’s enrollment had fallen to just about 250 near the end.
Schedin says they tried to make enrollment as easy as possible, so that players weren’t scared of credits not transferring.
“We took the approach that we were just onboarding them as Beloit students," said Shedin, "as opposed to putting someone through an admissions process."
That took a lot of stress off of senior defenseman Trey Taylor. He’s one of the Canadians on the team. The visa process makes everything complex, and he wasn’t sure if he could afford to pay for an extra year if credits didn’t move properly.
“Especially with the exchange rate [between the Canadian and U.S. dollar], too," he said. "It's not really too kind right now, so trying to find a school that fits my budget was the real hard part about it. There was a lot of panic kind of setting in."
Holy says it’s been a smooth transition for the team: athletically, socially, and academically. He says, with Northland’s enrollment falling the past few years, it limited some academic opportunities.
“Our last year, most of our business classes, if not all of them, were online,” he said. “We were basically teaching ourselves because they were in the transition of getting new business professors but, unfortunately, they couldn't hire any to move up there and live up there.”
He says Beloit’s athletic facilities are newer and they have more training resources. They’re also playing at the brand-new Woodman’s Center in Janesville, which Holy says will hopefully help with recruitment.
That was difficult the last few years at Northland, with the school on the brink of closure. Last year, the women’s team couldn’t skate with a full team. Now, both squads have a full roster, including other transfers and new freshmen. About two-thirds of the men’s and a little less than half of the women’s team are from Northland.
Buckley says Beloit feels like home now, and getting back onto the ice has been a relief after the stress and uncertainty these past few months.
“I think it's led to a really good dynamic in our locker room right now, where not much is taken for granted," said Buckley, "because they know, based on our situation just a few months ago, things can change pretty quickly."
The women’s team recently played its first game, and forward Rachel Fussy says she could feel the energy.
“Our last game was really emotional," she said, "but this game is, like, it's almost like a deep breath moment, like, ‘Oh, we made it. We're here. Like this is happening, like we're having a season together.’ It's something really special.”
Crowds packed into the Woodman’s Center for the men’s home opener of the first-ever Beloit Buccaneers hockey season.
But just because they’re building something new doesn’t mean they have to forget about their Northland roots. The former Northlanders have stickers on their helmets to commemorate their old school. Buckley says even the jerseys retired at Northland are honored in Beloit.
“Being an alumni, Northland and Northland hockey was always very special to me," he said. "So, to be able to go back and be the last coach at Northland and to be able to keep those Northland traditions alive here, it has meant a lot, for sure."
The Bucs fall behind 1-0 but, in the second period, Beloit hits the equalizer. It’s a hard-fought game. They trade power plays. The sides shove each other into the boards. Beloit ends up losing this one, 4-2.
But these teams have faced plenty of adversity before. They know this game is a privilege. They’ll pick themselves off the ice and move forward.
And they hope their brand of resilience will set the standard for the future of Beloit hockey.
