When coach Sean Hogan takes his weekly glance at the American Collegiate Hockey Association standings, he looks for three specific teams.
The first is obviously Ohio, where Hogan has been coach for four seasons, but he also monitors Arizona — where he coached from 2011-14 — and Oakland.
Hogan coached Oakland from 2005-09 and won an ACHA national championship with the Division I team in 2007. He also won a Division II national championship with the Golden Grizzlies in 2006.
Hogan wanted his current team to further its momentum in his first on-ice reunion with Oakland since departing the organization, but he didn't think his current team would outplay his former team to such a high degree.
The Bobcats swept the Golden Grizzlies in convincing fashion and outscored Oakland 18-1, including a 12-0 blowout Saturday, during last weekend's series at Bird Arena.
The Golden Grizzlies have taken a few steps back in the eleven years since their last national championship. Hogan — whose personal roots with the Golden Grizzlies are still strong —
admitted that it's been discouraging to see the team he found success with regress over the years since his departure. The Golden Grizzlies are 52-73-8 since 2014.
"It is disheartening," Hogan said. "I didn't want to beat them 12-0 (on Saturday). That's a proud program."
Ohio put the game out of reach for Oakland early Saturday — the Bobcats had a 5-0 lead after the first period. Hogan tried to lessen the severity of the score by giving his third and fourth lines more ice time and power-play opportunities, but the Golden Grizzlies ultimately had no answer for the Bobcats — nine different players scored goals Saturday.
"We switched up some lines and had some guys playing more than usual," Hogan said. "They're in a tough spot over there. And again, I didn't want to beat my former team 12-0, I did not want to do that. I wanted to win the game, and we got the shutout and that's important."
The gap between Hogan's current team, which could find itself in the national championship for the second consecutive season, and his former team, which is unranked, was evident this weekend.
But Hogan, who wears the large ring from his championship team in Oakland for every game he coaches, is still pulling for Colin Ronayne, Oakland's current coach, to bring the Golden Grizzlies back as one of the nation's top performers.
"I know Colin, he'll get it turned around and he'll get it going," Hogan said. "They're not in the same position as us, though. We're fortunate with everything here, and they're not in the same position as us. Hopefully they can get it going."
