A couple of coaches
Clarkson's Desrosierses form a unique husband-and-wife team
TROY, N.Y. - The team bus, caked with dirt, sand, and salt, seemed to cast a shadow as it cruised down Route 787.
The mood inside was somber after the Clarkson University women's hockey team suffered a tough loss to Rensselaer, its second in a row. The team is young - it has twice as many freshmen as seniors - and on this night it showed.
After a scoreless first period, the Golden Knights gave up two goals and were repeatedly beaten to the puck. Between periods, Shannon Desrosiers, 27, and Matt Desrosiers, 29 - the only husband-and-wife co-head coaches in the history of college hockey - shut the locker room door. The roar of a passing Zamboni washed away the sound of their harsh words.
The team played a spirited third period, scored a goal, swarmed the net, but still lost, 2-1.
Afterward, the Desrosiers Duo, college hockey stars themselves not long ago, are too upset to eat their chicken Caesar salads, which are wilting in plastic containers.
"Too little, too late," muttered the usually effervescent Shannon.
"It's unacceptable to have that kind of effort," said Matt, slumping in his seat.
After arriving at an Albany hotel, the captains, coaches, and key players huddled in the lobby. It's a family affair.
"We want to make sure we're on the same page," said Shannon.
After an hour, the group broke up and the husband and wife said good night, then headed for separate rooms.
Shannon bunked with Lindsay Williams, an assistant volunteer coach, while Matt roomed with assistant coach Matt Kelly.
"We're all about being professional," said Shannon, who handles the public relations part of the job.
"Oh, it's only on the road," she added. "It's because there's a man assistant and a woman assistant, so we can't put them together. Besides, it's fun hanging out with the girls, doing yoga in the room. Guys wouldn't be doing that."
Matt Desrosiers shrugged.
"We're boring," said Matt, laughing at himself. "We do it so we can save money to buy more equipment."
Kelly said the coaches are devoted to the team.
"People on the outside think it's weird, but it's really not," he said. "They know that their focus is they've got 23 kids to worry about and their future, and they put that first ahead of their own relationship. Hockey is a business; they put hockey first, and obviously, their marriage second."
Matt, who was an All-American on the ice but a little shy off it, sent Shannon, a point-per-game whiz kid, an e-mail asking if she was going to a party. She was, and soon they were smitten.
"We spent a lot of time in the weight room together," said Shannon, a fitness guru who has run the Boston Marathon in 3 hours 47 minutes and finished 14th among women in last year's Lake Placid Ironman Triathlon.
After graduation, Shannon got her MBA and was named an assistant coach at Clarkson for its inaugural women's hockey season six years ago.
Matt hit the road, playing five years of professional hockey. In the East Coast Hockey League, he was twice named an All-Star. In the Central Hockey League, he helped lead the Colorado Eagles to the 2005 President's Cup.
In 2006, when injuries cut short Matt's playing career, Shannon convinced Clarkson coach Rick Sealy to hire him as an assistant.
Before the season, they got married. Their wedding had a hockey theme.
"We came out to the 'Hockey Night in Canada' song," said Matt. "It's now my ring tone."
Their honeymoon was a recruiting trip to Boston.
"We tell the kids we're trying to create a family atmosphere," said Matt.
"The university has a slogan, 'Defy Convention,' and they did," said Shannon.
The two work well together. Matt runs the on-ice systems, Shannon handles training, conditioning, and administrative duties. Both handle the bench. Shannon works with the forwards, Matt the defensemen. Shannon yells more and wears her heart on her sleeve. Matt is cool and calm but plays the referees like a cagey veteran.
"Matt gives the pregame talk, but I put my two cents in," said Shannon. "He's a really smart hockey guy, but I think I know the dynamics of the team and what needs to be adjusted."
They also make the same salary.
"You don't even know they are husband and wife at the rink," said Kim McKenney, a defenseman from Smith Falls, Ontario. "We just look at them as coaches."
"It's usually about how can we do better, but sometimes we fight over who should be the starting goaltender," said Shannon.
"Shannon's idea of a perfect night is having dinner and then breaking down video," said Williams, the volunteer assistant. "Every night, they watch some hockey game. Even an NHL game; for them that's a romantic night."
Last season, the Golden Knights had their best campaign in the program's brief history, compiling a 24-9-5 record and finishing fourth in ECAC Hockey with a 13-6-3 league mark. Clarkson defeated Princeton in the first round of the conference playoffs but lost to Harvard in the semifinals.
This season, they had T-shirts printed up with a motto on the back:
"Good, better, best. I will never rest until my good is better and my better is best."
They are currently 16-11-5 overall and 10-7-3 in the ECAC, sixth place in the 12-team conference.
Not bad for a team that has only three seniors on the roster.
And when you talk about kids, Shannon talks only about those on the roster.
"I'd like to have kids someday," she said.
But it's out of the question until the current class she recruited graduates.
"I definitely wouldn't want to give up on this team," she said. "We have the character and desire to do a lot of good things. It kind of makes you proud, kind of like they are your own children."
And the youngsters are always watching. They will never see the coaches kiss, and the only hug in public was when Clarkson made the playoffs, they say. But they never fight, either.
Well, almost never.
"One game, there was a little disagreement on the bench," said senior defenseman Courtney O'Connor, "and Shannon made a face, and Matt yelled over, 'Don't give me the stink eye, Shannon.'
"It kind of brought the mood back to fun."
Stan Grossfeld can be reached at grossfeld@globe.com. 