Megliola: Brown Guides FSU to Breakthrough Season

By Lenny Megliola, Special to the News

Sometimes T.J. Brown must feel like he never left Loring Arena. It's where he learned to skate as a tyke and where he played youth hockey. It's where he played for the Framingham High Flyers and, after a terrific career at UMass-Dartmouth, returned to Loring and coached the Framingham Bantams to a state title.

Even now, he can't shake the venerable arena, not that he'd want to anyway. Brown is the head men's hockey coach at Framingham State University. And where do the Rams practice and play their home games? You got it.

"Loring is still one of my favorite places," says Brown. "It's a very comfortable place for me. I've been going there for 30 years."

He's 33 years old.

It hasn't been easy sailing for Brown in his five years at Framingham State, although this season may have been a breakthrough for the Rams. After winning just two games last season and none in the MASCAC, Brown steered the Rams to 10-10-4 year and an 8-7-1 record in conference play, earning him conference Coach of the Year honors.

Brown practically blushes if you mention the award. "It's 95 percent about the players. They were just sick of losing. This is by no means where we want to be, but it could set us in the right direction."

It should at least help recruiting."

They can see the success we're having, and that there's light at the end of the tunnel," Brown says.

Brown had high hopes when he took over a floundering program. "I thought we could turn it around right away."

It was an overreach by the rookie coach.

"It was very tough," he admits. "We lost a lot of games by a lot of goals. We weren't real competitive. We had a lot of work to do. This was our best season in a long time."

Two of the key players in the Rams' rise were junior forward Brendan McCarron and senior goalie Nick Cafrelli.

McCarron, who played at St. John's (Shrewsbury), led the Rams with 15 goals — eight on the power play — and 10 assists. He is a finalist for the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston's Concannon Award for the best American-born Division II-III player in New England.

"His talent is something you notice right away," says Brown. McCarron is from Millbury. He was playing junior hockey for the Tyngsboro Huskies.

"When we heard he was interested in coming to Framingham State, we went to see him play," says Brown.

The Rams got more than a scorer in McCarron. "He's also our best defensive player and led the league in minutes played," says Brown. "He's our go-to guy."

McCarron started on skates when he was in second grade.

"By the time I was in junior high I started taking it a lot more seriously," he said. "I was looking at schools to play hockey. I'd heard about St. John's ever since I was little. It had a reputation for athletics and academics. Members of my family went there. My brother Liam's playing hockey there now."

In his last two years at St. John's McCarron also played junior hockey. "It was a great experience because I was playing with older kids. It helped me grow up faster." As a player and a person.

One of his first junior hockey coaches was Framingham State assistant and Marlborough native Don Pacific. That helped ease McCarron's transition at FSU. "It was a perfect fit for me."

As for Cafrelli, nobody has to ask him, "Do you know the way to San Jose?" He's from there. He also knows the way to Seattle, Medford, Ore., and Minnesota, places where he played junior hockey. You're probably familiar with the Seattle Totems, Rogue Valley Wranglers and Minnesota Owls, right?

He'd never heard of Framingham, but Cafrelli's hockey road would eventually land him there. "A couple of our scouts saw him play in the Midwest," says Brown. "He came here and became our goalie from the beginning."

Cafrelli was named first-team MASCAC this season. His save percentage was .915 and goals against average 3.32. He's 24 and hopes to continue his hockey career. "I'm sending resumes out and looking an agent," he said. "I want to play pro (a minor league affiliate) or in Europe."

When Cafrelli was 20, and playing at a higher junior hockey level in Minnesota, he was the league MVP in 2009-10.

"I was able to go to Framingham State because of that," he says.

Cafrelli, with a Minnesota all-star team, played in a national junior hockey tournament at Marlborough's New England Sports Center, allowing the Rams coaches to scout their future goalie without putting a dent in the travel budget.

Regarding this year's team success, "Four years of hard work came together," says Cafrelli.

Finding more high-quality players like Cafrelli and McCarron will determine whether the Rams can keep a good thing going.

Brown's patience with the Rams' program might stem in part from his high school career. He was a late bloomer, busting out in his senior year when he led Division 1 in scoring and was the Bay State Conference's MVP. His brother, Matt, was a teammate for two years. Matt's now a Framingham firefighter.

When T.J. left UMass-Dartmouth in 2002 he did so as the school's all-time leading scorer. Brown sill lives in Framingham, with his wife, Janessa, and their three-year-old son. "We're expecting another boy any day now," says Brown.

Chances are, both kids will wind up on skates. At Loring Arena, naturally.