University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Craig Homola 1981 - Hockey
One of the most exciting and explosive hockey players to play at Vermont and in the ECAC, Craig Homola, a 1991 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, was named ECAC Player of the Year in 1980 and finished his career second on UVM's all-time scoring list.
In his junior season (1979-80), Homola scored 28 goals and tied a school record with 41 assists in 34 games, leading the Catamounts to the ECAC West Regular-Season Championship. That year, two months into the season and only one month before the Winter Olympic Games, that Homola received national attention when he rejected an offer from head coach Herb Brooks to join the U.S. Olympic Games at Lake Placid. Homola elected to stay with the Catamounts for the remainder of the 1979-80 season.
In addition to being named the top player in the East and First-Team All-American honors in1980, Homola was tabbed Vermont's State Athlete of the Year as selected by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, MVP of the Auld Land Syne Hockey Tournament at Dartmouth, First-Team All-ECAC and First-Team All-New England.
Exceptional in all areas of the game, Homola tied an ECAC record from scoring at least one point in 32 consecutive games during the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons, his streak snapped on Sunday, Jan. 20, 1980, in a 2-1 loss at Providence. Homola, UVM's Most Valuable Player his senior year (1980-81), is ranked second on UVM's all-time scoring list with 88 goals and 117 assists for 205 points in only 128 games.
The Eveleth, Minn. native scored a school-record five goals in a Nov. 15, 1980 win over United States International, the same night ESPN was doing a feature on the Vermont star. Three of the goals came in one period, also a school record. Homola played several years professionally, signing initially with Minnesota North Stars in 1981. He also played one season in the Chicago Blackhawks farm system before playing in Europe for three seasons. He returned to his hometown in Minnesota and has served as the head coach of his high school team.
