Suffern hockey coach Rob Schelling had 503 wins before realizing he passed a milestone
MONSEY – A loss to West Genesee sparked the curiosity of longtime Suffern hockey coach Rob Schelling.
A quick moment of reflection followed.
“We’ve had some battles against West Genny over the years and I’ve become friendly with coach (Frank) Colabufo,” Schelling explained. “It was his 500th career win, so I asked how he even knew.”
Somebody did some pregame math.
“I had no idea how many wins I had,” added Schelling, who took over in 1996 when his former coach and program founder John Orlando retired.
When the Mounties got home following the Dec. 28 setback, assistant coach Tom Natoli did some digging.
Turns out, Schelling came into the season with a career record of 496-138-12. He’s also hung a pair of NYSPHSAA championship banners at Sport-O-Rama. Schelling had unwittingly picked up his 500th win on Dec. 23 against Clarkstown.
“It’s quite an accomplishment,” Suffern defenseman Charlie Windwer said last week following a 6-0 win over Rye.
Schelling is the fastest coach to 500 in state history.
There are two other Section 1 hockey lifers who have reached the milestone: current Mamaroneck coach Mike Chiapparelli and former Pelham coach Ed Witz.
“It’s really about the players and the coaching staff that has been with me for so long,” Schelling said. “This is such an amazing program. John Orlando started it and coached for 26 years and here I am in my 27th year. It’s been a great run.”
John Rostawanik, Rich Schelling and Joe Lofberg have been on staff most of the way.
“The best part is the kids,” Schelling added. “It’s still incredible when our hockey alumni reach out for a job recommendation, ask to come to practice or invite us to a wedding. This really is a family. The kids play four years, but they are forever part of the program.”
He was admittedly inflexible on Day 1.
“I started when I was 24 years old and thought I knew a lot more than I did,” said Schelling, who played at Cortland and remains third on the Red Dragons’ all-time scoring list.
The approach is more diplomatic now, but the standards will never be lowered.
“He believes in his players, and we believe in him,” Windwer said. “He knows what his players can do, and he wants to get that out of them.”
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Family has always been a big part of this run.
After his final ECHL stint, Rich Schelling was back home in the stands at Sport-O-Rama watching the Mounties struggle and listening to parents verbally shred his brother.
“I told him I couldn’t sit in the stands again,” Rich said. “He said, ‘Why don’t you come down to the bench with me?’”
“We’d sit in our coaches’ meetings for hours at a time,” said Rich, who's a part-time volunteer now so he can watch his daughters play college lacrosse. “Rob listens to feedback, it’s what he does best. He doesn’t always agree, but he listens. And he is constantly watching film. That’s his bible. All the coaches have to watch film. All the players have to watch film.”
That distinct voice still cuts through all the noise.
“You always know where you stand, good or bad,” Rich said.
Ryan Schelling played on the varsity in eighth grade, broke his dad's high school scoring record and won a state title in 2022.
“He can be tough and usually finds a way to get his point across,” said Ryan, a Providence College recruit who’s playing in the British Columbia Hockey League. “I used to joke that everyone else got to go home and have a normal dinner. When I got yelled at, I had to go home and sit across the table from him, but it was a lot of fun playing for him.”
Rob Schelling remembers the sobs after some crushing defeats in the state playoffs but cherishes the shared memory of the state title run with Ryan.
“I’m tough on kids and I was toughest on him,” he said. “To be able to win a state championship with your son, who basically lived for Suffern hockey from the day he was born, you can’t beat that.”
Culture has played a major role in the sustained excellence of this program, too.
Future generations in Suffern are typically on the ice before grade school. They are in the stands for games and ask for autographs. Very few ever leave the fold to play across the state line or focus on club hockey.
“Kids want to be a part of this,” Windwer said. “By pre-K, all my friends were playing hockey.”
There is growing concern the program will soon be facing issues that will make competing with the best programs in the state difficult.
Reduced public-school enrollment within the district along with shifting demographics in the community will eventually impact participation. Most hockey programs in Section 1 have already experienced similar issues.
“Really, it’s starting to become a challenge,” Rob Schelling said. “It’s going to keep going for a couple of seasons. We do have a really good group of kids coming up. Our modified team is really good, but when you look at kids in elementary school now, it’s going to be more of a challenge.”
Schelling isn’t looking too far ahead, though.
The Mounties are busy working toward a No. 1 seed for the upcoming Section 1 tournament. A third consecutive berth in the NYSPHSAA Division I title game is the goal.
“I know he still loves coaching,” Ryan said. “We catch up all the time and I know he still loves going to practice with all the guys.”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Suffern ice hockey coach Rob Schelling reaches 500 career wins
