Caywood: Littler feeling more at home <br>By Kurt
Caywood <br>The Capital-Journal <br><br>If you haven't
been kept awake at night lately by thoughts of hockey,
don't feel too guilty. Bliss Littler would be farther
from the game, too, if he had the chance.<br><br>"Next
summer at this time, if you want to talk to me," Littler
said, smiling, "I'll probably be at my lake cabin in
Minnesota."<br><br> <br>Not this year, though. Not with the new
Topeka ScareCrows set to report in less than a
month.<br><br>Littler's title is coach and general manager, but even that
understates his responsibilities, which include luring 25
guys aged 16 to 20 away from their homes and not only
keeping them out of trouble but ensuring that they grow
athletically, academically and personally for nine
months.<br><br>I get the feeling he doesn't think about it in
those terms, because when I visited his office the
other day, he wasn't hiding under his desk.<br><br>Then
again, he seems to have it pretty much
down.<br><br>Right now, it's securing host families that has him in
Topeka instead of sitting by one of Minnesota's 10,000
lakes.<br><br>There's no USHL rule that says these players can't bunk
together in some sort of hockey Animal House. That, in
fact, would be the easy way out. But host families work
best.<br><br>"The housing program, I've found, is absolutely the
best thing about the USHL," he said. "It's so
rewarding on both ends."<br><br>The ScareCrows have
screened and selected about half of the Topeka households
needed to put up their players for the upcoming season.
The payoff is $200 a month and a hockey player in the
family.<br><br>"That amount prevents people from doing it to try to
make money," he said. "It's not a border situation.
I'm looking for families that believe in youth and
want to be part of kids' lives. Being hockey fans
doesn't really matter."<br><br>Littler is fairly
convinced that anybody exposed to the new ScareCrows will
become a hockey fan.<br><br>The transition from a
minor-league pro franchise in the Central Hockey League to an
amateur one in the USHL was tempestuous. Many vocal
supporters of the franchise during its first three seasons
disavowed the new team.<br><br>Out of respect for last
year's squad, owner Jonathan Fleisig put a gag order on
the new Crows organization. The problem with that,
Littler said, was that instead of education, Topekans got
misinformation.<br><br>"People called it high school hockey," he said. "That
branded us early."<br><br>In truth, the Crows will have
only three high schoolers, who will enroll in local
high schools and, Littler says, maintain a schedule
little different from a three-sport prep athlete. They
will qualify academically under NCAA guidelines,
too.<br><br>"I have an assistant, Tom Rudrud, who is primarily
in charge of those three high school students," he
said. "When you take a high school player, you make a
commitment that you will provide the support he
needs."<br><br>The rest of the roster comprises 18-, 19- and
20-year-olds. Some will take classes at Washburn. Others will
work part-time jobs into a busy schedule.<br><br>"I
don't want them to have nothing to do," Littler said.
"We're preparing them to be student-athletes in
college."<br><br>They're also watching out for those kind enough to take
the players in.<br><br>"We give a pretty firm
structure to the families," he said. "This is my 13th year
at this. I have a pretty good idea how to make it a
good experience for the family and a good experience
that will help the kid."<br><br>Littler won four
regular-season and five playoff titles as coach of the Billings
(Mont.) Bulls of the America West Hockey League. Three
times he's been an assistant for the U.S. National
Junior Team.<br><br>He knows about hockey, and he's
jazzed about the ScareCrows' first USHL season, even if
it has caused him to summer in the Kansas heat.