February 6, 2011
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St. Lawrence's Marsh Forced to Miss Another Weekend
CHN Staff Report
St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh was forced to miss his team's games this weekend against Cornell and Colgate because of further complications from a recent surgery.
Marsh previously missed two games Jan. 21-22, during a 10-day absence following initial complications. He returned to coach the team last weekend, but was forced back out this weekend.
Marsh was recently diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis, a disease that causes esophagus constriction, making eating, breathing and swallowing difficult. After initially trying to put off dealing with it, doctors told him it needed to be treated right away.
So, Jan. 20, Marsh underwent a procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital to dilate the esophagus. During the surgery, the esophagus suffered a small perforation, something doctors told him could happen. As a result, air was able to escape into Marsh's chest cavity, causing severe pain.
The normally glib Marsh was left unable to speak for a couple of days, and could not eat or drink on his own.
"It was the soar throat from hell," Marsh told the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times last week. "I was on morphine for four or five days. You can't eat, you can't take food or water or anything. It was all done with the IV."
Marsh was hoping he would not miss any more games, but further issues cropped us this week, forcing him to miss another trip.
"It raises a lot of questions where we have had a tough year getting W's and I haven't been around," Marsh told the Times. "(Associate head coach) Bob Prier and (Mike) Hurlbut have done a phenomenal job. The kids are getting the coaching."
Marsh, a 1977 graduate of New Hampshire, has been the head coach at St. Lawrence since 1985; it's the only college head coaching job he's ever had. Along the way, he's led the Saints to the Frozen Four twice, including the 1988 national championship game, which was lost to Lake Superior State.
Marsh has been ECAC Coach of the Year four times, national coach of the year twice, and has five ECAC championships to his credit, the last in 2001. His career record was 455-377-67 coming into the season. This year, St. Lawrence is in "rebuilding" mode, with a 8-14-5 record (4-10-1 ECAC).