Blais Steps Down at Omaha

The hockey coaching carousel continues in the NCAA Division college hockey ranks, three weeks before the season-ending Frozen Four in Chicago.

On March 6, Seth Appert was relieved of his duties after 11 years at Rensselaer. Shortly after, Walt Kyle was dismissed after 15 seasons at his alma mater, Northern Michigan, where he recorded 265 career victories and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2010 with the Wildcats. On Monday, Niagara parted ways with Dave Burkholder after 16 years, 247 wins, and three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Tuesday, in perhaps the biggest shock, Dean Blais stated that he is stepping down from the helm after eight years at Nebraska-Omaha. He had one year remaining on his contract at UNO.

Blais, a Minnesota graduate who took North Dakota to two NCAA titles (1997, 2000), went 146-133-30 in his tenure with UNO. His record included two of the Mavericks' three all-time NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Frozen Four berth in 2015. A two-time winner of the Spencer Penrose Award as Division I hockey’s top coach, he also led the U.S. to gold at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship in Canada.

Omaha concluded its 2016-17 campaign with a 2-1 OT loss to Western Michigan on Sunday to fall, two games to one, in the best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal series.

Successors to the four aforementioned coaches have yet to be named. Bids to the 16-team 2017 NCAA Tournament will be announced on Sunday.

ADDENDUM: USCHO.com announced on Wednesday that longtime New Hampshire men’s hockey coach Dick Umile will retire after the 2017-18 season, and will be succeeded by associate head coach Mike Souza.

Gillam Gets Win, Goal in College Debut for Cornell

Mitch Gillam won his first career start for Cornell on Tuesday night against visiting Niagara, making 24 saves for the 14^th-ranked Big Red in its 4-2 victory.

Unlike other freshmen—and most goalies—though, the Peterborough, Ont. also scored an actual, honest-to-gosh goal in his collegiate debut, sending the puck the length of the ice at Lynah Rink into an empty net with nine seconds remaining in regulation to ice Cornell’s seventh win of the season. It was also the first time in 80 games that someone other than Andy Illes started in net for the Big Red (7-3-1 overall).

You can watch Gillam’s historical goal-scoring goalie moment here.

“After I caught the puck, I noticed that most of their team was to one side of the ice,” said Gillam afterwards to the Ithaca Journal. “So I put it down and looked up, and (Joel) Lowry was telling me to get it out. I noticed their D-man was going toward the boards, so I just shot it right up the gut. Right into the net.”

Gillam is now tied with classmate Matt Buckles with one goal apiece, and with three other teammates who each have one assist. He is also ahead of five other teammates on Cornell’s scoring scroll.

According to USCHO.com, Gillam is the eighth goaltender to score a goal at the NCAA level, and just the third to shoot the puck into an empty net. The last one was sophomore Mike Mantua for Western Michigan in Nov. 2002 against visiting Ferris State in a 4-1 victory at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich,.

As for the first … I was there 15 years ago at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich. in Feb. 1998 when old friend Chad Alban, then a senior for Michigan State, made history by hitting the empty net for the Spartans in their 6-3 CCHA win against those same FSU Bulldogs—and on MSU’s Senior Night, to boot.

You surely don’t see that every day—or even every season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cahoon, Lang Step Down from Coaching Positions

Well, didn't exactly see either of these moves coming.

A day before head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon resigned from Massachusetts with one year left on his contract, Eric Lang (shown above) stepped down after one season at the helm of the Manhattanville College men's program.

I watched Cahoon (BU '72) coach at Princeton before he took the UMass job, and earlier this year I wrote about Lang and the Valiants for New York Hockey Journal. Cahoon went 166-229-42 in 13 seasons with the Minutemen, and is 336-393-76 overall with UMass, Princeton, Norwich and Lehigh in 25 years.

Lang (AIC '98) led Manhattanville to a 13-9-3 mark and an ECAC West playoff berth in his only campaign with the men's program. He previously went 58-22-3 in three seasons with the Valiants women's team.

Also last week, Blaise MacDonald (RIT' 85) , a former head coach with both Niagara and UMass Lowell, took the reins at Colby College, where he will make his Division III debut as a head coach. He holds a career record of 236-241-59 in 15 seasons with the Purple Eagles and River Hawks.

Just the first of what may be several coaching changes at the college level this summer.

Dropping Like Flies

You know it's the end of the college hockey season this time of year, and not just because we're down to the last four teams at the Frozen Four. No, you know it's the end when players with one, two and sometimes even three years of college eligibility remaining are foregoing it altogether to sign professional contracts.

Rightly or wrongly, it's gotten to be a fact of life for the college game that some players are going to leave before their four years on campus are up. Whether they make it or not to the NHL remains to be seen, but here's some of the players who won't be back for the 2012-13 NCAA campaign, as outlined at USCHO.com:

Scott Arnold, Soph., F, Niagara (Phoenix Coyotes)
Anthony Bitetti, Soph., D, Northeastern (Nashville Predators)
Terry Broadhurst, Jr., F, Nebraska-Omaha (Chicago Blackhawks)
Chris Brown, Jr., F, Michigan (Phoenix Coyotes)
J.T. Brown, Soph., F, Minnesota-Duluth (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Alex Chiasson, Jr., Forward, Boston University (Dallas Stars)
David Eddy., Jr., F, St. Cloud State (Calgary Flames)
Torey Krug, Jr., D, Michigan State (Boston Bruins)
Mike Lee, Jr., G, St. Cloud State (Phoenix Coyotes)
Cole Schneider, Soph., F, Connecticut (Ottawa Senators)
Jaden Schwartz, Soph., F, Colorado College (St. Louis Blues)
Riley Sheahan, Jr., F, Notre Dame (Detroit Red Wings)
Drew Shore, Jr., F, Denver  (Florida Panthers)
Reilly Smith, Jr., F, Miami (Dallas Stars)
Sebastian Stalberg., Jr., F, Vermont (San Jose Sharks)
Matt Tennyson, Jr., D, Western Michigan (San Jose Sharks)
Zach Trotman, Jr., D, Lake Superior State (Boston Bruins)
Jason Zucker, Soph., F, Denver (Minnesota Wild) (pictured)

More to come, obviously ...

Niagara Drops Women's Ice Hockey

Another Division I women's hockey program has fallen by the wayside. Niagara University in Lewiston, N.Y. announced on Monday that it will discontinue women's ice hockey as a varsity sport.

Niagara refers to the move as a "restructuring" of the athletic department—but essentially, women's outdoor track and field is replacing women's ice hockey on the university roster. Niagara hockey student-athletes who wish to remain at the school will have their scholarships honored, or else they can transfer to another Division I school without having to endure the customary one-year waiting period for transfers.

The Purple Eagles, who finished 10-16-8 overall in 2011-12, played their final game in a 3-2 loss at Robert Morris on March 2 in the College Hockey America tournament semifinals. Freshman forward Kayla Raniwsky scored Niagara's final varsity goal.

Niagara fashioned an overall mark of 179-240-57 (.436) in 15 Division I campaigns, four in the ECAC and 11 in the CHA, after getting started back in 1998-99. The Purple Eagles, who enjoyed their best record in 2001-02 as a member of the ECAC East when they went 26-8-2 overall and made it to the NCAA Frozen Four, now join Wayne State, Findlay and MIT in the annals of defunct women's hockey programs.

Hometown Haczyk Seeking to Make NHL Devils

Originally published in the Nutley Journal on Aug. 24, 2011. Haczyk has been assigned to Albany (AHL) to start the 2011-12 season.

By Roman J. Uschak

A Jersey Devil is seeking to come home for good.

Bryan Haczyk, a Nutley native who starred for the Niagara University hockey team the past four seasons, recently attended his second prospects camp with the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark.

"It was pretty awesome," he said earlier this month. "It's really nice to be a part of the organization again."

He is hoping to become just the second Garden State native ever to skate for his home state NHL team. Brick native Jim Dowd, a former college star himself at Lake Superior State in Michigan, helped the Devils to their first-ever Stanley Cup title in 1995.

Haczyk (pronounced HA-chek) took part in his first prospects camp with the Devils last summer, but said the second time around was much more comfortable.

"It was easier to just play my game, and I thought I did well," he said. "There was a lot of talent out there, and I held my own and worked hard."

Haczyk, who was born in Secaucus and then moved to Jersey City, got his start skating at the Mud Hole in Nutley before playing his formative hockey with the New Jersey Devils Youth Hockey Club in West Orange. He then starred for Seton Hall Prep before going on to play three years of junior hockey, first with the New Jersey Hitmen, and then with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League.

Haczyk, 24, then skated for Niagara from 2007 to 2011, helping the Purple Eagles to an NCAA Tournament berth as a freshman, before exploding for career scoring highs as a senior team captain with 28 goals and 17 assists for 45 points. He finished his college career with 46 goals and 49 assists for 95 points, while also fashioning a 3.9 grade-point average and earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Now he's trying to fashion a professional hockey career in what is practically his own backyard, after playing away from home the past six or seven years.

"It's been awhile, but it feels great," said Haczyk of playing in New Jersey again.

The 5-9, 175-pound forward actually made his professional debut at the tail end of the 2010-11 campaign when he played three games with the ECHL’s Trenton Devils, where he registered one assist.

"My family only had to drive one hour to see me play," he laughed, as opposed to a seven-hour sojourn up to Niagara in Lewiston, NY. "It was pretty awesome being back home again."

He also said it's nice to be able to just focus on playing hockey and not having to worry about combining athletics with academics anymore, although he did admit to missing his friends at Niagara.

"I do miss that part of college," he said. "I definitely wouldn't change a thing, and it was a fun four years."

Haczyk will most likely continue his career for now in the minor leagues, as he has signed a one-year contract with the Devils' Triple-A level affiliate in Albany of the American Hockey League. He already has an agent, and has been working out on daily basis at the Prudential Center while also skating with some of the other Devils.

“He will play at the next level,” said Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder of Haczyk last spring. “He has national league speed for sure. Someone will give him a chance at the AHL level, and then it’s where does he go from there.”

One adaptation Haczyk said he has had to make was to the playing style of pro hockey, which he explained is more weighted towards puck possession than the run-and-gun approach of college.

"It's been a bit of an adjustment, but I've felt I've gotten the hang of it," he said.

He also said that the Devils' blue-collar style of hockey, which emphasizes hard work and defense, suits him well.

"It's always been my game," said Haczyk. "My goal is to outwork my opponents on every shift, and I hope I'll fit in well and be successful in the organization."

He's also gotten a little used to seeing his equipment on display inside an NHL locker room.

"It's pretty cool to go to the building and see your gear hanging up," he admitted. "You take a step back, and it's pretty cool to think about the big picture."

The club wasn't simply attracted to Haczyk because he was born and raised in New Jersey, which the Devils have called home since moving from Colorado in 1982. It may have been that way at his first prospects camp last year, which was filled out with local players. The second time, though, was on his own merit.

"It was his senior season at Niagara, in particular," said David Conte, the Devils' long-time Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations and Director of Scouting. "He had a very good year, and he's carried on with no guarantees. He has a certain character we like and respect."

Conte couldn't speculate on whether or not Haczyk would take part in the Devils' main training camp in Newark in September. He did say that, like all prospects, Haczyk's road ahead was full of potential, and would require some dedication, opportunity and luck.

"He's going to have a chance to start his journey, and see how it unfolds," said Conte.

One that could culminate less than 10 miles from home, at hockey's highest level.

Niagara Haczyk Story Now Online

Story I recently wrote on New Jersey native and Niagara University senior captain Bryan Haczyk is now up at U.S. College Hockey Online:

http://www.uscho.com/2011/02/28/new-role-new-level-of-success-for-niagaras-haczyk/

He's having a career season after attending a development camp with the NHL's New Jersey Devils last summer and seeing power-play time this winter. I wish him well as he finishes up college (he already has his bachelor's degree) and prepares to move on to the pros.

Niagara hosts Canisius on Saturday in an Atlantic Hockey Association play-in game at NU's Dwyer Arena.