Major Coaching Moves Now, and On the Horizon; ASU to NCHC
by Avash Kalra/Senior Writer (@AvashKalra)
The start to the season always seems to come quickly, but nevertheless, here we are.
This Friday night, the 2024-25 men’s college hockey season officially begins — less than six months after Denver won its NCAA record 10th national championship in program history, when the Pioneers took down Boston College in the national title game in St. Paul, Minn., in April. This Spring, the NCAA Frozen Four returns to St. Louis for the first time since 2007.
First things first, there’s a lot to catch up on — the moves and storylines from the summer that will undoubtedly shape a memorable 2024-25 season.
Offseason Moves
Seven teams begin this season with new head coaches.
Perhaps more notably, three long-time head coaches all announced this would be their final season, and all announced who the new head coach would be next season: Mike Schafer at Cornell, handing off the torch to Casey Jones, who moves back to his alma mater from Clarkson to be an assistant while waiting; Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson moving aside for Brock Sheahan; and Army’s Brian Riley, who will be succeeded by Zach McKelvie, ending a 75-year run of Rileys in charge at West Point. (See more below)
Jean-Francois Houle takes over for Jones at Clarkson. Houle is no stranger to Clarkson (as an alum), to coaching in the ECAC (having worked as an assistant for the Golden Knights from 2003-10), or even to head coaching (he’s most recently been the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, Laval Rocket).
The coaching carousel that sees Jones move back to Cornell also sees Ben Syer (an associate head coach at Cornell since 2012 and a top recruiter within the ECAC) move to Princeton as the Tigers’ new head coach. Syer takes over for Ron Fogarty, who coached Princeton for the past nine years and reached the NCAAs in 2018 after a surprise run to the ECAC tournament title.
There were also a pair of head coaching changes in the CCHA. Dave Shyiak returns to his alma mater, Northern Michigan, where he won the national championship as a player in 1991. Shyiak was head coach at Alaska-Anchorage from 2005-13 and more recently has served as an assistant coach at Western…
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