October 17, 2024
New Coach, New Roster, Northern Michigan Builds a New Culture
by Tyler Kuehl/CHN Reporter (@TJKu29)
Unique.
That was the situation Dave Shyiak found when he was named the fourth head coach in Northern Michigan history in June.
When the former Wildcat captain was hired, he had the task of rebuilding a program that saw arguably the biggest exodus of a program ever. After Grant Potulny left Marquette to be the head coach for the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack, 14 players entered the transfer portal, along with a number of NHL prospects decommitting from the program.
With only four returners, Shyiak had his work cut out for him to field a D-I program. He compared the venture to an NHL expansion team.
“Everything’s brand new,…
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