The Northern Michigan University hockey program announced Wednesday that they have chosen former Wildcat hockey player, and national champion, Dave Shyiak as the fourth coach in program history.

Shyiak, 57, has plenty of experience at NMU. Shyiak was one of the captains of the 1991 Wildcats national championship squad and also had a 10-year stint as an assistant coach at NMU under Rick Comley and Walt Kyle from 1995-2005.

In the nearly 20 years since he left Marquette, Shyiak has had several coaching spells throughout the college hockey ranks, including a stint as the head coach of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves. Other stops for Shyiak include associate coaching positions at Western Michigan University and St. Cloud State and a year as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Manitoba native comes back to NMU during a period of change at the program, after Grant Potulny left the program to pursue a coaching job in the professional ranks earlier this month.

After Potulny announced his departure, the school organized a search led interim coach and NMU Athletic Director Comley.

The relatively quick hire of Shiyak is an encouraging sign for the program, which has valued consistency in the nearly 50 years since its inception.

Shyiak’s familiarity with NMU and the Marquette area can only be a good thing as it will allow him to hit the ground running with (hopefully) minimal adjustment time.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for NMU hockey and hope that Shyiak can help return the program to the glory it experienced when he was wearing the Wildcats sweater.