On Friday morning, Dave Shyiak was introduced to the media and the public as the fourth head coach in the history of Northern Michigan University hockey.

Then before the afternoon was over, NMU Sports Information was announcing that Shyiak had named his first assistant coach.

Marquette native and ex-Wildcats player Andy Contois will join the Northern staff.

An NMU graduate with a degree in finance, he has spent the past three seasons as associate head coach of the Youngstown, Ohio, Phantoms of the 16-team United States Hockey League, the top junior league sanctioned in the U.S., according to NMU SI.

Andy Contois

In Contois’ three seasons in Ohio, Youngstown compiled a 100-61-16-9 record as he played a leading role in guiding the Phantoms to a program-first Clark Cup title in the 2022-23 season.

“Andy is ready for this opportunity,” Shyiak said in the NMU SI release. “He’s an alum(nus) from Marquette (who) has developed into a great coach and recruiter. He will be an important asset to our program and community moving forward.

“I can’t wait for Andy and his wife Taylor to get back up to the (Upper Peninsula) and carry on the tradition of Wildcat hockey.”

Contois, 42, was also grateful for the chance with his hometown team.

“I want to thank President (Brock) Tessman, (athletic director) Rick Comley and coach Dave Shyiak for the opportunity to come back to Northern,” Contois said in the NMU SI release. “The program is in great hands with Coach Shyiak and I couldn’t be more excited to join his staff and help develop and build this program into something the university and community of Marquette is proud of.”

Before coming to Youngstown, Contois spent two seasons with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League), a minor league in pro hockey, where this Chicago Blackhawks-affiliated team qualified for the playoffs in both seasons and led the league in having its players called up to the top level in the minors, the American Hockey League.

Before Indy, Contois had two years with the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the USHL. While working for the Flying Aces, Andy coached seven players who were taken in the NHL draft and an additional 45 players move on to play NCAA Division I college hockey.

Before becoming a coach, Contois was a four-year player for the Wildcats from 2002-06, the first three of those seasons when Shyiak was NMU’s associate head coach.

The 1999 graduate of Marquette Senior High School

played for the Marquette Electricians Midget AAA junior hockey team in 119 games, scoring 60 goals and totaling 135 points. He also played for Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL following his high school graduation.

Contois had a 10-year pro playing career after Northern, spending parts of four seasons in North America in the AHL and ECHL and most of the final seven seasons in Europe.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.