Monday, April 24, 2017

Pearson leaving Tech for Michigan

Mel Pearson has been named the new coach at Michigan after six seasons putting Michigan Tech back on the college hockey map.

He'll be formally introduced as the Wolverines' coach today during an afternoon press conference.

Pearson was an assistant coach at Michigan for 23 seasons, helping legendary coach Red Berenson win two national titles and get to the Frozen Four 11 times.

He went to Tech, his alma mater, in 2011, to try to turn around the Huskies' struggling program — no easy task. He did just that, going 118-92-29, including a 75-34-14 record over the last three seasons. The Huskies won the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champions for the first time in 40 years in 2016 and won the league's tournament title this past year. The Huskies went to two NCAA tournaments (the same number as Michigan did), too.

Michigan Tech now will be looking for its next coach. It will be the second opening in the WCHA this offseason, as the Huskies' arch-rival, Northern Michigan, also had a change, hiring Grant Potulny last week to replace the fired Walt Kyle.

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