(May 18): St. Lawrence University has named former Saint All America defenseman Mike Hurlbut Associate Head Men's Hockey Coach.
Hurlbut, who joined the Saint coaching staff in 2002-03 as a volunteer assistant coach after a long and successful career in professional hockey, was a full-time assistant coach for the Saints for the last three seasons. He replaces Bob Prier, who became the second St. Lawrence graduate to become a head coach in the ECAC when he was named head coach at Princeton University earlier this month.
"I have known Mike Hurlbut since his undergraduate days at St. Lawrence and I feel he is an excellent choice to become associate head coach," said Saint athletic director Margie Strait. "His work ethic, experience at the highest level of the sport and his concern for student-athlete development make him a perfect fit as a replacement for Bob Prier."
Hurlbut, who was a first-team All America for the Saints in 1989 and a member of the two most successful teams in Saint history, the 1988 NCAA runner-up and the 1989 team, played 14 years in the International and American hockey leagues and played 29 games in the National Hockey League. The Massena native is a 1989 graduate of St. Lawrence played 23 games with the New York Rangers and also made NHL starts for the Quebec Nordique and the Buffalo Sabres. An all-star defenseman while playing for the Rochester Americans, he was captain of the 2000 AHL Planet USA all star team. He played in a total of 839 professional games and scored 117 goals and had 364 assists.
"Mike has done a tremendous job for us since joining the staff as a volunteer," said Saint head coach Joe Marsh. "He has proven himself as a recruiter and helped bring in one of the best freshman classes we've ever had in last year's group and played a major role in their development as collegiate hockey players. His credentials as a pro and experience as a St. Lawrence player make him someone our players, particularly the defensemen, can learn a lot from.
"While we are obviously going to miss Bob and his contributions to the program, having Mike step into the associate head coaching position affords us a seamless transition in filling that position,. He knows what our program, and perhaps more important, knows what St. Lawrence is all about" Marsh added.
The search for a second assistant coach to take Hurlbut's spot is underway with the position expected to be filled in the near future.
Prier became the eighth St. Lawrence graduate to become a Division I men's head coach when he took the Princeton position and is the 13th SLU graduate to coach a Division I hockey program, including women's teams. A total of 14 SLU graduates have coached men's collegiate hockey programs, accounting for 20105 victories in Division I and 1484 in Division III and an additional nine have been women's head coaches at the collegiate level. The SLU program has also produced two NHL head coaches, current Canadiens coach Jacques Martin and Mike Keenan, who has had a number of NHL head coaching positions.
Saint Program Honored by NCAA
St. Lawrence University's men's hockey team was one of four ECAC Hockey men's programs and one of six Division I men's programs nationally recognized by the NCAA for its Academic Progress Rate (APR).
St. Lawrence was joined by Brown, Colgate and Princeton among the men's programs cited as part of the annual NCAA Public Recognition Awards. The women's programs at Brown, Princeton and Yale also had their women's programs cited.
The APR is based on scores from the 2006-07, 2007-09, 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Each year the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publically recognizing their latest multi-year APR. The announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight team which demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multi-year APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team's academic performance. The APR provides an annual scorecard of academic achievement as the NCAA tracks the classroom performances of student-athletes on every Division I sports team.
The current group marks the sixth year of the program and it was the second such honor for the St. Lawrence men's hockey program.
