St. Cloud State has hired Dave Shyiak as its new associate head coach, filling the vacancy left when Mike Gibbons retired earlier this year. Shyiak has been an associate head coach at Western Michigan since 2014.
Shyiak has a wealth of experience, formerly the head coach at Alaska Anchorage from 2005-13. He had been at Western Michigan under Andy Murray since 2014. Between the time at Anchorage and Western Michigan, Shyiak spent one season as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to becoming the head coach at Anchorage, Shyiak was an associate head coach at Northern Michigan, his alma mater.
Shyiak, 47, captained Northern Michigan his senior season, when the Wildcats won the national championship in 1991, beating Boston University in the championship game.
Shyiak helped WMU to one of its best seasons in program history in 2016-17. Two key freshmen defensemen emerged under his coaching in Cam Lee and Luke Bafia. The Broncos also improved their defense from the previous season, allowing 2.88 goals per game compared to 3.94 in 2015-16.
