Chris Bergeron (born November 28, 1970) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

center, and the former men's ice hockey head coach at his alma mater,

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Playing career

NCAA hockey

Bergeron played with the

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference ...

of the CCHA (

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

). Bergeron became an integral part of Miami squad, culminating in his senior 1992–93 season, when the team finished with a stellar 22-3-5 (.750) record and CCHA regular season title. Miami then capped a historic year for the program with its first bid to the NCAA men's ice hockey tournament. Miami was led by Bergeron (61 points),

Brian Savage Brian Arthur Savage (born February 24, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia F ...

(2nd-Team All-American, 37 goals), defenseman

Bobby Marshall Robert Wells Marshall (March 12, 1880 – August 27, 1958) was an American sportsman. He was best known for playing football; however, Marshall also competed in baseball, track, boxing, ice hockey and wrestling. Football career High schoo ...

(2nd-Team All American, 45 points) and goalie Richard Shulmistra (2.71 GAA). The team lost in the first round to

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

3–1 at the

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. Bergeron was voted the best defensive forward in the CCHA for the 1992-93 season and turned professional with the completion of his collegiate career.

International

Following his college career at Miami, Bergeron joined teammate Brian Savage and saw action in four games with the Canadian National Team, recording a goal in four games with Canada.

Professional career

Bergeron played professionally with a number of teams in his 7 year professional career. In his first season, with the

Toledo Storm The Toledo Storm were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1991 to 2007. The Storm played their home games at the venerable Toledo Sports Arena along the eastern banks of the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. The team colors w ...

, he recorded 20 points in 18 games and 10 points in 5 playoff games, helping the team to the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

Riley Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

championship. He spent one season in the professional roller hockey league, during the summer of 1994 with

Buffalo Stampede The Buffalo Stampede were a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team competed in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) for two seasons in 2009 and 2010, and in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) for the 2010� ...

. Bergeron played in 20 game recording 19 goals, 34 assists and 46 penalty minutes in his first and only season playing professional roller hockey. Bergeron was second on the team in points and tied for third in goals, with the team winning the RHI championship Murphy Cup. He returned to the ice for the 1994–95 season, primarily with the Birmingham Bulls of the ECHL, in a solid season (82 points, 27 goals, 55 assists). He spent time with the

Cincinnati Cyclones The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heri ...

for parts of four seasons, and put forward his best season in 1997–98 with the

Columbus Cottonmouths The Columbus Cottonmouths were three separate professional ice hockey teams based in Columbus, Georgia. The team is nicknamed the Snakes and played their home games at the Columbus Civic Center. In 2017, the third franchise suspended operations af ...

of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. Bergeon netted 65 goals and added 54 assists for 119 points in 65 regular season games with the Cottonmouths on their way to a CHL championship

Levins Cup The Ray Miron President's Cup is a trophy that was awarded to the playoff champion of the Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2002 until 2014, when the remaining CHL teams joined the ECHL. The trophy was known as The William "Bill" Levins Memorial Cup ...

. Bergeron finished his professional career in the 1999-2000 season with the

Port Huron Border Cats The Port Huron Border Cats were a minor professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League that played from 1996 to 2002. The team was based in Port Huron, Michigan, and played at McMorran Place McMorran Arena is an entertainment comple ...

of the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

Career statistics

Playing career

''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Coaching career

In 2000, Bergeron retired from playing professional hockey and returned to his

Alma Mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

. He joined the RedHawks as an

assistant coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

for the 2000–01 season and spent the next 10 seasons with the RedHawks under former teammate and Miami

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Enrico Blasi Enrico Blasi (born February 16, 1972) is an American hockey coach, former player and athletics administrator who currently serves as head coach at the University of St. Thomas. Blasi was previously the head coach for the Miami RedHawks men's i ...

. During his time at Miami, Bergeron was part of eight 20-win seasons, including six NCAA Tournament appearances and a national championship game. Bergeron worked with the forwards, as well as being heavily involved in recruiting, bringing in six players who would become All-Americans and another player who would go on to win the Hobey Baker Award at Miami. In 2010, Bergeron was hired as head coach at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, Ohio. Bergeron replaced interim head coach Denis Williams, who took over the struggling program in 2009 after Scott Paluch left to take a position with

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

. In 2014-15, Bergeron led the Falcons to their first 20+ win season since 1995-96, finishing with a record of 23-11-5. They wrapped up that season just .0001 PairWise points on the outside of the national tournament, where they were left out in favor of the eventual national champions that year,

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. In 2016-17, after high preseason expectations and sluggish start, he led Bowling Green as they rode a seven-game winning streak all the way to the program's first conference championship game appearance since the 1987-88 season. The Falcons fought valiantly before ultimately dropping the road contest in a hostile environment to

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

in double overtime, 3-2. In 2017-18, his Bowling Green Falcons won the

Great Lakes Invitational The Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) is a four-team National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's ice hockey tournament held annually at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, around the New Year's holiday. It was previously held in D ...

tournament. They triumphed over

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Wolverines 6-4 in the semifinals, and they defeated Michigan Tech 4-1 in the championship game, winning the event for the first time in history. In 2018-19, Bowling Green had a hot stretch to start the season, highlighted by an 8-2 victory over a top-10

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

in Columbus and culminating in finishing the first half of the season with a sweep of then #3 Minnesota State to go into the Christmas break with a 13-3-3 record. Despite their struggles with consistency down the stretch to close the regular season, the Falcons earned a bid to the 2019 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament. They were selected as the 15th seed, which was the last at-large bid to make it into the tournament. Falcons supporters gathered for a "watch party" for the selection show inside the Slater Family Ice Arena as BG earned their first NCAA bid in 29 years. Bowling Green lost 2-1 in overtime to eventual national champions Minnesota-Duluth in the first round. On April 5, 2019, Bergeron was named the head hockey coach at Miami University, leaving Bowling Green as the 2nd-winningest coach in program history, with 171 wins. On March 18, 2024 Bergeron was fired as the head hockey coach at Miami University, leaving with an overall record of 35-116-16. The final season of Bergeron's tenure finished with a 0-15-1 record in his final 16 games.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Official biography, Miami Red Hawks
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergeron, Chris 1970 births Adirondack Red Wings players Canadian ice hockey centres Miami RedHawks men's ice hockey coaches Living people Toledo Storm players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Cincinnati Cyclones (IHL) players Carolina Monarchs players Las Vegas Thunder players Birmingham Bulls (ECHL) players Port Huron Border Cats players Columbus Cottonmouths (CHL) players Bowling Green Falcons ice hockey coaches Miami RedHawks men's ice hockey players Buffalo Stampede players Canadian inline hockey players