Dave Shyiak (born November 4, 1966) is a former
Canadian ice hockey player and coach. He was part of
Northern Michigan's national title run in the
1991 tournament.
Career
The
Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...
native began his college career as a
freshman
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ara ...
under
Rick Comley at
Northern Michigan. Shyiak's term as a player for the Wildcats coincided with high point for the team winning 20 games in three consecutive seasons, making two
NCAA Tournaments and winning their only national title in his senior year. After graduating Shyiak spent one more season playing in the
BHL before returning to
Marquette. Shyiak spent the
1992–93 season as a graduate assistant for his former team and then moved on to become the head coach for the
Kimberley Dynamiters the following year. He move again the next season to become the
head coach/assistant GM for the
Merritt Centennials
The Merritt Centennials are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Merritt, British Columbia. They are members of the Interior Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). The franchise was established in Kamloops in 1961 and moved to ...
for one year before returning to his
alma mater as a full-time assistant coach.
Shyiak spent a decade as an assistant at Northern Michigan, serving under both his former coach and his successor
Walt Kyle until he was offered the top job at
Alaska-Anchorage
The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Pri ...
. Shyiak took over the Seawolves in
2005-06 and while the team demonstrated some promise he could not get the club to have a single winning season during his eight-year tenure (something Alaska-Anchorage has struggled with since joining the
WCHA). After his contract expired following the
2012-13 season he was not retained, making room for
Matt Thomas to succeed him as coach.
Since his dismissal Shyiak signed on as an amateur scout with the
Toronto Maple Leafs for one season. He was named associate head coach of the
Western Michigan men's ice hockey team on Sept. 15, 2014.
Career statistics
Head coaching record
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shyiak, Dave
1966 births
Living people
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey coaches
Canadian ice hockey coaches
Ice hockey people from Brandon, Manitoba
Toronto Maple Leafs scouts
NCAA men's ice hockey national champions