Eric Lang (born August 6, 1975) is an American former

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 ...

forward and current

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 ...

for the

RPI Engineers men's ice hockey The RPI Engineers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The Engineers are a member of ECAC Hockey conference an ...

team. He previously was the head coach at 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 ...

American International.

Career

Lang started his college career at American International, playing for the team while it was still in the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

ranks. After four seasons with the Yellow Jackets he graduated with a BA in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. Lang worked for the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

as an off-ice official and coached at

Byram Hills High School Byram Hills High School (BHHS) is a four-year co-educational public secondary school located in Armonk, New York, United States. It is the only secondary school in the Byram Hills Central School District, and serves students from the towns of ...

for four years before returning to

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

to earn a

graduate degree Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor ...

. While working towards a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in organizational development Lang served as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

for the men's ice hockey team at AIC from 2006 until graduating in 2008. With his degree in hand Lang was immediately hired as the head coach of the women's program at

Manhattanville College Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the "Academy of the Sacred Heart". In 1917, the academy recei ...

, spending three seasons with the team until he took over the duties as bench boss of the men's team in 2011. Lang spent only one season with the program before joining the staff at

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

first as a volunteer assistant and then as a full-time assistant coach for the Black Knights. After four years under the tutelage of Brian Riley Lang accepted the head coaching position with his alma mater, replacing long-time coach

Gary Wright Gary Malcolm Wright (April 26, 1943 – September 4, 2023) was an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs " Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive". Wright's breakthrough album, '' The Dream Weaver'' (1975), came after he h ...

. Taking over a team that in 2016 ranked 60th of 60 Division I teams, Lang recruited Europeans who wanted a good education while playing hockey, and used a European playing style emphasizing puck possession. In his first season as head coach AIC's 8-20-8 record was not unusually bad compared to the team's history. In his second season Lang led the team to 15 wins, the most since 1993. In Lang's third season AIC won both the

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) was an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

regular season and tournament titles and led the Yellow Jackets to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance. Lang remained in charge at AIC until the program was downgraded to Division II following the 2024–25 season. Shortly after the year, Rensselaer hired Lang as the program's 14th head coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Official biography, AIC Yellow Jackets
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Eric 1975 births American men's ice hockey forwards American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey players American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey coaches RPI Engineers men's ice hockey coaches Living people Sportspeople from the Bronx Ice hockey people from New York City Ice hockey coaches from New York (state) Ice hockey players from New York (state) 20th-century American sportsmen