Blais Named New Hockey Coach at UNO
Jun 12, 2009 | General, Hockey
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OMAHA, Neb. – UNO Director of Athletics #Trev Alberts announced on Friday that Dean Blais# has been named the school's new head hockey coach. Blais succeeds #Mike Kemp# who became an associate athletic director last month. Blais is just the second hockey coach in school history.
“From the beginning of the search process, we identified Dean as someone who could take UNO hockey to the next level,” said Alberts. “We are excited to have someone with his talent and experience leading our hockey program into a new era.”
“I'm looking forward to the challenge of returning to Division I college hockey, particularly in a conference as competitive as the CCHA,” said Blais. “I'm also looking forward to working with Trev Alberts and Mike Kemp to build on what Mike and his staff have accomplished and make UNO hockey one of the elite programs in the nation.”
“I had the great honor to start Maverick hockey with Don Leahy back in 1996, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to shepherd the program forward with someone who has Dean's stature in college hockey,” said Kemp. “He will have a positive impact on the progress that has already been made, and I'm looking forward to a strong and fruitful relationship with Dean and his future staff.”
Blais comes to UNO from the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League where he served as head coach and general manager. As head coach of an expansion team in 2008-09, Blais led the Force to a record of 32-23-5. The team advanced to the USHL's Clark Cup Finals before losing to the Indiana Ice three games to one. He was named USHL Coach of the Year, and the Force were named Organization of the Year.
As a college coach, Blais won NCAA Division I national championships as the head coach of the University of North Dakota in 1997 and 2000. The Fighting Sioux were runners up in 2001, the last of five straight NCAA appearances under Blais. Overall, the native of International Falls, Minn. guided North Dakota to seven NCAA appearances, five regular season WCHA titles and two WCHA playoff championships in addition to the national championships.
Blais is a two-time winner of the Spencer Penrose Memorial Award given to the Division I coach of the year. He is also a three-time WCHA coach of the year honoree. He was 262-115-33 (.679), including five 30-win seasons, at North Dakota. In total, he spent 19 seasons with the Fighting Sioux, nine as an assistant and ten as the head coach.
Blais was recently named the head coach of the 2010 U.S. National Junior Team. The team will compete in the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. It is not his first international coaching experience. He was the head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team in 1993 and an assistant in 1987 and 1988. He was an assistant for Team USA in the 2000 IIHF World Championships.
He also worked for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League from 2004-2007. He served as associate head coach during the 2005-06 season and as director of player development in 2006-07.
Blais played college hockey at the University of Minnesota from 1970-73. In 124 games, he had 56 goals and 83 assists for 139 points. He was the Gophers' Rookie of the Year in 1970 and was an NCAA All-Tournament selection in 1971. After college, he played three seasons of pro hockey with the Chicago Blackhawks' development team in Dallas, Texas.
