Shyiak Has Inside Track at NMU

CHN Staff Report

Dave Shyiak, currently an assistant coach at Western Michigan, has the inside track to become next head coach at Northern Michigan, sources tell College Hockey News. However, a number of factors could hold that up.

Shyiak, who was head coach at Alaska-Anchorage from 2005-13, was one of 15 candidates that conducted video interviews. He is a Northern Michigan alumnus and part of the 1991 national championship team, and went on to become an assistant coach under Rick Comley and Walt Kyle at NMU from 1995-2005.

Northern Michigan athletic director Forrest Karr said that the search has narrowed from 69 names that originally applied, but that no one has the "inside track."

"The search committee met and selected 15 candidates for video interviews," Karr said. "The final video interview was completed on Monday night. Search committee members reviewed the video interviews and scored them. The search committee met again on Wednesday night to discuss video interviews and select finalists.

"We will interview finalists this week. We are not announcing the finalists as several candidates asked us to maintain confidentiality early in the process and we are honoring that commitment.

"Each finalist has an equal opportunity to be the next head coach. Nobody has the inside track."

Comley and Kyle are the only two head coaches the program has ever had. Kyle was relieved of his duties following the conclusion of this season. Shyiak was a candidate when Comley left for Michigan State, though the job ultimately went to Kyle, another alum. Shyiak was a candidate for the Anchorage job twice before landing it the second time.

Northern Michigan is expected to announce a final decision next week. One potential holdup could be the financial terms. Shyiak has a good salary as far as assistant coaches go, while NMU has not put as much resources into its hockey program recently compared to other similar schools.

Shyiak was 80-177-33 in eight seasons as Alaska-Anchorage head coach, and never had a winning record. He was let go after a 4-25-7 season in 2012-13. After spending one season as an amateur scout, he joined Andy Murray's coaching staff at Western Michigan in 2014.