Bill Muckalt - Ice Hockey Coach - University of Michigan Athletics

Bill Muckalt

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
muckalt@umich.edu
Phone:
(734) 647-1201

Bill Muckalt enters his fourth season as associate head coach for the University of Michigan ice hockey team in 2020-21 after being named to the position in the summer of 2017.

Muckalt returned to his alma mater with 11 years of coaching experience, after a five-year career in the NHL.

In his first season behind the bench in 2017-18, Muckalt helped Michigan to a 22-15-3 record and an appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four. The Wolverines advanced to a record 25th Frozen Four on the heels of an NCAA Northeast Regional Championship, after defeating Northeastern and Boston University.

The following year while posting a 13-16-7 record, Quinn Hughes was a first-team All-America and a finalist for the Hobey Baker trophy. Hughes was one of three that signed entry-level NHL contracts at the conclusion of the season, signing with Vancouver, while Josh Norris inked with Ottawa, Joe Cecconi with Dallas.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2019-20 season, Michigan was ranked No. 17 in the nation and was No. 14 in the Pairwise with an 18-14-4 record. The Wolverines had posted back-to-back shutouts over Michigan State in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament and were set to play Ohio State in the semifinals.

Prior to coming back to Ann Arbor, Muckalt was the head coach and general manager of the Tri-City Storm in the United States Hockey League.

In his two seasons with Tri-City, Muckalt's team recorded 49-46-16-9 record and captured its first Clark Cup in franchise history during the 2015-16 season. During the 2015-16 championship season, the squad had a franchise-record 13-game point streak and ended the playoffs with the most goals scored and fewest goals allowed in the USHL.

Muckalt was just the fifth coach in Tier-1 history of the USHL to win a championship in the first season as head coach, joining current Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill.

Before Tri-City, Muckalt spend the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach at Michigan Tech. The Huskies posted a 29-10-2 record, which tied for the most wins in college hockey that year along with a berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies earned their first No. 1 national ranking, since 1976, while boasting the largest goal differential in NCAA DI, with a 1.80 goals against average and 3.51 goals per game.

Prior to his stint with the Storm, Muckalt served as an assistant coach at Michigan Tech for four years under Mel Pearson

Previously, Muckalt held head coaching positions with the Valencia Flyers of the Western States Hockey League (2009-10) and New Mexico Mustangs of the North American Hockey League (2010-11), Eastern Michigan of the American Collegiate Hockey Associate (2006-07-08).

Muckalt spent five years in the National Hockey League, playing with the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild. He collected 97 career points, on 40 goals and 57 assists. In his rookie season with Vancouver he had 16 goals and 20 assists in 73 games. He retired as a player in 2004.

A two-time national champion during his four-year career at Michigan, Muckalt helped the Wolverines to 133 total wins. He finished his collegiate career with 105 goals and 226 total points. He remains seventh in all-time program history with 226 points and his 105 goals ranks sixth while his 121 assists ranks ninth. He captured first-team All-America honors and was a Hobey Baker Award finalist during his senior season in 1997-98.

A Surrey, British Columbia, native, Muckalt graduated from Michigan in 1998 with a degree in sports management and communications.

• Michigan Names Muckalt Associate Head Coach (6/20/2017)