Mike Haviland is entering his seventh season at the helm of the Colorado College hockey team after taking over as the 14th head coach in the history of the program on May 9, 2014.
Haviland led the Tigers to new heights during the 2018-19 season, posting 17 victories, the most in one season since the ’12-13 campaign (18). CC also won the Pikes Peak Trophy with a 6-1 victory over Air Force, reclaimed the Gold Pan with a 2-1-1 regular season record against in-state rival Denver, and advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff for the first time as a member of the league.
The Tigers swept Denver in a home-and-home series to close out the regular season and finish sixth in the final NCHC standings. Colorado College upset third-seeded Western Michigan in three games to win its first NCHC quarterfinal series and advance to the league’s Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn.
In 2017-18, sophomore Nick Halloran became Haviland’s first All-America selection and also was a first-team All-NCHC pick. Halloran finished third in the NCHC in scoring with 45 points, the most by a Tiger in five seasons.
Haviland led the Tigers to a 2-2-1 record against 2017 national champion Denver at Magness Arena in ’17-18, including a couple of shutouts, the first time ever the Pioneers were shutout twice in the same season at home by one team. Â
During the 2016-17 season, Haviland guided the Tigers to the Florida College Hockey Classic title with victories over Merrimack (3-0) and Cornell (2-1 in overtime). His team also squared off against the No. 1 team in the country 10 times and produced 1-1-2 record against national runner-up Minnesota Duluth, including a 1-0-1 mark in Duluth.
In his first two seasons at Colorado College, Haviland helped 15 Tigers achieve a career-high in points and defenseman Jaccob Slavin earn a first-team all-NCHC selection. Seven players from those teams, including Slavin with the Carolina Hurricanes, signed professional contracts.
Haviland, a highly regarded veteran coach with experience at the NCAA, ECHL, AHL and NHL levels, brought more than 20 years of hockey coaching experience to Colorado Springs, most recently as head coach of the Hershey Bears in 2013. Prior to arriving at Hershey, he served as associate head coach of the Norfolk Admirals in 2012-13 and an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2008-12.
During his four-year span in Chicago, he helped guide the Blackhawks to a cumulative mark of 187-101-40, a Central Division title in 2009-10 and the 2010 Stanley Cup championship.
Before joining the Blackhawks organization, Haviland was head coach at Norfolk, then Chicago’s top affiliate, and guided the Admirals to a record of 93-51-10-6 from 2005-07. In those two seasons, the Admirals broke the franchise’s single-season records for wins and points, an achievement that earned Haviland the 2007 Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL Coach of the Year. He then went on to lead the Blackhawks’ new AHL affiliate in Rockford during the 2007-08 campaign to a record of 44-26-4-6 and into two rounds of postseason play.
Prior to his time in the AHL and NHL, Haviland spent four seasons with the ECHL’s Trenton Titans (2004-05) and Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (2001-04). He led the Boardwalk Bullies to a Kelly Cup championship in 2003, and just two years later, hoisted the trophy as the Titans’ bench boss. His cumulative record in four ECHL seasons was 172-81-35.
Haviland also had success at the college level. As an assistant coach at his alma mater, Elmira College, he helped guide the team to a record of 51-12-2 and two ECAC championships from 1996-1998. As a player, he was a four-year member of the Elmira College men’s ice hockey team, from 1986-90, and remains one of the top point producers in the school’s history. He accumulated 152 points in his four-year career, which is 12th all-time, and is tied for ninth all time in career goals scored with 68. Haviland was a first-team All-America selection in 1989-90 after collecting 39 goals and 33 assists for 72 points in 33 games. He won two ECAC West Championships as a player (1987-88 and 1989-90) and helped the Soaring Eagles make two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in ‘87-88.
Following his time as a student, Haviland was originally selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. His experience includes AHL time with the Binghamton Whalers (1989-90) and in the ECHL with the Richmond Renegades and the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds in 1990-91.
Haviland, 53, was born in Manhattan and grew up in Middletown, N.J. He and his wife, Kristin, have a blended family of six children.
