Following an all-time NCHC worst 1-21-2 conference record this season and a third straight last-place finish in the league, multiple reports came out late Monday indicating Miami head coach Chris Bergeron is being relieved of duty.
Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline was the first to post that Bergeron would not return next season on X.
Bergeron just completed the fifth season of his six-year contract that had a guaranteed one-year buyout clause, so Miami will be responsible for his salary in 2024-25. MU will owe him $330,000 next season, minus any income he generates from another position.
The RedHawks failed to win more than eight games in any of the five seasons the Miami alum was at the helm, and they ended this campaign on a 16-game winless streak, their second-longest drought in team history.
His .257 winning percentage (35-116-16) is the worst among any Miami hockey coach, and his teams were 0-7 in the NCHC Tournament.
As a player in 1989-93, Bergeron tallied 48 goals and 72 assists for 130 points, tied for 31st on Miami’s all-time leaderboard, and as captain he led the RedHawks to their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 1993.
He was MU’s assistant coach during the team’s 2009 and 2010 Frozen Four appearances and subsequently took over the head coaching job at Bowling Green, where he won at least 21 games each of his final five seasons and in 2019 led the Falcons to their first NCAA Tournament berth since in 29 years prior to taking the same position at Miami.
The RedHawks will likely release a statement on Tuesday. Coincidentally, it was also Tuesday, March 19 when the team announced former coach Enrico Blasi had been let go, in 2019.
MU will begin an immediate search for a new coach, which will be the seventh in its 56-year Division I history.
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