Team DC to Visit Chatham University During Showcase
Team DC players and coaches will have an opportunity to tour Chatham University and learn more about NCAA Division III ice hockey from Chatham Head Coach Michael Callan during its trip to Pittsburgh for the 2017 America’s Hockey Showcase in April. Chatham is a new Division III program that will begin playing in the newly created United States Hockey Conference for the 2017-18 season.
“Part of our goal as a showcase team is to educate young hockey players in our area about the variety of opportunities that exist for them to continue playing hockey beyond the high school and 18U levels,” said Team DC General Manager Tony MacAulay. “To be able to give our players the unique opportunity to make a connection with the coach of a newly created D3 program that might be an option for them in the future is a win-win for the kids and Coach Callan. We are grateful for the opportunity and the time he will spend with our players.”
Team DC will bus to Chatham’s campus, located in the Shady Side community of Pittsburgh, on Thursday, April 20, following its opening game in the showcase. There the team will be dining on campus and receive an official campus tour before spending time with Callan to learn more about his vision for the hockey program and about what it takes to play at the Division III level – as well as the various routes players can take to get there. There will be a question and answer session following the coach’s presentation. Callan also said he would be on hand at the Island Sports Arena scouting the showcase.
Callan was hired as Chatham’s first coach last June. Prior to accepting the position he served as an assistant at Division III SUNY Potsdam for two seasons. During his time at Potsdam Callan was responsible for overseeing the defensemen, penalty kill, individual player skill development and strength and conditioning. He also served as the primary recruiter on staff. Callan helped lead Potsdam to consecutive winning seasons and two trips to the SUNYAC playoffs. While at Potsdam players he coached received SUNYAC Goaltender of the Year honors, third-team All-SUNYAC forward accolades and two SUNY Potsdam athletic department awards for community service.
Prior to his time at SUNY Potsdam Callan served as a full-time assistant with Ohio University's ACHA Division 1 team, and before that he worked with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as the U.S. Director of Scouting for the League's Central Scouting and Recruitment Department. From November 2010 until January 2012, Callan served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs. In that role Callan coached or recruited more than 40 future NCAA Division 1 players, with the Monarchs capturing EJHL championships in 2011 and 2012.
"We are going to be able to gain momentum quickly, and we will be competitive on the ice from the start,” Callan said upon accepting the Chatham job. “Our men's hockey players will be high achievers in the classroom and leaders in our community. This is an incredibly attractive university in a friendly city, and I am very excited about introducing NCAA Division III men's ice hockey to not only the city of Pittsburgh, but also the USA Hockey Mid-Am District."
Chatham will play in the USHC, a new Division III conference that will include 10 men's and women's teams from Chatham University (PA), Elmira College (NY), Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY), King's College (PA), Lebanon Valley College (PA), Manhattanville College (NY), Neumann University (PA), Stevenson University (MD) and Utica College (NY). The conference also will include Nazareth College's (NY) men's team and will welcome Wilkes University (PA) men's and women's teams in 2018-19. Wilkes will play an abbreviated conference schedule in 2017-18.
Founded in 1869, Chatham University is a fully coed institution with an enrollment of more than 2,200 students and offering better than 60 undergraduate and graduate programs in various areas of excellence, including sustainability, health & lab sciences, business and communication and the arts and humanities.
Team DC will compete in America’s Hockey Showcase, a USA Hockey-sanctioned national high school hockey event, April 20-24 in Pittsburgh. Tryouts are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, March 15. For more information about the team, including eligibility requirements, fees and the tryout schedule, please CLICK HERE.
To register for tryouts online, please CLICK HERE.
Questions can be addressed to TeamDCHockey@gmail.com or any of the staff members listed on the information page listed above.
