Chris Bergeron begins his fifth season as the head coach of Miami Hockey.
Bergeron’s RedHawks went 8-24-4 in 2022-23 with a lineup that featured as many as nine freshmen, all of whom will return this winter. In all, Miami will welcome back nine of its top 12 scorers from a year ago, when the RedHawks received votes in the national polls for the first time since January 2019. Last season, Bergeron’s group earned key wins against eventual Frozen Faceoff champion St. Cloud State at home and on the road at North Dakota, as well as securing the 750th victory in program history. 22 RedHawks qualified for NCHC All-Academic honors, with half of those also claiming Distinguished Scholar-Athlete status. Miami’s Ryan Savage received CSC Academic All-District recognition, while captain Jack Clement was a finalist for the NCHC’s Sportsmanship Award.
Miami's 2021-22 team played half of its 36 games against opponents ranked in the top 10 in the country and was tied or ahead at some point in the third period in a total of 20 games, finishing the year with a 7-27-2 record. Freshman forward Red Savage was named NCHC Rookie of the Week a league-high four times, while team captain Derek Daschke was a finalist for the conference’s Senior Scholar-Athlete Award and goaltender Ludvig Persson set the program's single-season saves record. The 2021-22 team saw 23 student-athletes named to the NCHC’s Academic All-Conference team, with nine of those players earning Distinguished Scholar-Athlete status from the conference. Bergeron’s program also produced three AHCA All-American Scholars in 2021-22.
In 2020-21, Miami went 5-18-2 with the entire season being played against conference opponents. Persson had an impressive debut season that year, leading all NCHC goalies with a .930 regular-season save percentage. The Miami freshman goaltender earned conference All-Rookie honors, was named to the All-NCHC second team, and picked up Miami’s first Three Stars Award from the NCHC.
In his first season trying to restore Miami Hockey to the perch he helped it reach in his prior stint as an assistant, Bergeron and his staff upped the RedHawks' competitiveness down the stretch of an 8-21-5 season. Miami’s power play emerged as a weapon under Bergeron’s system, finishing the 2019-20 campaign 10th nationally with a 23.9 percent conversion rate. Senior Gordie Green enjoyed his finest campaign, logging 36 points and earning Second-Team All-NCHC honors in his final season donning the Red & White.
Director of Athletics David Sayler chose Bergeron to be the sixth head coach in Miami hockey history on April 5, 2019. Bergeron, a 1993 Miami graduate who played on the school’s first conference championship team and NCAA Tournament qualifier that same year, had been the head coach at former Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Bowling Green for the past nine seasons. Under his guidance, the Falcons went 171-154-44.
Bergeron took Bowling Green to two Western Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament finals in his last three years, taking the eventual champion to overtime in both occurrences. In 2018-19, the Falcons secured an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 25-11-5 season, a record that represented the program’s most victories since 1994-95 and its first postseason berth since 1989-90.
Bowling Green won a mere five games the year before he arrived on the bench and had not enjoyed a winning record since the 1996-97 campaign, but that changed in 2013-14 when the Falcons went 18-15-6 in Bergeron’s fourth season. The Falcons then took a jump from there, posting 20 or more victories in five-straight seasons, going a collective 114-66-24 in that span.
Prior to taking the Bowling Green job, Bergeron played a crucial part in Miami’s rise to prominence. His recruiting chops and influence on the bench helped the RedHawks go 226-139-37 (.608 winning percentage) in his 10 seasons as an assistant coach. MU went to the NCAA Tournament six times and advanced to the first two Frozen Fours in school history in 2009 and 2010, appearing in the 2009 national championship game. During that stretch, MU won two conference titles (2005-06 and 2009-10), set a school record with 33 victories in 2007-08, earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament twice (2008 and 2010) and was the top overall seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Individually, Bergeron helped coach nine players who went on to earn All-American honors, including 2011 Hobey Baker winner Andy Miele, who became the first-ever Miami player to win the award. Additionally, Bergeron coached 17 RedHawks who went on to play in the NHL during his tenure.
Bergeron played at Miami from 1989-93 and was a two-year team captain. As a senior, Bergeron scored a team-high 61 points on 21 goals and 40 assists. Along with his offensive achievements that year, the four-year letterwinner was named the CCHA’s Best Defensive Forward as well as Miami’s Most Outstanding Senior.
He then spent seven years playing professionally before returning to Miami as an assistant coach. During that time, he played with the Adirondack Red Wings (AHL), the Birmingham Bulls (ECHL), the Toledo Storm (ECHL), the Cincinnati Cyclones (IHL) and the Columbus Cottonmouths (CHL), being named a league all-star four times. He also has coaching experience at the professional level, having served as a player/assistant coach with the Port Huron Bordercats of the United Hockey League for two seasons.
Bergeron earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Miami. He and his wife, Janis, have two sons – Logan and Connor.
