Chris Bergeron

Chris Bergeron (born November 28, 1970) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey center who played for various minor league teams for 7 seasons between 1993 and 2000, with the most stints with the Toledo Storm and Cincinnati Cyclones. He is the current men's ice hockey head coach at Miami University.[1][2]

Chris Bergeron
Born (1970-11-28) November 28, 1970
Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Center
Shot Right
National team  Canada
NHL Draft undrafted
Playing career 1993–2000
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamMiami
ConferenceNCHC
Record8–21–5 (.309)
Playing career
1989–1993Miami
Position(s)Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000–2010Miami (assistant)
2010–2019Bowling Green
2019-Miami
Head coaching record
Overall171–154–44 (.523)
Tournaments0-1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1994 Riley Cup
1998 Ray Miron President's Cup

Playing career

NCAA hockey

Bergeron played with the Miami RedHawks of the CCHA (NCAA Division I).

In his freshman season with the RedHawks, Bergeron appeared in 36 games, registering 11 points. His best college season came in 1992–93 when Bergeron suited up for 41 games with the RedHawks recording 61 points and 54 penalty minutes, helping Miami (OH) to a CCHA Regular Season Championship and appearance in the 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.[3]

International

Following his college career at Miami, Bergeron signed with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL for the 1993–94 season. during which he also played on Canada men's national ice hockey team, recording a goal in four games with Canada.[3]

Professional career

In Bergeron's first pro season with the Toledo Storm, he recorded 20 points in 18 games and 10 points in 5 playoff games on the Storms way to the league championship, the Kelly Cup.[3]

He spent one season, 1994 RHI season, during the summer of 1994 with Buffalo Stampede of Roller Hockey International. Bergeron played in 20 game recording 19 goals, 34 assists and 46 penalty minutes in his first and only season playing professional roller hockey. Bergeron was second on the team in points and tied for third in goals. That same season the Stampede won the RHI Championship.[3]

He returned to the ice for the 1994–95 season and spent the next 6 seasons between 6 different teams and leagues.[3]

Bergeron's best pro season came in 1997–98 with the Columbus Cottonmouths of the Central Hockey League. Bergeon netted 65 goals and added 54 assists for 119 points in 65 regular season games with the Cottonmouths on their way to a Levins Cup.[3]

Career statistics

Playing career

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1989–90Miami UniversityNCAA36561118—————
1990–91Miami UniversityNCAA26931226—————
1991–92Miami UniversityNCAA4013233622—————
1992–93Miami UniversityNCAA4121406154—————
1993–94Toledo StormECHL1810102026573102
1993–94Adirondack Red WingsAHL4165113710000
1994–95Birmingham BullsECHL53275582128748122
1994–95Cincinnati CyclonesIHL14134220000
1995–96Birmingham BullsECHL3321385985—————
1995–96Toledo StormECHL632521038114
1995–96Cincinnati CyclonesIHL25325810000
1995–96Carolina MonarchsAHL20112—————
1996–97Toledo StormECHL969158—————
1996–97Las Vegas ThunderIHL30112—————
1996–97Cincinnati CyclonesIHL62718256810110
1997–98Columbus CottonmouthsCHL6565541199712651114
1997–98Cincinnati CyclonesIHL61012—————
1998–99Port Huron Border CatsUHL532643691873144
1998–99Cincinnati CyclonesIHL1011230000
1999–00Port Huron Border CatsUHL1366121462462
NCAA Totals 1434872120120—————
ECHL Totals 11967114181249221419338
IHL Totals 1111225378470110
AHL Totals 4366123910000

Coaching career

In 2000, Bergeron retired from playing professional hockey and returned to his Alma Mater at Miami University.[4] He joined the RedHawks as an assistant coach for the 2000–01 season and spent the next 10 seasons with the RedHawks under head coach Enrico Blasi. During his time at Miami, Bergeron was part of eight 20-win seasons, including six NCAA Tournament appearances and a national championship game.[2] Bergeron worked with the forwards, as well as being heavily involved in recruiting, bringing in six players who would become All-Americans and another player who would go on to win the Hobey Baker Award at Miami (OH).[5]

In 2010, he was hired as head coach at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Bergeron replaced interim head coach Denis Williams,[6] who took over the struggling program in 2009 after Scott Paluch left to take a position with USA Hockey.[7][8]

In 2014-15, Bergeron led the Falcons to their first 20+ win season since 1995-96, finishing with a record of 23-11-5. They wrapped up that season just .0001 PairWise points on the outside of the national tournament, where they were left out in favor of the eventual national champions that year, the Providence Friars. It was a tough pill to swallow for a program that had not seen the national tournament since 1990.

In 2016-17, after high preseason expectations and sluggish start, he led Bowling Green as they rode a seven-game winning streak all the way to the program's first conference championship game appearance since the 1987-88 season. The Falcons fought valiantly before ultimately dropping the road contest in a hostile environment to the Michigan Tech Huskies in double overtime, 3-2. Yet again, the Falcons were so close to their goal of participating in the national tournament, and they were denied by the narrowest of margins.

In 2017-18, his Bowling Green Falcons won the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament. They triumphed over the Michigan Wolverines 6-4 in the semifinals, and they defeated the Michigan Tech Huskies 4-1 in the championship game, winning the event for the first time in program history. That year, they ultimately were eliminated in the WCHA semifinals in three games by the resurgent Northern Michigan Wildcats, marking the fourth time in five seasons that the Falcons were eliminated during the semifinal round of the WCHA playoffs.

In 2018-19, Bowling Green had a hot stretch to start the season, highlighted by an 8-2 victory over a top-10 Ohio State team in Columbus and culminating in finishing the first half of the season with a sweep of then-#3 Minnesota State to go into the Christmas break with a 13-3-3 record. Despite their struggles with consistency down the stretch to close the regular season, the Falcons swept their way through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs, defeating Michigan Tech at home and Northern Michigan on the road along the way en route to a WCHA Championship game in Mankato, MN on March 23, 2019, where the Falcons fell in overtime, 3-2. Despite the loss, they had officially done what no Bowling Green team had done since 1990 - earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. They were selected as the 15th seed, which was the last at-large bid to make it into the tournament. This was a monumental occasion, drawing a crowd of Falcon fans to a "watch party" for the selection show inside the Slater Family Ice Arena, as Bowling Green heard their name called for the first time in 29 years that night. In addition to the selection show, that day was also the 35th anniversary of the 1984 NCAA Championship, which saw the Falcons earn a 5-4 victory in four overtimes over the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, who would coincidentally end up being their first round opponent in the Midwest Regional out of Allentown, PA in the 2019 tournament. Unfortunately for the Falcons, they would drop the contest 2-1 in overtime, and their season would come to a close with a record of 25-11-5 for the year, their most wins in a single season since they earned 26 victories in the 1995-96 season.

On April 5, 2019, Bergeron was named the head hockey coach at Miami University, his alma mater. He left Bowling Green as the 2nd-winningest coach in program history, with 171 wins.

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