It's official. Mike Hastings has gone out on top and Bliss Littler will be the new head coach.
The Omaha Lancers announced today that Mike Hastings has relinquished his head coaching duties to assume the role of President/General Manager of the organization. The Lancers have hired Bliss Littler to take over as Head Coach of the Lancers.
"I am excited to be joining a Lancers organization that is rich in tradition. I am looking forward to working with the returning players as well as the new faces during the 2008-09 season," Littler said. "Mike has set the bar extremely high with his professionalism and his winning ways. It will be a challenge, but the seat is already warm and it is one that I am looking forward to. My wife and I are excited to put down our roots in Omaha."
"We are excited to have Bliss join the Lancers organization. He brings the integrity, work ethic and individual disciplines to continue the commitment to excellence that the Lancers are known for," Hastings commented. "His coaching record speaks for itself. In the past, he has shown an ability to develop athletes off the ice as well as on the ice. The 2008-09 Lancers are in great hands."
Littler has spent the last seven seasons as a Head Coach and General Manager in the United States Hockey League. He began his USHL career with the Topeka Scarecrows during the 2001-02 season before taking over the reigns with the Tri-City Storm in 2003-04. During his first season at Tri-City, Littler and the Storm earned the Anderson Cup as the USHL regular season champions. That same season Littler was named the USHL General Manager of the Year. Littler has compiled a USHL record of 209-150-37.
Prior to joining the USHL, Littler won three regular season championships, five playoff championships and earned four National Tournament appearances with the Billings Bulls of the AWHL/NAHL from 1993-94 to 1999-2000. He was selected to serve as an AWHL All-Star game coach five times and King of the Hill head coach three times during his tenure in Billings. Littler left Billings after amassing a record of 251-104-30.
Heavy involvement with USA Hockey and its programs has been a focus of Littler's during his coaching career. The Minot, N.D. native served once as the head coach and three times as the assistant coach for the National Junior Team that participated in the Viking Cup. He has coached at the USA Hockey Select 15 Player Development Camp (four times) and USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp (two times). Littler was also selected to coach at the National Junior Camp, which is for players competing for spots on the United States National Junior Team roster.
Littler played hockey and attended college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He will be joined in Omaha by his wife Gretchen and their two children Cade and Grace.
Hastings, who has served as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Omaha Lancers for the past 14 seasons, will continue as General Manager of the Lancers, but will be given added responsibilities as the organization's President. Lancers partner and former NHL-great Luc Robitaille, who has served as the team's President for the past two years, will relinquish his duties to Hastings immediately.
The Lancers' organization has experienced much success throughout the years under Hastings' guidance. The 2007-08 season proved to be one of the most successful yet. The Lancers earned the Anderson Cup and then the Clark Cup to cap off their season. Hastings also achieved personal records throughout this season. On November 30, 2007, Hastings joined only two other coaches in USHL history to reach the 500 wins plateau, but is the only one to claim all 500 victories with the same team. A 7-0 victory over Sioux Falls on February 16, 2008 set a new standard for USHL coaching success as Hastings became the USHL's all-time winningest coach by eclipsing Bob Ferguson's record of 517 wins.
While at the helm, Hastings has guided the Lancers to three Anderson Cups (2001-02, 2004-05, 2007-08) and three Clark Cup Championships (1997-98, 2000-01, 2007-08). Personal awards for Hastings include being named USHL Coach of the Year twice (1996-97, 2001-02) and USHL General Manager of the Year five times (1996-97, 2001-02, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08). His teams have never had a losing season and have continued the Lancers tradition by adding 14 years of consecutive playoff appearances for a USHL record of 19 seasons.
Hastings' USA Hockey involvement includes serving as an assistant coach for the United States National Junior Team in 2003 and 2005 that participated in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. He also guided the 2000 USA Hockey Junior Select Team to its first-ever gold medal at the Viking Cup, after leading the team to a silver medal finish in 1996.
Hastings, a Crookston, Minn. native, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education from St. Cloud State University. He resides in Omaha with his wife Jean Ann and their children Hannah and Hudson.
Hastings steps off the bench with a 529-210-56 record.
The USHL is America's only Tier I league and the premier path for developing players in America. The league has over 170 current players committed to Division I colleges and 19 players that have been selected in the NHL Draft. For more information on the USHL and its member teams, visit us on the web at www.ushl.com.
27 comments:
Ryan...If Littler and Hastings weren't such good friends, do you think Littler would have gotten the job?
Another article written by an intern? It's not take the "reigns", it's take the reins. That one really bothers me!
Ryan: you usually have the inside scoop on the new draftees.........did the Storm get screwed in the recent draft by a seemingly HUGE conflict of interest (which may get bigger in the next couple of weeks) or did they at least get a few quality players?
Given the Storm's historic goalie problems, I'll be watching the following with great interest: Pick #32 Storm-defenseman; Pick #33 Lancers -goalie (Teglia); Pick #34 Storm-defenseman; Storm pick goalie with Pick #47. If Teglia bursts on the scene as the next Reekie or Palmisano, the Storm should sue the USHL for letting this kind of thing occur.
Tri-City may be the next team to follow Ohio out the USHL door.
I don't know a whole lot about the drafted players, but I think the Storm picked up a few good players. Teglia was at Omaha's tryout camp last season, so I believe they were after him from the get go. Tri-City picked up Nick Maricic, who is from the NTDP, so you have to believe he is a top notch goalie that can steal some games.
Nick Maricic is an awesome goalie and will definitely be an asset to the Storm!!
Sue them??? What have you been drinking/smoking??
The TC assistant coaches did 99% of the scouting and they were the ones in place for the draft. Both those goalies are talented - albeit it contrasting styles - and I wouldn't be surprised to see them both do well.
-fangers
When discussing Mike Hastings, dont forget to add his historical, making a mockery of the QMJHL. Giving them a tutorial on how to play the game. All this with hardly any prep time and where the other team had already been at camp for a month, riding their top players, dressing 20 year old goalies, blah blah blah...
Why does everyone think Ryan is the man who knows everything about everybody?
Guy cant even skate for petes sake!
News to me, thanks for the heads up!
Playing Hockey or even skating have nothing to do with being a conduit of information.
Great central location of USHL info!
Thanks Ryan
Hockey DeVoTee
Let the Storm rain down on me.
Hey, I can skate and even use a stick at the same time so does that make me a Coach?
And Ryan has the muchachos to sign his name to what he writes, unlike the vast majority of the commenters here.
You think he's incorrect about something? Then prove him wrong and he'll change what he says.
Any punk can say whatever they want behind a faceless screen name, but they NEVER have the guts to expose themselves and say the same thing.
Since when does following the USHL require skating abilities? In other words, not that Ryan can't skate, but if he couldn't, so what?
Ryan has the most up to date USHL blog out there anywhere. I would dare anyone to try and test his USHL knowledge if you don't believe he's on top of things.
Anyway this is his blog, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it.
But Ryan is the best and he just knows everyone and everything and who is who and what is what and how is how and why and why and when is when.
Sounds like the posters in his support are maybe his sock puppets?
Talk to anyone that actually is a coach and they will advise you that he is a fluff.
Hey John! You da man...........................
I had a friend on the Storm. Followed them for his 3 years, met many of his former teammates. I met Ryan through another internet message board, and in person at Sioux City a couple of times when the Storm played there.
I'm sure there's not much I can say to convince you I'm not a sock puppet, but I'm not. I don't even live in the same state as him. I don't even live in a current USHL state.
Ryan does a great job informing anyone who wants to read his blog about all the happenings in the USHL. Its been especially great reading about my friend's former team since there's no chance I'm driving 9 hours just to watch some of his friends who I only know as acquaintances. I still like to know how they're doing though.
I am a truck driver with a passion for hockey so I get chances to attend games in several places and that is the best place to see hockey, meet people and feel hockey and not read the posts of people who are not even there. This is sometimes like reading the funny pages Lol
Excuse me, but what is a sock puppet? I have heard that before and sorry but I just do not know what it is other than putting your hand into a sock like lamp chop.
That is a cool story. I am a storm fan and never met him and sometime if he comes here to a game maybe he can wear a hat that says, Hi I am Ryan on the Blog, and then I can meet him.
I can also attest that Ryan's been to the FirstTier Event Center. Last season 06-07 he was there for one of the Sioux City vs Tri-City games in the playoffs. Fortunately for us Storm fans, they won the game and the series.
does anyone eles think bliss going from tri city to omaha is a slap in the face, to the fans and folks of tri city?
Now i know why the storm did awful last season with all that talent
Bliss was miserable in Tri City, and who wouldn't be. It's in the middle of freakin' nowhere. Yuck!
Nick Maricic was at Omaha's Camp I believe two years ago.
Hes a Really Amazing Goalie and the storm would be lucky to have him .
Does anyone else find it odd that there was quite a bit of discussion over just the suggestion that Reg Simon was going to Indy after not making the playoffs in Des Moines, etc. Yet nothing has been said about Bliss going to Omaha after not making the playoffs. I realize that there are some subtle differences and I am not saying either coach is bad, I just find it odd how fans react differently to similar situations.
"Nick Maricic was at Omaha's Camp I believe two years ago.
Hes a Really Amazing Goalie and the storm would be lucky to have him ."
I think "really amazing goalie" is a bit too much...decent goalie - yeah, but hasn't shown much with the NTDP at all. Big risk by the Storm with this pick...
I find it interesting that Hastings and McCreary are both leaving! Now maybe other teams will have a chance at winning when playing Omaha now that McCreary is leaving the USHL. Unless Bliss has someone in his pocket????
Being reported on the gopherhockeyblog that Hastings will be the new assistant coach at Minnesota.
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