DEARBORN – University of Michigan-Dearborn men’s hockey coach Chris Haltinner was named the American Collegiate Hockey Association 2019 Men’s Division I Coach of the Year, as selected by ACHA Men’s D-I head coaches.
Haltinner becomes the first recipient of the award from UM-D after having been chosen among a group of finalists from across the country.
The Wolverines finished the 2018-19 season with 30 wins, the most for Haltinner in his six years leading the program. UM-D put together win streaks of 10 games and 17 games, while holding the ranking of No. 2 in the ACHA from November through the end of the regular season.
In six seasons, Haltinner has restored UM-D to its place as a premier program in the ACHA. He has a career record of 139-60-15 and has taken the Wolverines to the ACHA Men’s Division I National Tournament each of the last four seasons, with the team advancing to the national semifinals last month.
The semifinal appearance marked the best result for the Wolverines in the tournament since the event’s first season in 1991-92, when UM-D finished as the national runners-up.
Haltinner’s Wolverines, with the help of his coaching staff of Rick DeSana, Mike Scarpello and Rich Gauthier, won both the 2016 and 2017 Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League Playoff title and were runners-up in the 2018 championship game. The team has excelled in the classroom as well, with seven Wolverines earning ACHA All-Academic honors this season.
Prior to taking the head coaching position at UM-D, Haltinner worked as a goalie coach and later as an assistant coach for the Wolverines. He started his coaching career working at the Mitch Korn Goalie Camps. Haltinner also serves as the UM-D Athletics Admissions Liaison.
Haltinner attended Henry Ford and Schoolcraft colleges where he studied Emergency Medical Services (Firefighter/Paramedic).