BOULDER (5/12/11) – The University of Colorado men’s hockey team is pleased to announce that Shawn Sullivan has been named the new head coach of the Buffaloes for the 2011-12 season.
Sullivan has spent the past three seasons as the head coach of CU’s division-III team, where he led the JV Buffs to the national championship tournament each year and a ninth place finish last season. He is a former Colorado player and was the team captain when the D-III team won the 2005 national championship.
He replaces Ken Fikis, who was relieved of his head coaching duties after CU went 16-11-1-2 last season and lost in the first round of the ACHA West Regional Tournament in February. Fikis, who was in his second stint with Colorado and previously coached the 2003 D-II championship squad, went 60-33-2-2 (.631) in his three years in Boulder.
Joining Sullivan will be Jon Pfeiff, another former CU player. Pfeiff spent three years with the program and was the division-II team president during the 2007-08 season. For the past two seasons, he has been on Sullivan’s D-III staff as an assistant coach.
Both Sullivan and Pfeiff are intent on bringing a competitive, physical style of hockey to the program, as well as a tradition of excellence.
Also, former general manager Everett Pfeiff, Jon’s father, will be returning to the same position next season as well. Everett spent five years with the D-II team before retiring in 2009. He has spent the past two seasons as a consultant for the division-III squad.
Tryouts for Colorado’s D-II and D-III 2011-12 teams will be from Aug. 30 to Sept. 10 at the CU Ice Arena. The Buffs will play their first preseason game on Sept. 16 against Colorado State at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
