As the holiday season approaches; ones thoughts turn more and more to family so here at Lakehead Athletics wed like to talk about members of our family who perhaps dont get into the spotlight so often. Yet, the efforts of these dedicated individuals are crucial to making every Lakehead Thunderwolves varsity team function smoothly and to make Lakeheads student-athletes the best that they can be.
Here we would like to direct your attention to Lakeheads unsung heroes; the assistant coaches.
Mens Hockey:
Darrin Nichlolas 5th year Defense coach
Dan Bissonnette- 4th year - Assistant coach
Paul MacKett 5th year - Goaltender Coach
Bryan Duce 2nd year - Assistant coach
Steve Bailot 1st year - Conditioning Coach
George Elvish 5th Stats Coach
Nordic Skiing:
Frank Luckai - Assistant coach - Two years with the Nordic Wolves and 28 years of service at Lakehead as a Forestry Technician.
Wrestling:
Michelle Johnson 3rd year - Strength and Conditining coach
Mitch Fyria 1st year - Assistant Student coach
Womens Volleyball:
Chuck Badanai 4th year - Assistant Coach
Jennifer McKenzie 4th year - Assistant Coach
Kim Pineau 4th year - Administrative Assistant and Workout Conditioning Coach
Mens Basketball:
Matt Erdman 2nd year - Assistant Coach
Scott Seeley 1st year - Assistant Coach
Franco Veneruzzo 1st year - Assistant Coach
Track & Cross Country:
Roger Slomke Assistant Coach Sprints
Bryan Nunan: Assistant distance coach
Womens Basketball:
Lou Pero Assistant Coach
Brandon Rafuse Assistant Coach
Following is a sampling of some of Lakeheads assistant coaches to give you some insight into who they are and what they do.
Darrin Nicholas: Mens Hockey
Our first unsung hero is mens hockey assistant coach, Darrin Nicholas; who has been with the Wolves for five years. Nicholas has an extensive hockey background; having coached the Thunder Bay Midget AAA Kings for three years, three years with the Thunder Bay Flyers (USHL Jr. A); and he was an assistant coach with the Thunder Bay Pee Wee and Bantam Kings for three years each.
Nicholas is the lead assistant coach for mens hockey and his duties with Lakehead include defence, defensive systems, and penalty killing.
Nicholas said he loves coaching and he loves coaching the Thunderwolves because its in his blood and because he is always learning something new. "I love the opportunity to give and take that comes with being an assistant coach at this level. The giving part allows me to try and impact our players with some of the experience I have gained throughout my coaching career as well as in my personal life. In terms of taking, I think of my coaching involvement to be in a constant learning cycle. There are untold opportunities to learn from Head Coach Belliveau, as well as the players themselves. They come from such diverse backgrounds and have played at a variety of levels, so there's a wealth of information to be learned from them as well."
Nicholas graduated from Lakehead with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1990. He is married to wife Keri (13 years) and they have two sons who are both Thunderwolves stick boys (Nolan 11, and Evan 8). Both sons play minor Hockey in the KC organization in Thunder Bay. Nicholas works for Canada Brokerlink Insurance where he is National Personal Insurance Group Sales Manager.
Matt Erdman: Mens Basketball
Matt Erdman is one of the coaches for the Lakehead mens basketball squad and the second year coach is making his mark. Erdman, who played for the Wolves from 2001-2005, works on guard development, team defense, and also assists with recruiting and scouting in Southern Ontar