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In his seven seasons as Head Coach, the Black Bears have advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times, played in four NCAA Frozen Fours, reached the NCAA National Championship Game twice, and won the Hockey East Tournament Championship. Over these seven years, Maine has compiled a 167-87-29 record. In 12 seasons as a Division I Head Coach, Whitehead has a career record of 243-182-40.
A former Black Bear Assistant with Shawn Walsh in 1990-91, Tim Whitehead returned to Maine in 2001 under the most difficult and challenging circumstances. When Walsh passed away from cancer on September 24, 2001, Whitehead was named interim Head Coach. Whitehead led a team devastated by the loss of their legendary coach on an emotional run all the way into overtime of the 2002 NCAA National Championship Game in St. Paul, Minn.
Determined to do something special in honor of Coach Walsh, the Black Bears went 10-1-2 down the stretch, including wins over Boston College and Boston University in the Hockey East playoffs. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Maine defeated Harvard 4-3 on freshman John Ronan's overtime goal, then beat Boston University in the East Regional Final, setting up a Frozen Four matchup with the UNH Wildcats. In St. Paul, Minn., Maine's team scored four third period goals to rout UNH 7-2, and advance to the NCAA Championship game against host Minnesota.
Although the Black Bears did not prevail in overtime versus the Minnesota Gophers that night, the message had certainly been sent that Maine Hockey's proud tradition of success would continue to grow. Whitehead and his staff had delivered a remarkable coaching performance, for which he earned the AHCA's 2002 Spencer Penrose Award as Division 1 National Coach of the Year. Following the season, Whitehead was introduced as the third Head Coach in Maine Hockey history on April 8, 2002.
Throughout his career, Coach Whitehead has earned a reputation for getting his teams to play their best at the end of the season, especially in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, Whitehead's .625 NCAA winning percentage ranks first All-time among all Hockey East coaches, and second only to Jeff Jackson among all active NCAA Division 1 coaches. Coach Whitehead's teams are a perfect 4-0 against Hockey East teams in NCAA competition; with victories over BU and UNH in '02, BC in '04, and UMass in '07.
Even last season in 2007-08, when a young Maine team fought through an unusually tough year filled with serious injuries to key players, the Black Bears rose up to play their best down the stretch. Maine won five of their last six games, including two dramatic victories in overtime at the Alfond Arena. In 2006-07, after losing their last four Hockey East games to UMass when starting goalie Ben Bishop suffered a knee injury, the Black Bears bounced back strong in the NCAA Tournament, knocking off St. Cloud State 4-1, and getting revenge over UMass 3-1, to win the NCAA Northeast Regional in Rochester, NY. Maine advanced to the Frozen Four for the 11th time in school history, and 4th time in 6 years under Coach Whitehead. The Black Bears were defeated by eventual National Champion, Michigan State, in St. Louis, but Maine's 23-15-2 final record marked the program's 9th straight 20-win season, and 6th in a row for Coach Tim Whitehead.
Maine has also excelled in Special Teams play during Whitehead's tenure. Most recently in 2006-07, Maine's 25.4 power play percentage was first in the Nation. The previous year in 2005-06, the Black Bears had the top penalty kill in the country and the 5th ranked power play.
In 2005-06, the Black Bears finished tied for second in Hockey East regular season play, and recorded a strong 28-12-2 overall record. The Black Bears rode the strength of their Special Team's play to reach the Hockey East semifinals for the third-straight season and earn a bid to their eighth-straight NCAA Tournament. In the NCAA's, Maine defeated ECAC Tournament Champion Harvard 6-1, and then beat CCHA Tournament Champion Michigan State 5-4 in the Regional Final. Maine lost to eventual National Champion Wisconsin at the Frozen Four in Milwaukee.
Despite a slow start to the 2004-05 Season, Maine went unbeaten in eight-straight games in January. Key wins down the stretch of the season gave the Black Bears home ice in the Hockey East playoffs for the sixth straight year. Maine advanced to the Hockey East semifinals with back to back wins over UMass Lowell, but were defeated by Boston College at the Fleet Center in double overtime 2-1. Maine qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time in school history. The Black Bears went toe to toe playing Minnesota on their home ice, as Jimmy Howard made 37 saves, but they lost 1-0 in OT, finishing the season at 20-13-7. Team Defense has also been a trademark of Coach Whitehead's teams at Maine. In fact, his 2003-04 Black Bears led the Nation in both Team Defense and Winning Percentage with a 33-8-3 record. The 2003-04 season began with Maine knocking off two-time defending National Champion Minnesota in the first game of the season, and the Black Bears captured the Maverick Stampede Tournament title the following night with a 6-2 win over Wisconsin. After winning the first seven games of the season, the Black Bears were ranked first in the nation.
A loss at UMass Lowell on February 27 set the stage for Maine's amazing run in the 2004 postseason. Beginning with a 4-3 overtime win in the season finale against Boston College, the Black Bears won eight straight one-goal games. The winning streak included a triple overtime thriller against Massachusetts in the Hockey East Championship, won by the Black Bears 2-1. It was the longest game in Hockey East Tournament history, with Jimmy Howard stopping 66 shots (a Hockey East record), and Ben Murphy scoring the game-winner at the net front.
In the first round of the NCAA's, Maine rallied for a memorable 5-4 comeback win over Harvard, overcoming a three-goal deficit by scoring four goals in the third period. After a 2-1 overtime win over Wisconsin in the Regional Finals, Maine faced Hockey East rival Boston College at the Fleet Center in the Frozen Four and came away with a 2-1 win. The season ended with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Denver in the National Championship Game.
Maine got off to a fast start in 2002-03, and finished with a 24-10-5 record. Whitehead led Maine to the Black Bear Classic and Florida College Classic Championships, and completed the Hockey East regular season just two points out of first place. The Black Bears earned their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament berth, but once again had to face an opponent in their own rink. Maine lost a hard-fought 2-1 decision in the West Regional to Michigan at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor.
Whitehead came to Maine after serving as Head Coach of UMass Lowell for five seasons where he compiled a record of 76-93-11, including a 19-16-3 record in 2000-01 in which the River Hawks advanced to the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament for the third time in five years, after upsetting UNH in a three-game playoff series in Durham, NH. Following the season, Whitehead was honored as a finalist for AHCA National Coach of the Year for the 2nd time at UMass Lowell. While at Lowell, Whitehead also received the 1996 University Medal for Community Service.
Prior to running the UMass Lowell program, Whitehead spent five years as an assistant with the River Hawks under former Maine assistant Bruce Crowder, helping Crowder win the AHCA's National Coach of the Year honors in 1996. UMass Lowell reached the NCAA final eight in 1994 and 1996. Whitehead recruited two Hockey East Rookies of the Year (Greg Bullock '94 and Greg Koehler '97) and landed Lowell's only NHL 1st round draft pick ever, Ron Hainsey to quarterback his power play from 1999-2001. Hainsey currently patrols the blueline for the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers.
Previously, Whitehead served as a Graduate Assistant Coach at Maine in 1990-91 with Shawn Walsh. That team made it to the Hockey East Championship game and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Maine finished the season with an impressive 32-9-2 mark; only four Black Bear hockey teams have won more games in a season.
Before coming to Maine, Whitehead spent two seasons as an Assistant Coach with Bill Beaney at Middlebury College from 1988-90, helping Beaney win the 1990 Division III National Coach of the Year honors, on their way to becoming ECAC Tournament Finalists, with a 21-5-1 record in 1989-90. It was Middlebury's first winning season in 10 years. After the season, Whitehead received the William Wallace Award, given annually to "the person having the most positive impact on the Middlebury hockey program by a non-player" as voted by the players.
Throughout his coaching career at Maine, UMass Lowell, and Middlebury, Coach Whitehead has earned respect as a tireless recruiter, with an eye for hidden talent. Over the years, he has recruited and coached five Hockey East Rookies of the Year, 24 All-Americans, and one Division III National Player of the Year.
Under Whitehead's direction, Maine has continued to earn praise from NHL GM's and scouts as a program that consistently develops and produces pro players. Over 60 Maine players have now played in the NHL, and many more in the AHL and the elite leagues in Europe. Unfortunately, Maine's track record for developing players has led to an increasing number of Black Bears signing NHL contracts after only one or two seasons in Orono. Teddy Purcell (LA Kings), Andrew Sweetland (Florida Panthers), and Ben Bishop (St. Louis Blues) would all be members of this year's 2008-09 team, if the NHL had not come calling early.
Since returning to UMaine in 2001, fundraising and alumni relations have also been an important part of Coach Whitehead's work. After Coach Walsh passed away in 2001, Whitehead became the driving force behind the fundraising and construction of the $3.5 million Shawn Walsh Hockey Center, in honor of his former colleague. In addition, Whitehead has reached out to former UMaine Coach Jack Semler (1977-84) and his players to reconnect and honor all Maine Hockey Alums in the new Maine Hockey Hall of Fame in the Alfond Arena.
Academic integrity and success has always been a priority for Coach Whitehead, and his team's academic progress speaks for itself. The men's hockey team's graduation rate and GPA have improved dramatically and consistently over the past seven years. In fact, the 2007-08 Black Bears posted a 3.11 team GPA for the academic year, the highest in the program's history, breaking their own mark from the previous year. Maine led all Hockey East schools in 2007-08, as 16 players were named to the Hockey East All-Academic team, while junior Chris Hahn was named one of three Hockey East Top Scholars after posting a perfect 4.0 GPA. With the help of Academic Advisor Cristina Kerluke, Coach Whitehead has raised the bar of academic expectations quite high for his players.
Whitehead graduated from Hamilton College in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in government. He also served as Assistant Captain of the varsity hockey team, and won the Sellers Award for team leadership and inspiration as voted by his teammates. Whitehead played two seasons of professional hockey in Europe before returning to start his career in coaching. Whitehead earned his master's degree in education from the University of Maine in 1992.
Tim and his wife Dena live in Bangor and are the parents of two children, Natalie, 9, and Zachary, 7. Tim and Dena have been very active within the Bangor community. Some of the organizations and activities that they are involved with include: the 14th Street School PTO, Komen Race for the Cure, the MDA telethon, the Bangor YMCA, ATA of Bangor, Bangor Youth Hockey (BYH), and Eastern Maine Girls Hockey (EMGH).
