Union names Tapp and Dumais as assistant coaches

Union has announced that Jason Tapp and Joe Dumais will be a part of Rick Bennett’s coaching staff next season. These men fill the voids after Bennett was promoted to head coach and Ben Barr followed Nate Leaman to Providence.

Tapp has been a part of the Union coaching staff for the past two seasons as a volunteer goalie coach. He has overseen the development of Keith Kinkaid during this time. He played his college hockey at Boston University.

Dumais previously was an assistant coach at UConn (Atlantic Hockey) for three seasons. He played college hockey at Quinnipiac from 2002-2006. In his senior season Dumais was named team captain and the Bobcats played their first season in the ECAC. From what is sounds like, Dumais was a “grinding” forward when he played.

It’s hard to judge how good these signings are. Behind the scenes stuff is hard to judge and both of these guys don’t have much of a track record. One good thing is that these guys are young, which is an important characteristic for an assistant coach.

With Tapp, it will be beneficial that the team is familiar with him. He will have the very important job of developing Troy Grosenick, Julien LaPlante, and eventually Colin Stevens into goaltenders that can replace Keith Kinkaid. To learn more about Tapp, check out the interview I did with him over the summer (click here).

The one thing I like about Dumais is that he played in the ECAC, so he knows what it’s like to be an ECAC student-athlete. His experience could be very beneficial in recruiting. I’ll admit that I’m a little surprised that Union hired a guy from UConn, which is a pretty mediocre Atlantic Hockey program at best. I guess I was hoping they’d get a guy from a more proven program than UConn. Maybe there weren’t too many of these guys available. But, you never know what will happen. For all we know Dumais will become a great choice.

Either way, the entire coaching staff has a lot to prove and tons of pressure on them. They will be counted upon to continue Union’s success and bring them to the next level.

For more info go to:
Union Athletics.com
Ken Schott’s Blog