Dumais promoted to associate head coach

by Ryan Fay

Joe Dumais is moving on up in the world.

Union head coach Rick Bennett announced Wednesday that Dumais was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach.

Dumais

"I'm grateful to Rick and [Athletic Director] Jim McLaughlin for showing faith in me," said Dumais, who reportedly turned down an offer last month to become the head coach at Division III University of New England. "I'm appreciative of the support they have shown over the years. I'm excited to be able to continue working alongside [assistant coach] Jason Tapp and being a part of this great coaching staff."

Dumais originally joined Union in May 2011, weeks after the program promoted Bennett from associate head coach to head coach following Nate Leaman's departure to Providence. Before arriving at Union, Dumais served as an assistant coach for three seasons at UConn.

The Dutchmen have gone 99-45-18 with Dumais on the staff, including two ECAC Hockey regular-season crowns, three ECACH tournament titles, two NCAA East Regional championships and the 2014 national title.

During his tenure at Union, Dumais has worked with the forwards and aided in the development of three All-Americans, six All-ECACH selections and a pair of ECACH All-Rookie picks. He has also instructed the highest scoring offense in ECACH in two of the past three seasons.

Dumais' work with the special teams unit has seen the Dutchmen power play rank in the top 20 nationally in each of the last four seasons. Union established a new school record last year with eight short-handed goals.

Along with Tapp, the 33-year-old Dumais has helped piece together the country's eighth and 12th-highest scoring freshmen classes the past two years. The Class of 2017 recorded 98 points while the Class of 2018 produced 80 points.

"Joe's body of work here at Union is incredible," said Bennett. "It's not only his knowledge of the game, but how he approaches the job on a daily basis. He's one of the hardest workers I've seen and it's why we have gotten better as a program."

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