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| Dennis Vickers, a native of St. Peters, Missouri, will be the new head hockey coach at Rice Memorial High School in Burlington, Vermont. |
After starring at Fort Zumwalt South High School, Vickers played college hockey at St. Mary's in Minnesota and had a successful career on the ice.
Though his playing days were over, Vickers could just not get away from the game of hockey and began coaching and has moved around quite a bit to grow into the coach that he is today. His first big coaching gig came at Miami University in Ohio, where he coached the ACHA team and worked closely with the powerful Division I coaching staff.
Now Vickers tackles another big gig behind the bench at Rice.
Vickers, who has spent the past couple of years working with younger kids while running the Nashville Predators practice facility, feels he is ready to get back to working with older kids who are looking to expand their games and get ready for the next level.
Vickers is excited about the opportunity at Rice.
"This is a great opportunity to work in the hockey hotbed of the Northeast! The players that come to Rice will be looking to play competitive hockey and move on to play NCAA Div. I or Div. III. Similarly, guys that coach at this level have an opportunity to coach at the college level."While Vickers brings with him a bevy of different experiences, working with kids of all ages, he does have a vision for how he would like his kids at Rice to play as he readies for his first season.
"I'm a big fan of playing an aggressive forecheck and taking away the opponents time and space. Being as Rice is a place that players come to try and develop for the next level I dont want to get to into the "systems"...but I will be stressing the importance of hard work and discipline."While developing the Rice players on the ice and posting some wins in the record books will be top of mind for Vickers as he takes over behind the bench, Vickers realizes his job is bigger than just hockey. Vickers hopes to prepare kids who come to Rice for all aspects of college, both on and off the ice.
"Rice is a catholic school with strict academic standards. I want these kids to get a great education, grow as a person, and become a great hockey player. I want to pass players on to NCAA schools and even more have great young men entering their college community. I want them to learn how to juggle the different aspects of being a college athlete...school, sports, and social. I believe that these players need to have a good balance of all of these aspects."Congrats to St. Louis area native Dennis Vickers on his new venture behind the bench at Rice.
His hard work, dedication, drive, and enthusiasm has earned him this chance and his leadership and determination will likely rub off on the young men he coaches up in Vermont.
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