Bill Kangas
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamWilliams
ConferenceNESCAC
Biographical details
Born (1959-11-28) November 28, 1959
Eveleth, Minnesota, USA
Alma materUniversity of Vermont
Playing career
1978–1982Vermont
Position(s)Defense
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1984–1989Vermont (assistant)
1989–2017Williams
2018–PresentWilliams
Head coaching record
Overall415–270–66 (.597)

William Kangas is an American ice hockey coach.[1] He has been the nominal head coach for Williams since 1989, recording more than 400 wins in that time.[2]

Career

Kangas got his start in college hockey as a player at Vermont. After graduating with a B.A. in zoology in 1982, Kangas returned to the team as an assistant in 1984 under new head coach Mike Gilligan. Kangas helped the team improve steadily in ECAC Hockey, reaching the conference championship game in 1989. That spring, Kangas was hired to replace long-time Williams coach Bill McCormick who had helmed the team since 1954.

When Kangas took over, the Ephs hadn't had a winning season in seven years and that trend continued in his first season. In year two, however, Kangas led Williams to not only a winning mark, but their first ever postseason victory. Three years later, Williams won their first regular season title. The crown came just in time for the NESCAC, William's primary conference, to change their rules regarding national tournaments. Prior to 1994, the NESCAC did not allow member teams to participate in any national tournament. Beginning with the 1993–94 scholastic year, a NESCAC team could take part in one postseason tournament, either conference or national.[3] With the title already in their back pocket, Williams declined to play in the ECAC East Tournament in the hopes of receiving an NCAA bid. Unfortunately, Salem State, one of the team that Williams had tied with for the regular season title, went on to win the conference tournament. Because Salem State was not under the same restrictions as Williams, they were able to accept a bid to the NCAA Tournament and Williams was left by the wayside.

A similar situation happened four years later after the Ephs finished second in their conference to three-time defending NCAA champion Middlebury. Williams had one of the best marks in the regular season at 18–5–1 but were passed over in favor of Oswego State who had a record of 16–11–2 but had won the SUNYAC regular season title and finished as the tournament runner-up.

Kangas' bad luck in this regard was rendered moot in 1999 when the NESCAC dropped the postseason restriction for its member schools, allowing them to compete on equal footing with other conferences. The same year, the NESCAC began sponsoring ice hockey as a sport and Williams joined with the 8 other active teams as a founding member of a new conference. Williams played very well in the first season, end the year as the conference Runner-Up, but the team declined afterwards. The Ephs finished with a winning record in just three of the next eight years and didn't win another postseason game until 2009. That season was a watershed for Willaims, however, and the Ephs have been one of the best teams in their conference since. In the second decade of the 21st century, Williams finished with a winning record in every season under Kangas and were conference runners-up on three separate occasions. In 2016, Williams won a regular season title for the first time in 22 years and, unlike the last time, they were able to convert it into a NCAA Tournament berth. With the drought over for the oldest Division III team, Williams wasn't satisfied with just making an appearance and won their first NCAA game, defeating Salem State 7–1.

After the following season Kangas took a year-long sabbatical, which was afforded to him since he was regarded as a regular faculty member, turning the team over to assistant Mike Monti.[4] Kangas returned the following year and had Williams back atop the NESCAC in 2020. While the Ephs were passed over for an at-large bid that year, it wouldn't have made much difference as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 Tournament. Williams cancelled their 2020–21 for the same reason, but retained Kangas for their return in 2021.

College head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Williams Ephs (ECAC East) (1989–1999)
1989–90 Williams 8–12–23–10–112th
1990–91 Williams 15–7–39–6–47thECAC East Semifinals
1991–92 Williams 10–11–28–11–210th
1992–93 Williams 18–7–016–6–04thECAC East Semifinals
1993–94 Williams 17–5–013–4–0T–1st
1994–95 Williams 12–7–311–3–3T–2ndECAC East Quarterfinals
1995–96 Williams 11–13–110–8–1T–8thECAC East Quarterfinals
1996–97 Williams 16–8–114–4–1T–3rdECAC East Quarterfinals
1997–98 Williams 18–5–116–2–12nd
1998–99 Williams 18–7–212–4–14thECAC East Runner-Up
Williams: 143–82–15112–58–14
Williams Ephs (NESCAC) (1999–2017)
1999–00 Williams 17–7–312–3–2T–3rdNESCAC Runner-Up
2000–01 Williams 9–15–17–9–17thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2001–02 Williams 14–9–212–5–25thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2002–03 Williams 8–15–28–9–2T–6thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2003–04 Williams 12–9–311–6–15thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2004–05 Williams 11–12–211–7–16thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2005–06 Williams 14–7–313–3–32ndNESCAC Quarterfinals
2006–07 Williams 8–14–28–9–27thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2007–08 Williams 9–12–47–8–4T–6thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2008–09 Williams 15–9–212–5–23rdNESCAC Semifinals
2009–10 Williams 15–6–313–5–13rdNESCAC Quarterfinals
2010–11 Williams 16–8–311–6–22ndNESCAC Runner-Up
2011–12 Williams 12–9–58–8–25thNESCAC Semifinals
2012–13 Williams 17–7–312–4–22ndNESCAC Runner-Up
2013–14 Williams 15–8–310–5–33rdNESCAC Semifinals
2014–15 Williams 16–9–210–7–1T–3rdNESCAC Runner-Up
2015–16 Williams 19–6–214–2–21stNCAA Quarterfinals
2016–17 Williams 14–9–310–5–34thNESCAC Semifinals
Williams: 241–171–48189–106–36
Williams Ephs (NESCAC) (2018–Present)
2018–19 Williams 14–9–210–6–25thNESCAC Quarterfinals
2019–20 Williams 17–8–113–5–01stNESCAC Semifinals
Williams: 31–17–1323–11–2
Total:415–270–66

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bill Kangas". Williams Ephs. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Williams Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Bowdoin College Men's Hockey History" (PDF). Bowdoin Polar Bears. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Williams men's hockey coach Bill Kangas to take sabbatical for 2017-18 season". The Berkshire Eagle. May 15, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
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