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With the 2011-2012 season rapidly approaching, the University of Oklahoma® Hockey club will be led by Peter Arvanitis, who was officially appointed Head Coach of the Sooners on Wednesday, July 20, 2011. Arvanitis was an Assistant Coach with the Sooners last season and assumed the top position after OU’s previous Head Coach, Mark Berge, recently stepped down for personal reasons.
Coach Arvanitis is from Montreal, Canada. He played for the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League for seven seasons from 1997 through 2004. During his time with the Blazers, he played in 386 games while recording 243 points and serving 1,239 penalty minutes. In his first season with the Blazers, he established a then-league record of 35 major penalties and 403 penalty minutes. Coach Arvanitis was also part of the OKC Blazers team that won the 2000-2001 Central Hockey League championship and was voted Fan Favorite by the OKC hockey fans for six seasons. After a serious wrist injury that required 3 years of surgery and rehabilitation, Coach Arvanitis was forced into retirement from pro hockey. He then turned to coaching, first as an Assistant with the University of Oklahoma in 2005-2006 and then with the Oklahoma City Blazers in 2006-2007. Coach Arvanitis then took some time off from coaching due to a serious illness in his family. Coach Arvanitis returned to coaching last season as an Assistant Coach with the Sooners. As Head Coach, he now brings a great wealth of hockey experience and coaching experience to the Sooners. Coach Arvanitis and his wife Trish are proud parents of Maria, Alexander and Dimitri.
In addition, OU Hockey has also named former Sooner player and team captain Austin Miller as an Assistant Coach. Miller will join long-time Assistant Coaches Larry Donovan and Chris Perry on the OU Hockey coaching staff.
The University of Oklahoma® Hockey club finished the 2010-2011 season ranked 7th nationally in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, Division 1 with a record of 29-16-1. The 2011-2012 season will be OU’s ninth season of play in the ACHA and eighth at the D1 level. The Sooners have qualified for the ACHA D1 National Championship Tournament during each of the last six seasons.
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