Tuesday, July 24, 2012

SAINTS ADD MIKE FIELD TO COACHING STAFF

Press Release

DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Dubuque Fighting Saints announced today the hiring of Mike Field as the club’s new assistant coach and director of scouting. Field, 28, joins Head Coach and General Manager Jim Montgomery’s staff, and will replace Bobby Kinsella, who accepted a position in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens.

“I’m really excited to join the Fighting Saints,” Field said. “It’s a great opportunity to work with proven winners and an organization top to bottom that knows what it takes. It’s a bittersweet thing because I am really excited about Dubuque, but I loved everything about American International as a player and a coach. I had a lot of great memories there, but it was such a great opportunity in Dubuque that I had to jump on it.”

Field, a native of Marquette, Michigan, joins Dubuque from American International College where he has spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach. He joined the Yellow Jackets in 2009 after serving as a graduate assistant the year prior.
“We are very excited to add Mike Field to our staff,” Head Coach and General Manager Jim Montgomery said. “He is a very intelligent and hardworking coach who will fit in well with our culture of professionalism and excellence. In the interview process, his evaluation of players, and of what a Fighting Saint hockey player looks like on the ice, was in sync with the rest of our staff.”
During his playing days, Field spent four years at American International, skating at forward and tallying ten points in his collegiate career. He was named a four-time Atlantic Hockey all-academic selection, and was named the conference’s Top Scholar Athlete his senior year.

He previously played junior hockey in the North American Hockey League from 2002-04, and had a brief pro career during the 2008-09 season when he played seven games for the Fort Wayne Komets.

“It is really exciting to be a part of the staff and to learn from a coach like Jim Montgomery who is well respected. Between Monty, myself, and associate head coach Joe Coombs, I found the three us of us see the game similarly. I think the opportunity I have in Dubuque is a good one, because they are doing a lot of things right and are first class with everything. To be able to work with that level of players and make an impact with the coaching staff is a great opportunity.”

Field will officially begin with the Fighting Saints August 1.

(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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