Jim Culhane (born March 13, 1965) is a Canadian retired ice hockey defenceman. He played for the Hartford Whalers. Culhane coached the Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey team from 1999 to 2010.

Jim Culhane
Biographical details
Born (1965-03-13) March 13, 1965 (age 59)
Haileybury, Ontario
Playing career
1983–1987Western Michigan
1987–1989Binghamton Whalers
1989–1990Hartford Whalers
1990–1991Capital District Islanders
1990–1991Kansas City Blades
1991–1992Capital District Islanders
Position(s)Defenceman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2010Western Michigan
Head coaching record
Overall158–222–48 (.425)

Career

edit

Culhane played at Western Michigan during one of the most successful periods in program history. After graduating in 1987 he embarked on a short professional career, before retiring in 1992. In 1993 he returned to his alma mater and served as an assistant under Bill Wilkinson until the latter was fired in the midst of an investigation into the program after two players were arrested at a team party.[1]

For a brief time Culhane was able to right the ship in Kalamazoo but once Wilkinson's last recruiting class left the team sunk towards the bottom of the conference and never had a winning record under Culhane's stewardship again. Over the course of his 11 full seasons Culhane could only get the Broncos out of the CCHA first round only twice and lost all four quarterfinal games his team played in. Western Michigan announced that they were firing Culhane in February 2010 but allowed the coach to finish out the season.[2]

Career Statistics

edit
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1983–84 Western Michigan Broncos CCHA 42 1 14 15 88
1984–85 Western Michigan Broncos CCHA 37 2 8 10 84
1985–86 Western Michigan Broncos CCHA 40 1 21 22 61
1986–87 Western Michigan Broncos CCHA 43 9 24 33 163
1987–88 Binghamton Whalers AHL 76 5 17 22 169 4 0 0 0 8
1988–89 Binghamton Whalers AHL 72 6 11 17 200
1989–90 Binghamton Whalers AHL 73 6 11 17 69
1989–90 Hartford Whalers NHL 6 0 1 1 6
1990–91 Capital District Islanders AHL 15 0 0 0 14
1990–91 Kansas City Blades IHL 59 1 8 9 50
1991–92 Capital District Islanders AHL 37 1 3 4 58
NHL totals 6 0 1 1 6

Head Coaching Record

edit
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Western Michigan Broncos (CCHA) (1999–2010)
1998–99 Western Michigan 3–4–2† 3–4–2† 10th†
1999–00 Western Michigan 12–21–3 10–15–3 T–9th CCHA First Round
2000–01 Western Michigan 20–13–6 12–10–6 T–5th CCHA First Round
2001–02 Western Michigan 19–15–4 13–12–3 6th CCHA First Round
2002–03 Western Michigan 15–21–2 13–14–1 T–8th CCHA First Round
2003–04 Western Michigan 17–18–4 12–13–3 8th CCHA First Round
2004–05 Western Michigan 14–21–2 8–18–2 T–10th CCHA First Round
2005–06 Western Michigan 10–24–6 7–16–5 11th CCHA Quarterfinals
2006–07 Western Michigan 18–18–1 14–13–1 6th CCHA First Round
2007–08 Western Michigan 8–27–3 4–22–2 12th CCHA First Round
2008–09 Western Michigan 14–20–7 9–13–6–2 T–7th CCHA Quarterfinals
2009–10 Western Michigan 8–20–8 4–17–7–2 12th CCHA First Round
Western Michigan: 158–222–48 109–167–32
Total: 158–222–48

      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

† Culhane replaced Bill Wilkinson in February 1999[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "WMU Fires Head Coach Wilkinson". USCHO.com. February 3, 1999. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  2. ^ "Culhane Out as Western Michigan Coach After Season". USCHO.com. February 18, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
edit