May 8, 2003

Houghton, Mich. -- Jamie Russell, who has spent the last four seasons helping build the Cornell University Big Red into a national powerhouse, will be introduced today (May 8) as Michigan Tech's new head men's ice hockey coach at a 3:30 p.m. ET news conference in the Begg Conference Center of the Grant Hockey Educational Center.

Russell, who played defense for Michigan Tech from 1987-89, will officially begin his duties on June 1. He replaces Mike Sertich, who retired following the 2002-03 campaign.

"Needless to say I'm very excited to be returning to my alma mater," said Russell. "I know people are anxious for Michigan Tech to get back to its winning way and I can assure all those with a vested interest in the program that we will do exactly that."

Russell has been the lead assistant at Cornell since his arrival there in 1999-2000. During his tenure, CU amassed an 87-39-10 record, won two Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season titles (2001-02, 2002-03) as well as an ECAC playoff championship (2002-03). In addition, Cornell has advanced to the NCAA Championships the past two seasons, including a final eight appearance in 2001-02 and a spot in the Frozen Four this past season. CU finished 2002-03 with a school-record win 30-5-1 mark and was the top-ranked team in the country in the final regular-season poll.

Among Russell's responsibilities at Cornell were working with the defensemen and the penalty killing units. Cornell finished number one in the country in both team defense (1.36 goals against per game; next closest, 2.21) and penalty killing (.900) this past season.

"We're really excited to have Jamie as our head coach," said MTU Athletics Director Rick Yeo. "He is a leader and has been a big part of building successful programs at two different schools."

Prior to his stint at Cornell, Russell spent five years as an assistant coach at Ferris State. While not at FSU this past season -- a year in which the team won the Central Collegiate Hockey Association championship -- Russell had a hand in recruiting the club's senior class.

Russell played two seasons at Michigan Tech after sitting out the 1986-87 due to transfer rules. He was an assistant captain in both of his seasons on the blueline for the Huskies (1987-88, 1988-89) and posted career totals of eight goals and 22 assists in 77 games played.

Following graduation, he went on to play one season for Larjevellan Sweden (1989) and finished second in the league scoring race.

His final two playing years were spent competing for Winston-Salem in the East Coast Hockey League in 1990 and for Binghamton of the American Hockey League in 1991.

Russell has also been extensively involved with USA Hockey throughout the years. He served as the director of the USA Regional Bantam Evaluation Camp from 1996-99 and has also been a lecturer for the USA Hockey Coaches Achievement Program.

In addition, Russell has been an instructor at multiple hockey schools, including Michigan Tech's Hockey Development Center.

The 36-year-old Russell is married to the former Linda Frankovich of Laurium, Mich., and the couple has a four-year-old son, Ben.

Notes: Michigan Tech's team learned of the decision from Athletics Director Rick Yeo on Tuesday evening . . . Russell is the 20th head coach in the history of the Tech hockey program . . . The press conference introducing Russell will be broadcast live on both WKMJ, 93.5 FM and WMPL, 920. In addition, fans can listen to the press conference via the internet at: michigantechhuskies.com.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use | About Us | Advertise | Feedback | XML RSS Feeds