Dan Kerluke begins his seventh season as an assistant coach forthe Black Bears and his fourth as an associate head coach. Kerlukeplayed for Maine from 1997-2001 and was a member of the 1999National Championship team.
Kerluke serves as Maine’s recruiting coordinator. He hasbeen instrumental in recruiting some of Maine’s top playersin recent years. He has made several trips to Sweden and played akey role in recruiting 2010 Hobey Hat Trick selection GustavNyquist.
This season, Kerluke will be responsible for coaching thedefense.
Kerluke has been intregal in recruiting all four classes on thisyear’s team. He had a hand in recruiting Maine’s topline last year which consisted of Tanner House, Gustav Nyquist andBrian Flynn. The trio combined to score 56 goals and add 91 assistsfor 147 points.
Kerluke’s recruiting class in 2008-09 scored the mostpoints in Hockey East and included the top two goal scoringfreshmen.
During the 2006–07 season, Kerluke was instrumental inworking with the power play unit, which was best in the nation, asthe team reached the NCAA Frozen Four. Kerluke served asvolunteer assistant coach in the 2004-05 season as the Black Bearsadvanced to the NCAA Frozen Four in Milwaukee. He workedextensively with game video and also worked with the forwards.
Prior to Maine, Kerluke spent three seasons as Head Coach of theBangor High School boy’s ice hockey team. He led the team tothe playoffs all three seasons, and in the 2004-05 season setnumerous school records, including most wins and their first-everregular season championship. Following Maine, he spent the 2001-02season playing in the WCHL. He played in 14 games with the IdahoSteelheads and then went on to play in 49 games with the FresnoFalcons as they won the WCHL Championship.
In four seasons with the Black Bears, Kerluke played in 152games. He scored 54 goals, including 10 game-winners, and added 54assists for 108 total points. As a senior in 2000-01, he postednine goals and nine assists in 39 games played. In 1999-2000, heplayed in 39 games and had 12 goals and 14 assists. Kerluke earnedHockey East Academic Team honors and Maine Scholar Athlete honors.He was named Hockey East Player of the Week on March 6 afterscoring three straight goals in a 3-2 win at Providence. During the1998-99 season, he played in 41 games with 23 goals and 19 assistsfor 42 points. He tallied points in all four NCAA Tournament games,including an assist in the National Championship game. As afreshman, he scored 10 goals and had 12 assists in 33 gamesplayed.
A native of Brampton, Ontario, Kerluke is a 2001 graduate of theUniversity of Maine with a degree in new media. Kerluke resides inHermon with his wife, Cristina, who works for the Maine AthleticDepartment in Academic Support. The couple has a daughter,Lilliana, born on April 28, 2010.
