ORLANDO, FLA – Orlando Solar Bears head coach Drake Berehowsky spent last week in Minneapolis at the Minnesota Wild development camp. Turns out he was also working on building his staff.
Monday after afternoon, the Solar Bears announced that Berehowsky had selected Matt McIlvane as his assistant coach when the ECHL expansion team hit’s the ice in October. The pair know each other from when McIlvane played for Berehowsky when the two were with the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen. McIlvane comes to Orlando off of having the interim head coach and general manager of the expansion Danville (IL) Dashers in the single-A Federal Hockey League.
“Matt has a wealth of experience. He enjoyed a terrific professional
Matt McIlvane was hired Monday as an assistant coach by the Orlando Solar Bears (photo courtesy of Orlando Solar Bears).
McIlvane, 26, is a native of Naperville, Illinois, was an eighth round draft pick (251st overall) of the Ottawa Senators in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. His path to professional hockey started in the junior ranks with the Chicago Freeze of the NAHL in 2001 when he played two games. The following season he posted 23 goals and 33 assists for 56 points to go along with 89 penalty minutes. McIlvane’s final junior season was 2003-2004 when he tallied 22 goals and 24 assists for 46 points with the USHL’s Chicago Steel.
McIlvane went on to play four years at the Ohio State University where he earned a spot on the Big Ten’s All-Academic Team and was a four-year Scholar-Athlete. On the ice for the Buckeyes, McIlvane had 52 career points and 117 penalty minutes in 156 career CCHA games. He graduated in 2008 with a B.A. in Sports Leadership and Humanities.
His pro career during the 2007-2008 season when after graduation he signed with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators, playing in four game. The following season he went across the Atlantic and dressed for the Berlin Polar Bears (ironically a team that Berehowsky at one time played for) in the DEL in Germany.
In 2009, he returned to the U.S., playing 62 games for the Bloomington Prairie Thunder where he scored 11 goals and added 13 assists. His play earned him an eight-game look with the Rivermen. He tallied one goal and two assists during his time in Peoria.
He was limited to just ten games between Bloomington and Peoria during the 2010-2011 season, notching a combined four goals and three assists. In the fall of 2011, McIlvane signed with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones but a serious injury forced him to retire on October 25th of that year after two games.
Not too long after, Dashers owner Barry Soskin fired head coach and general manager Scott Beneke and hired McIlvane to take over his team that was floundering both on and off the ice. McIlvane stabilized things, leaving the fans in Danville with hopes for a brighter 2012-2013 campaign.
The announcement of McIlvane’s hiring ended a weekend of talk after the Dashers took to their Facebook page Friday night to announce that McIlvane was leaving and that they had hired Rob Schweyer to take over.
McIlvane said in the team release that he was ready to head to Orlando and help his friend Berehowsky build a strong team.
“I am excited about joining Drake and the Solar Bears,” McIlvane said. “Drake is a strong motivator and teacher and I look forward to assisting him in recruiting and coaching the team.”
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