From The Northern Star
By Skyler Kisellus
In sports, losing is bad but also inevitable. It’s the art form nobody wants to master — yet one NIU’s ice hockey club became painfully familiar with early in its Division I existence.
Upon making the jump to the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s highest level in 2019-20, the Huskies spent several years stuck in a near-constant state of turmoil — trudging through seasons defined by instability, long losing streaks and repeated blowouts. At one point, NIU was the third-worst team in all of Division I, NCAA and ACHA combined, with a 2-29 record and a measly .091 winning percentage.
Longtime captain Keaton Peters remembers those struggles well. He lived through nearly all of them.
Since joining the Huskies in 2021, Peters has played for three different head coaches, seen endless roster turnover and endured three seasons with 20-plus losses. He was there for a 17-game losing streak that finally ended with a “Christmas miracle” win on home ice. He was also there for an equally agonizing 16-game skid that immediately followed.
“There’s been a lot of changes throughout the years,” Peters said. “Started out rough, obviously. The first couple years, new coaches pretty much every year, new group of guys every year. Not too many wins in the win column, and just some rough times.”
Now, at long last, Peters is part of something different. Something better.
With its 12-1 demolition of Central Michigan on Jan. 22, NIU clinched a winning record in Division I for the first time in program history — a monumental milestone for a team long stuck in the mud. The Huskies finished the weekend at 19-13-1 and now rank 10th in ACHA Division I with 56 points. They also boast one of the most dangerous offenses in the country, sitting third nationally with 173 goals scored.
So what happened? What turned it around for the once-hapless Huskies?
Well, Mychal Bangs happened.
INHERITED INSTABILITY
When Bangs first heard about a head coach opening at NIU in late 2023, he knew the situation was messy — even by club hockey standards.
His eventual predecessor, Brad Stoffers, had abruptly left his post right before a game — leaving the Huskies without a coach with more than half the season still to play. While the club searched for a replacement, the players were running things themselves.
“It was really just the captains kind of running practice,” Peters said. “We would do a lot of three-on-three — not much structure going on. But it was fun, and I feel like the guys just came together and accepted the fact that it was kind of just us and rallying around that. It wasn’t the best for the program, obviously, but we got through it and managed to get through that situation.”
“Myke” Bangs was officially announced as NIU’s head coach on Jan. 7, 2024, with eight games left in the campaign. From the moment he took the job, Bangs knew the program would require a total rebuild, and the first step of that had nothing to do with Xs or Os. It had to start in the locker room.
“The players are the most important thing. (I’ve) always believed that,” Bangs said. “And so the first thing was getting to know them on a personal level, getting to know them on a hockey level and earning their trust first, because I think it’s hard to coach if you don’t have trust.”
Earning that trust required buy-in — and Bangs brought plenty of hockey experience with him.
A Minnesota native, Bangs grew up playing the sport in a state widely regarded as a hockey Mecca. He started in youth hockey playing for the Minnesota Blades before becoming a four-year varsity player at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, where he earned all-conference honors twice and helped capture the highly coveted Minnesota High School State Championship in 2009. Bangs later had a Junior A run in the North American Hockey League and went on to compete collegiately at Loyola University Chicago (ACHA Division II), Robert Morris University Illinois (ACHA Division I) and Bethel University (NCAA Division III).
But what sold the players on their new coach wasn’t his hockey pedigree or his résumé. It was his relentless drive to win.
“The second I met Bangs, I could tell that he, just, wanted it. He wanted it so bad,” Robbie Zimmerman said. “He is determined and will not quit or leave or fail. He will not quit until this program is successful. I mean, he’s proven that this year.”
CONFIDENCE WITHOUT A CONFERENCE
That proof has come during an unusual season — one in which the Huskies have found success without the structure of a conference.
After the 2024-25 season, Bangs made the decision for NIU to leave Midwest College Hockey and operate as a Division I independent. It’s only temporary, though, as the Huskies are slated to join the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey Conference in 2026-27 after being unable to secure entry for the 2025-26 season.
“I thought we were in the wrong conference,” Bangs said. “The Midwest (College Hockey) conference is a phenomenal conference, very talented, but you’re dealing with almost every team is fully funded. Some of the guys in those programs are on scholarships, so their resources were so much different in that conference, making it a little bit more challenging for us to compete right away.”
While independence came with uncertainty, it offered a key advantage: control.
Instead of routinely facing MCH heavyweights like Jamestown, Minot State and UMary — teams that frequently handed NIU lopsided losses — the Huskies were able to build a schedule better suited for their stage of development. The team’s 2025-26 slate features eight Division II opponents, along with competitive Division I matchups against Iowa State, McKendree and Waldorf.
“Our schedule was more built to allow us to compete, allow us to start winning some games, but also still challenge us as well,” Bangs said. “So we’re just trying to create a little bit more balance than playing top-20 teams every single week.”
And it’s already paying off. NIU’s revamped schedule has produced two statement victories over teams the Huskies had never before defeated in Division I.
The first came on Halloween night, when NIU hosted fringe-ranked opponent Northwood to begin a two-game series. After taking a 2-0 lead in the first period, the Huskies gave up three consecutive goals before Peters scored the equalizer with 5:18 remaining in regulation to force overtime. Three-and-a-half minutes into the session, Peters won a board battle and sent the puck to JJ Mueller, who fed Walker Smith in the high slot. Smith then buried a one-timer to play the overtime hero and win it for NIU, 4-3.
Five weeks later on Dec. 6, the Huskies made the short trek to Allstate Arena in Rosemont, home of the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves, for a rematch with the Iowa State Cyclones — having lost to them the night before in West Dundee. Down 1-0 early in the first period, NIU responded with four consecutive goals en route to a 5-3 victory. Zimmerman fueled the effort with a four-point performance, notching one goal and three assists.
“Those wins are massive in recruiting; Those wins are massive with the confidence in the locker room,” Bangs said. “Getting wins like that is what helps us propel moving forward.”
ALL PART OF THE PLAN
The Huskies’ recent success isn’t accidental. It’s part of a three-year plan Bangs has been using for years — a blueprint he tested with the Plainfield Predators, a high school club he continues to coach today.
The plan is simple. Year 1 is about learning to compete. Year 2 is about getting to .500. Year 3 is about earning a winning record and making a run in the postseason.
Before Bangs was named Plainfield’s varsity head coach near the end of the 2022-23 season, the Predators had long been considered a cellar dweller in the Illinois high school hockey scene — having never won more than seven games in a year. Now they’re 32-13-1, the 15th-ranked team in the state according to MYHockey Rankings and set to make their second state tournament appearance in three years.
NIU’s rebuild may not be moving as fast as Plainfield’s, but the Huskies remain firmly on schedule. After finishing with 13 wins a season ago, they’ve jumped to 19 this year — one shy of the 20-win benchmark with three games left. Next year, NIU has its sights set on the ACHA National Championships.
Though the team will feel the loss of Peters, its top defenseman and third-leading scorer, most of its offensive production is slated to return in 2026-27. Zimmerman and Smith, both juniors, are among the top-10 scorers in ACHA Division I. Zimmerman tops the league with 53 points (17 goals, 36 assists) while Smith ranks sixth with 48 points (22 goals, 26 assists). Sophomores Connor Souza (40 points), Ryan Morgan (34 points) and freshman Mueller (40 points) are also among the nation’s top-40 point-getters.
Defensively, the Huskies will lean on veterans Lucas Sturm and Cam Pathana, while up-and-comers like Petr Van Voorhis and Matthew Tymarskis look to make an impact. NIU also expects to return all three starting goalkeepers: Matt Jurgens, Andrew Finneman and Anyon Bennett. Jurgens ranks 15th in Division I with 10 wins on the season.
Bangs said the team plans to add just a few pieces over the offseason, two forwards and two defensemen — keeping the current core largely intact.
“We’re only looking to bring in a couple pieces for next year, because I think this group, with what they’ve done this year, is really setting us up to have a great year next year,” Bangs said.
A FAR CRY FROM FAILURE
Of course, there’s still work to do before NIU can make a run at qualifying for nationals. The Huskies need to tighten up defensively after giving up nearly four goals per game — 122 total this season. They also need to cut down their time in the penalty box, having racked up 588 penalty minutes, the fourth-most in ACHA Division I.
And while the season featured statement victories, there were also troubling losses. In their first action after the winter break, NIU dropped back-to-back games against a struggling Roosevelt team that had lost eight straight entering the series. The Huskies’ lone tie of the season also came against a Division II Aurora squad that now sits at 5-15-1.
Still, even with those shortcomings, Bangs stresses to his players the importance of taking a step back and appreciating what they’ve accomplished in such a short span. After all, rebuilding isn’t easy, especially for a team like NIU’s that operates as a club sport and only receives partial funding from the school.
The Huskies have come a long way from the proverbial gutter they once occupied and from a time when players were, as one put it, simply playing for fun.
“A couple years ago, we only won two games. Now we’re at 19,” Bangs said. “(I’m) extremely proud, because a lot of times, guys walk into an opportunity, and they’re not able to turn it around. But collectively, we all worked together, we all committed to this, and we have, so it’s a special moment.”
Sure, the Huskies aren’t a title contender yet, but they’ll always have the history they made in West Dundee — and they’re finally mastering a new art form: winning.
(Originally published at https://northernstar.info/132306/sports/the-mychal-bangs-effect-how-huskies-boss-spurred-nius-remarkable-turnaround/)
