Major Charles "Chuck" Delich is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player and coach. His association with The Air Force Academy also includes being a commissioned officer until his military retirement in 1993.

Career

Chuck Delich entered the Air Force Academy in the fall of 1973, joining the hockey club and immediately making an impact on the program. Delich led the Falcons in both

Goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

and

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in each of his four seasons, becoming not only the club's all-time leader in both (by a wide margin), but remains the NCAA's leading goal-scorer at the Division I level. Delich was twice named team MVP and served as co-

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in his senior season. Delich began his active service after graduating but was able to return to

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in 1981 to rejoin the hockey team as an assistant coach. Working under his former coach

John Matchefts John Peter Matchefts (June 18, 1931 – November 10, 2013) was an American ice hockey player and coach. Matchefts played for Team USA at the 1956 Winter Olympics. Career Player An Eveleth native from birth, Matchefts played for his hometown hig ...

for four years, Delich was chosen as his successor and began serving as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

in 1985. As had happened under Matchefts, Delich's tenure saw about as many winning seasons as not but he was able to shepherd the team through twelve seasons despite having few local opponents and not being part of an

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Confe ...

. During the early part of his career Chuck was able to coach his younger brother

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and in 1993, while still coach, Delich retired from military service as a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. Delich stepped down as coach after the 1996–97 season, turning the reigns over to

Frank Serratore Frank Serratore (born August 24, 1957) is an Americans, American ice hockey coach, currently with the Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey team. He formerly coached professional hockey in the International Hockey League (1945-2001), International ...

. Delich has been honored for his career several times including having the team MVP renamed in his honor a year after his retirement and being inducted into the Air Force Athletic hall of fame in 2011.

Career statistics

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delich, Chuck 1955 births Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey coaches Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey players American ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota Living people People from Eveleth, Minnesota United States Air Force Academy alumni Ice hockey players from Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota