Kord Cernich (born October 20, 1966) is an American retired ice hockey

Defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

and coach who was a two-time All-American for

Lake Superior State Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Lake Superior State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It is enrolls approximately 2,000 students. Due to its proximity to the Canadian border, and th ...

and helped the Lakers win their first

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in 1988.

Career

Cernich played junior hockey for the

Dubuque Fighting Saints The Dubuque Fighting Saints are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL) and are based in the city of Dubuque, Iowa, on the banks of the Mississippi River at the border intersects of Iowa, Illinois, and W ...

after graduating from

Service High School Robert Service High School is a public high school in Anchorage, Alaska. It had an enrollment of 1,779 students as of August 2, 2016. Serving grades 9 through 12, the school was named for the poet Robert W. Service. Part of the Anchorage School ...

. He helped the team win the 1985 Clark Cup and followed that up with a spectacular final season in 1986 where he was named as the league's best defenseman. After accepting a scholarship to

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Lake Superior State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It is enrolls approximately 2,000 students. Due to its proximity to the Canadian border, and th ...

, he quickly became a major contributor for the Lakers, collecting 22 points as a freshman. During his second year, Cernich led the Lakers' defense in scoring and helped the team win their first

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

. Cernich scored twice in the title match, pushing the Lakers past

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

4–3 in overtime. Lake Superior continued to be a top program while Cernich was there, making two additional NCAA tournament appearances. He was named an All-American both as a junior and senior, leading the Lakers' defense in scoring in 1989 and serving as alternate captain in 1990. After graduating with a bachelor's in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, Cernich embarked on a long career in professional hockey. He spent the following season at the top level of the minor leagues. It was the closest he would come to the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

as he found himself sinking down the minor league ladder over the next few years. He briefly experimented with playing in

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in 1993 but returned before the season had ended and finished out the year in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. In 1994 he returned to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and began playing for the

Anchorage Aces The Alaska Aces, known as the Anchorage Aces until 2003, was a professional ice hockey team in Anchorage, Alaska. Home games were played at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. The Aces won three Kelly Cup championships, with their last championship f ...

. He remained with the team for the next seven years, becoming a fixture on the blueline and playing over 300 games for the Aces. He retired following the 2001 season. Cernich remained in Anchorage following the end of his playing days and worked as a general foreman for Arctic Electric for a dozen years. He left in 2013 to devote his full attention to being the owner/

COO COO or coo may refer to: Business * Certificate of origin, used in international trade * Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official * Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process ...

of Arctic Branding And Apparel, a clothing and equipment manufacturer that he co-founded with his wife Angela. He briefly returned to hockey in 2018, working as an assistant coach for the Alaska All Stars U14 team.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cernich, Kord 1966 births Living people Ice hockey people from Alaska Ice hockey players from Alaska People from Ketchikan, Alaska American men's ice hockey defensemen Dubuque Fighting Saints players Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Binghamton Rangers players San Diego Gulls (IHL) players Flint Bulldogs players Rochester Americans players Capital District Islanders players Nottingham Panthers players Fort Wayne Komets players Dayton Bombers players Anchorage Aces players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions