Michael Ayers (born January 16, 1980) is an American ice hockey coach and former

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

who was an All-American for

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

Career

After graduating from

Thayer Academy Thayer Academy (TA) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory day school located in Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. The academy, conceived in 1871 at the bequest of General Sylvanus Thayer, known as the father of the United Sta ...

in 1998, Ayers spent another year playing prep school hockey before ending his junior career with 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 ...

. Despite playing for the worst team in the

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

that season, Ayers was drafted by the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

after the year. That fall, he began attending the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

and served as the team's third goaltender as a freshman. After

Ty Conklin Ty Curtis Conklin (born March 30, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. Throughout his National Hockey League (NHL) career, he played for the Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, S ...

left in 2001, Ayers split time in goal with senior Matt Carney and helped the team finish atop the

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

standings. The two goalies were platooned through the Hockey East Tournament with Ayers in net for the Wildcats championship game victory. UNH got the top overall seed for the NCAA Tournament and Ayers got in goal for the team's semifinal match. Unfortunately, the team was outplayed by conference rival

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

and Ayers allowed 7 goals on 40 shots. For his junior season, Ayers took over as the primary netminder and produced his best season yet. He set program records for wins,

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

and

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, leading the team to a second consecutive conference title. Ayers backstopped the Wildcats to a conference championship and the team earned the third overall seed. In his second postseason run, Ayers was a clutch player for UNH, allowing 4 goals through three games, and led the program to only its second championship game. Facing down defending champion

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, Ayers turned aside 29 of 30 shots through 40 minutes and had the Wildcats tied with the Gophers. However, the wheels came off in the third. Ayers surrendered three goals in a just over five minute span and New Hampshire lost the game 1–5. Ayers did return for his senior season, but both he and the team declined. While he finished with respectable numbers, they weren't enough to get him back onto the All-American team. New Hampshire did receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive season, but the team lost its opening match. While the ending was disappointing, Ayers did finish as the program's all-time wins leader (since broken). After graduating with a degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human healt ...

, Ayers began playing professionally. He spent most of his first season 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 ...

and slowly worked his way up into the AHL. His numbers slid in his third season and he only saw limited minutes before finishing the season in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. He returned to the ECHL for one final season before ending his playing career in 2008. Ayers began his second career after a short time off, becoming the goaltending coach for the

Iowa Chops The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena. History The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdi ...

mid-season. He stayed with the team until the end of the year while pulling double-duty as a goaltending director for FHIT, a youth hockey organization in

. After leaving the Chops, Ayers founded his own goaltending academy, MVP Goaltending. He operated the business for just over two years. In the fall of 2009, he returned to the college ranks as an assistant for

St. Cloud State St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximate ...

. He attempted to hold three positions simultaneously, but left FHIT in November to focus on the newer positions. He remained an assistant coach and ran his goalie clinic until August 2011 when he joined

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...

full time as a goaltending coach. Among other duties, he served as an assistant on the US U-18 teams at the world championships in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, winning a gold and silver medal respectively. In 2013, he was lured back to college hockey, this time as an assistant for Boston College under

Jerry York Jerry York (born July 25, 1945) is an American former ice hockey coach who was the men's ice hockey coach at Boston College. York is the winningest coach in NCAA hockey, and leads the all-time list as the only Division I head coach with over 1, ...

. Since then, he's helped develop two

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 ...

goaltenders,

Thatcher Demko Thatcher Douglas Demko (born December 8, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Demko was selected by the Canucks in the second round (36th overall) of the 2014 NHL E ...

and

Spencer Knight Spencer Knight (born April 19, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Panthers selected him in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Born ...

. Prior to the 2020 season, Ayers was promoted to Associate Head coach, a position he continues to hold as of 2021.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayers, Mike 1980 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Massachusetts People from Hingham, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Plymouth County, Massachusetts New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey players Grand Rapids Griffins players Dayton Bombers players Cincinnati Mighty Ducks players Syracuse Crunch players Norfolk Admirals players Pensacola Ice Pilots players SønderjyskE Ishockey players Leksands IF players Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Chicago Blackhawks draft picks