Steve Rohlik () is an American

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 ...

head coach and former player. In April 2013 he became head coach in charge of the men's program at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Career

Rohlik got his start at the college level as a player for

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the late '80's. He spent four years playing for the Badgers, spending two campaigns as team captain and winning a national title in his senior season. After graduating with a degree in Communications/Journalism Rohlik became an assistant for his alma mater for a year before pursuing an abbreviated professional career with the

Knoxville Cherokees The Knoxville Cherokees were an East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. History The franchise was formed in 1988 along with the ECHL. The team moved to Florence, South Carolina in 1997 and was renamed the Pee Dee Prid ...

. During that year he also served as an assistant with Stillwater Area High School but left to become the head coach for the

Hill-Murray School Hill-Murray School is a coeducational private Catholic school serving grades 6–12. It is located on a site in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Saint Paul. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, i ...

, a secondary school near his home town. In 1997 Rohlik left

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 ...

and returned to the college ranks as an assistant for the new program at Nebraska–Omaha under

Mike Kemp Mike Kemp (born December 13, 1952) is an American athletic director and former ice hockey head coach for the men's program at Omaha. After having been an associate athletic director at Omaha since 2009, he was named interim athletic director on J ...

. Rohlik remained with the Mavericks for three seasons before he accepted a similar position with Minnesota–Duluth with their new bench boss,

Scott Sandelin Scott Alan Sandelin (born August 8, 1964) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He is currently the head coach of the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey team. In 2011, he became the first coach in Bulldog history to lead t ...

. Rohlik worked for the Bulldogs for a decade, leaving the year before the program won its first national title, to become an associate coach with

beneath his former college teammate

Mark Osiecki Mark Anthony Osiecki (born July 23, 1968) is an American ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. Osiecki was the head coach of the Ohio State University ice hockey team from the 2010–11 season to the 2012–13 season. Osiec ...

. For three years the Buckeyes struggled to achieve the .500 mark and in 2013 Osiecki was let go. Nine days after his future with the program became uncertain Rohlik was hired as the head coach. When Rohlik took over he did so just in time for the Buckeyes to start competing in the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. In his first year Rohlik got the Buckeyes to record their first winning season in five years and finished as the runner-up in the inaugural conference tournament. Over the next two years the Buckeyes had losing records but Rohlik managed to get his team to win a conference tournament game in each year. In his fourth season the Buckeyes finally got back into the NCAA tournament, posting a 21-win season in the process. He is signed to be the head coach at Ohio State through 2021.

Career statistics

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohlik, Steve 1968 births Living people American men's ice hockey left wingers High school ice hockey coaches in the United States Knoxville Cherokees players Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey coaches Omaha Mavericks men's ice hockey coaches Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey coaches Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Ice hockey players from Minnesota