Breaking: CMU hockey parts ways with head coach Doug Wickstrom
CMU hockey dismisses their coach days after first win
A Central Michigan hockey puck lies flat on a stick during the game at Martin Ice Arena, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (CM-Life | Alivia Cranick)
The Central Michigan D1 Club Hockey has announced that as of Monday, Oct. 27, the team has mutually agreed to part ways with head coach Doug Wickstrom.
“We’d like to thank him for his time, effort, and commitment to our program. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors,” the team said in a statement on its social media.
Wickstrom oversaw operations of the team beginning in 2023, leading the Chippewas to a 1-20-2 record that season. CMU would then improve to 5-21-3 overall in 2024.
Central Michigan was promoted to D1 in the American Club Hockey Association in early 2025, and Wickstrom coached the Chippewas to a 1-12 record. Their first win took place only two days before his dismissal.
“There was a lot of communication on the overall development of the team,” team president and goalie Dylan Niermeyer said. “As a collective, to get to where we’re at now with the talent that we have should not have taken this long.
"We figured if we’re not going to see any major improvement more than a third of the way through the year, how can we expect that for the next two-thirds?”
Brittany Knopp will serve as the interim head coach for the Chippewas during the remainder of the season.
Previously, she served as an assistant coach for the men’s D2 team for four years before moving on to become head coach of the women’s club hockey program. Later, she moved on to Cleary University for a season, and most recently has focused on boys’ high school varsity hockey.
“I was the high school team’s goalie coach for a year last year,” Niermeyer said. “Something I always noticed in her practices ... was a high intensity, attention to detail and being very vocal on the ice.
"The constant critique is something that we really needed and was lacking from the previous staff, and already today it’s a world of difference.”
Knopp’s first game as interim will be on Oct. 31 at Martin Ice Arena, and Central Michigan will take on Aquinas College in a two-game series to build off their first win of the season.
