By Ben Shanahan

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

Before fire alarms went off disrupting his presentation, first-year Bowling Green State University hockey coach Dennis “Willy” Williams told the Kiwanis Club of Bowling Green how much the BG community meant to him.

Especially when they are showing up in droves at BGSU’s Slater Family Ice Arena, and he’s no stranger to that. So, the Kiwanis gave Williams the chance to tell them about it in the ice arena lounge during their regular luncheon Thursday.

Willaims, in his third stint in the Bowling Green community, first as a player, then as interim head coach, and now finally head coach, is no stranger to the Kiwanis organization, either, first talking at a meeting when he was the interim head coach back in 2009.

Williams, a BGSU graduate and Stratford, Ontario native, shared insights about his coaching journey and the upcoming BGSU hockey season. Williams took on the role of head coach in March 2024.

“It is great to be back. I have known (Kiwanis board member) Dick (Edwards) since back in the day when he would go to the Stratford festival of the gardens, and that is how I got connected way back then with him,” Williams said.

“Every once in a while we would keep in touch, and as soon as I got the job he reached right out, I have been on the docket since June, and there just was no way I was going to miss this.”

Williams not only talked about the community, but touched on how important the renovations at the Slater Family Ice Arena are to his team.

“I remember when I first got here to what it is now,” Williams said. “It is such a positive impact and another great sense of encouragement from the university that the Slater family put in Scott Slater and all the other donors who see hockey as the footprint for this community.

“Like I say, it is not going to guarantee CCHA championships, but it sure is going to help us, and another reason why come to Bowling Green.”

Williams, the ninth head coach in Falcon ice hockey history, comes to BGSU after spending seven years as the head coach of the Everett Silvertips of the WHL (Western Hockey League), including the last three as general manager.

Under Williams, Everett earned four U.S. Division titles, three conference regular season titles and one Western Conference championship.

Williams has served as a coach for Hockey Canada, including as head coach for the 2023 World Junior Championship (Gold Medal), an assistant coach for the 2022 World Junior Championship (Gold Medal), an assistant at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and as head coach for Team Canada Black at the 2018 U17 World Hockey Challenge.

Williams carries 17 years of head coaching experience across junior and college levels, boasting an overall career head coaching record of 544-267-14. His junior hockey career head coaching winning percentage stands at .700 with a career record of 505-217, while with the Silvertips he is currently 283-120 (.702).

During his time with Everett Williams was named Western Conference Coach of the Year twice (2018, 2020) and U.S. Division Coach of the Year (2022). He has boasted 11 NHL draftees since 2018 (second-most in the WHL) and 16 of his players have signed pro contracts at the NHL or AFL levels.

A former right winger for the Falcons, Williams received his bachelor of science degree in sport management from Bowling Green State University in 2001, graduating cum laude. He later earned a master’s degree in education from BGSU in 2003.

During his BGSU career he appeared in 117 career games, notched 20 points (12 goals, 8 assists), and 198 penalty minutes for the Falcons, while also notching two-game winning goals.

He was the Howard Brown Coaches Award recipient following the 2000-01 season, recognizing him as the person who best exemplified professional qualities both on and off the ice en route to leading the Falcons to a CCHA semifinal appearance that season. He joined BGSU’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2008 and was named interim head coach for the 2009-10 season.

A few minutes after Coach Williams was introduced to speak and about halfway through his talk about how he got back to Bowling Green, the fire alarm in the Slater Family Ice Arena sounded and forced everyone to evacuate.

Kiwanis President Chad Plontz did not let the alarm cancel out the service organization’s weekly meeting, so Williams continued his talk outside with alarms still heard in the background.

“That had to be the first time that has ever happened,” said Plontz. “Kiwanis is the biggest service organization in town. We have 116 members, and the whole organization is designed around helping children. We do a lot of projects in the community.” Said Plontz.

For Kiwanis, they have another event this Sunday, a cornhole tournament, with more information on their website.

“We are currently doing a cornhole tournament designed to raise money for grandparents raising their grandchildren. We raise money for the holiday season to give gifts if they do not have means to do so,” said Plotz.