The University of Wisconsin men's hockey program has prided itself for many years on its preparation and hard work in practice and the offseason. Assistant coaches Mark Osiecki and Kevin Patrick are major reasons behind Wisconsin's prestigious reputation as one of the nation's top programs for training and recruiting.
Osiecki and Patrick are awesome guys, people who you can go and talk to any time of the day and can learn a lot from,"" freshman forward Kyle Turris said. ""They play a huge role in this team and the success we have.""
Osiecki has roots in Wisconsin hockey as a former Badger defenseman. He played for Wisconsin from 1987-'90, where he served as an assistant captain for the 1990 NCAA Championship team. This leadership role created a foundation for coaching, and Osiecki had tremendous success at the semi-professional, international and collegiate levels before his return to Madison for the 2004-'05 season.
Osiecki is entering his fourth season as a Badger assistant coach, but his previous experience has already elevated him to elite status as one of the nation's best defensive coaches.
""There's not a better guy in the country for developing defensemen, hands down,"" Patrick said. ""I might be biased because I've worked with him before, but I'd put him up against anybody in the country with what he does with our defensemen.""
Osiecki has also found a niche as Wisconsin's recruiting coordinator. He says this job has offered both a challenge and a unique perspective of the game.
""It's fun, it's great to be on the road, go to different rinks,"" Osiecki said. ""This past week Kevin and myself went to Huntsville, Ontario. Huntsville is three hours north of Toronto and full of vacation properties. Lakes and trees, that's all you have, but when you walk in the rink, you know somebody. That part of the game is fun - to be able to go into rinks and watch hockey and be around the game that way - but the downside of it is we're on the road a lot.""
Patrick is another assistant coach with experience at practically every level of competitive hockey. He played four years as a defenseman at the University of Notre Dame, where he was captain his final two seasons. Patrick began his coaching career at Deerfield Academy, where he also served as an assistant athletic director and science teacher. He coached several international teams and then became a Badger assistant at the start of the 2005-'06 season.
Patrick specializes as a tactical coach who works primarily with the forwards and does heavy scouting on the Badgers' opponents. Junior forward Ben Street admires what Patrick has done for the program and the approach he takes toward the game.
""If you have a question in the system, as an assistant, he's the guy you go to,"" Street said. ""He brings a different element than Coach Osiecki does, and it's one of those that you need to have. He's one of the nicest guys in hockey too, so he's one of those guys you can go to with any kind of question and he'll be there for you.""
Osiecki and Patrick first crossed paths as coaches with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League for the 1997-'98 season. Osiecki served as head coach and general manager and Patrick served as assistant coach and assistant general manager. In Green Bay, the two assistants formed a chemistry that has carried over smoothly into the Badger system.
""It's a great working relationship,"" Patrick said. ""Coach Osiecki does a great job as recruiting coordinator, working together on that, our travels, where we need to be, who we need to see. It's a very cohesive and fun working relationship as far as what we need to get done to be successful. We both have our in-office responsibilities, our different areas that we're responsible for. They overlap at times but we definitely take care of all the things we need to take care of there.""
Badger fans are hopeful that Osiecki and Patrick will continue to work together for many years to come, elevating the Wisconsin program in every facet of the game.
