Head coach set to begin end

After missing last season to take a sabbatical, IU hockey coach Rich Holdeman is coaching in his 13th and final season behind the bench for the Hoosiers. As the Hoosiers' all-time winningest coach in IU Hockey history, compiling 243 victories and a .685 winning percentage, Holdeman has served as a fixture for the IU hockey program and has developed it into one of the elite Div. II club teams in the nation.\nIn his 12 seasons at IU, he has led the Hoosiers to seven straight 20-win seasons, four league championships, 10 American Collegiate Hockey Association tournament appearances and three National runner-up finishes, his last one coming in 2000. He also earned the ACHA Div. II National Coach of the Year in 2002, the first year the award was given.\n"The amount of preparation and professionalism he puts into the organization has propelled us to the level we've been at," IU assistant coach Tom Orr said. "We've always been ready to play, work hard and we have superior systems to most teams we play which have put us into position to win a lot of games."\nAfter playing at the collegiate level for four seasons at Yale University, Holdeman worked as assistant coach at Culver Military Academy in Northern Indiana for three years, beginning in 1989. According to him, coaching has given him the opportunity to enjoy hockey past his playing days.\n"I am a very competitive person and coaching has allowed me to compete," Holdeman said. "The excitement of getting a team prepared and competing has been one of the things that has made it so fun."\nHe has also noticed a few differences between being a coach and a player.\n"You have to think about the game very differently when coaching," he said. "Every year is a new challenge and thinking about team segments and finding ways for everyone on the team to work together and play their best as a team is something that is noticeably different in coaching compared to playing."\nSince coming to IU in 1992, Holdeman has served as an integral part to not only the hockey team, but to the school and community of Bloomington. In addition to coaching, he works as a lecturer in the Department of Biology and is an ordained minister, serving as one of the pastors at the Bloomington Reformed Presbyterian Church. \nIU senior forward Michael Kearns, who has played under Holdeman for three seasons, thinks there are many positive attributes about him that don't show up on the stat sheet.\n"Coach has been an incredible influence on the team as a whole. He shows up every day with a positive attitude and demands hard work and dedication from the team," he said. "He is a positive role model for players both on and off the ice and it will be disappointing to see him leave at the end of the year."\nIU junior forward Chad Fiala agrees with Kearns' assessment.\n"Coach always shows his confidence toward the team, especially when we dig ourselves a deep hole," he said. "This quality really helps the team stay on track."\nHoldeman, whose love for hockey continues, decided he needed to devote more time to his family and his expanded role as a pastor. He will continue to teach at IU and plans to support the team in a more behind the scenes capacity.\n"I know that it is time to move on, but I also know that I will miss the fun of the competition and the relationships with the players," he said. "I am really looking forward to having more time with my family, and I am sure that all of us will be at the rink to catch as many games as we can next year"