Ben Henry Chosen As New Alpena High Hockey Coach | News, Sports, Jobs

Ben Henri

ALPENA – Ben Henry’s travels have taken him to several places during his hockey career, but his career will come full circle this winter when he takes his place behind the bench at Alpena High School.

Henry was announced Monday as the new coach of the Alpena hockey program and becomes only the fifth full-time coach in the history of the program.

He succeeds Chris Limback, who retired from coaching this spring.

“I am honored and excited to be the new high school hockey coach. I look forward to implementing new techniques and bringing passion to the game, ”Henry said in a press release. “I will do my best to make hockey great for Alpena. This is where I started and it has taken me all over the world. I want this opportunity for our student-athletes.

Henry, a 2011 Alpena graduate and former player, has spent 15 years playing hockey, the last three of which were professional.

After a successful career at Midland University in Nebraska, he spent three years in Sweden playing for the Hallefors IK Hockey Club and served as an assistant captain.

He played for Ockelbo HC in 2020 and ended his career with 32 games played and 51 points scored.

Henry played for Alpena in his sophomore during the 2008-09 season, then moved to Detroit to play for an U18 team. His hockey travels took him everywhere from Battle Creek to Detroit to Toledo and Montana before signing with Midland in 2014 to join a brand new program under coach Jason Cirone.

“We are delighted that Coach Ben Henry is leading our program,” Alpena sporting director Jon Studley said in a press release. “Ben brings with him a ton of hockey development experience and a mix of American and Swedish hockey styles. It was a very difficult pool of candidates and Ben stood out in every round of the interviews. Ben has a vision of what he would like to do with the hockey program and where he can follow the program. We are delighted that Ben and his team are guiding us into the future.

Limback previously coached Alpena from 1994 to 2011, but returned to the program in 2017 and coached the Wildcats for four seasons. During this time, Alpena won two regional championships and a Big North Conference title.