As he leads Tiger Hockey into yet another exciting era, Scott Owens already has stamped an indelible mark in the annals of the storied program. The 2013-14 campaign marks his 15th overall at the Colorado College helm, the longest tenure of any head coach in the team’s history. And, while founding member CC helps launch the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, Owens undoubtedly will continue to burnish his reputation and status among the school’s most successful bench bosses ever.
The numbers themselves tell a compelling story. Fourteen seasons, 317 victories and a .599 winning percentage. Not to mention three regular-season championships in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and seven appearances in the NCAA tournament, including a trip to the Frozen Four in 2005 and return to the quarterfinals in 2011. Oh, yes – don’t forget 16 All-America selections, two Hobey Baker Award recipients and 15 players earning WCHA Scholar-Athlete distinction a total of 27 times from 2005-06 through 2012-13. To say that Owens is a perfect fit at his alma mater would be an understatement.
His teams have averaged better than 22 wins per season since he accepted the position in 1999. The 31 triumphs in 2004-05 and 28 in 2007-08 represent the team’s second and sixth highest totals ever. It’s no mere coincidence that the Tigers have maintained a firm foothold among Division I hockey’s elite, while attendance figures at the Colorado Springs World Arena also continue to rank among the nation’s best.
True, Owens has compiled an impressive list of coaching credentials now spanning more than two decades. But when he returned to campus in April 1999 after four impressive seasons in the Junior "A"-level United States Hockey League, he also brought with him an intimate familiarity with the college that few other individuals could possibly possess.
A 1979 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Owens lettered for four seasons as a goaltender with the Tigers. He later spent four campaigns (1991-95) as a member of the CC coaching staff, serving as recruiting coordinator and playing a key role in the program’s revival in the mid ’90s. He was promoted to associate head coach for the final two years of that stay. Before leaving to become head coach and general manager of the Des Moines Buccaneers in 1995, he had helped lead Colorado College to its first of five consecutive appearances in the NCAA playoffs as well as two of three straight regular-season championships in the WCHA.
He understands the school, its students and its athletics philosophy. Having experienced, as a player and a coach, what works and what doesn’t at Colorado College, he knows what the ingredients of success have been in the past and is able to trust his instincts approaching the future. He’s at home in the community, and his achievements everywhere he’s been are testimony to his knack for motivating players.
In his four years at Des Moines, Owens posted an overall record of 179-76-9 and winning percentage of .695, including a record-setting 62-12-1 (.833) mark in 1998-99 when the Buccaneers claimed the USHL’s regular-season and playoff titles. Also national Junior "A" champions a year earlier, they came within one victory of repeating the feat in 1999 when they finished as runner-up to Detroit Compuware.
In 22 seasons combined, as a head coach in the USHL and at Colorado College, Owens has won 645 games.
Prior to his first return to CC in 1991, he spent six years as general manager (1984-90) and head coach (1986-90) of the USHL’s Madison Capitols, followed by one season (1990-91) as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin. A native of Madison, he guided the Capitols to four consecutive appearances (1987-90) at nationals. His four-year coaching record with the club was 149-97-9 (.602), including a 41-18-3 (.685) mark in 1989-90, its best ever. He was voted USHL General Manager of the Year in 1986-87 and 1997-98, as well as the league’s Coach of the Year in 1987-88.
The 57-year-old Owens, who coached the South at ’86 and ’87 U.S. Olympic Festivals, also spent five years as a player, assistant coach and youth program coordinator for the Kempten Ice Hockey Club in Kempten, West Germany, after graduating from Colorado College in 1979.
He appeared in 50 games for the Tigers during his collegiate playing career, backstopping 12 victories as the team’s No. 1 goalie his senior season in 1978-79. He attended and played hockey at Madison’s Memorial High School under coach Bill Howard, another former CC goaltender. Owens then played one season for the St. Cloud (Minn.) Blues of the Mid-West Junior League. He also represented the United States at the 1975 Junior World Championships, competing against teams from Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Russia and Sweden.
Owens and his wife, Sally, were married on New Year’s Eve, 2001. He has two stepsons, Evan and Sean, ages 28 and 25.
OWENS' YEAR-BY-YEAR LEDGER AS A HEAD COACH
... IN THE USHL
Season Team Record Pct.
1986-87 Madison Capitols 42-21-1 .664
1987-88 Madison Capitols 34-30-2 .530
1988-89 Madison Capitols 41-18-3 .685
1989-90 Madison Capitols 32-28-3 .532
1995-96 Des Moines Buccaneers 26-29-2 .474
1996-97 Des Moines Buccaneers 38-17-4 .678
1997-98 Des Moines Buccaneers 53-18-2 .740
1998-99 Des Moines Buccaneers 62-12-1 .833
Totals (Eight seasons) 328-173-18 .649
... AND IN THE COLLEGE RANKS
Season Team Record Pct.
1999-00 Colorado College 18-18-3 .500
2000-01 Colorado College 27-13-1 .671
2001-02 Colorado College 27-13-3 .663
2002-03 Colorado College 30-7-5 .774
2003-04 Colorado College 20-16-3 .551
2004-05 Colorado College 31-9-3 .756
2005-06 Colorado College 24-16-2 .595
2006-07 Colorado College 18-17-4 .513
2007-08 Colorado College 28-12-1 .695
2008-09 Colorado College 16-12-10 .553
2009-10 Colorado College 19-17-3 .526
2010-11 Colorado College 23-19-3 .544
2011-12 Colorado College 18-16-2 .528
2012-13 Colorado College 18-19-5 .488
Totals (14 seasons) 317-204-48 .599
OVERALL (22 seasons): 645-377-66 (.623)
