News release
20 December 2006
Jackals General Manager/Head Coach Robbie Nichols
Elmira, NY The Elmira Jackals announced today that General Manager Robbie Nichols will be taking a more active role in the Jackals on ice activities. Effective immediately, Nichols will become the teams Head Coach, in addition to his duties as Jackals and First Arena General Manager, while Kris Waltze will be retained by the Jackals as a coach.
The past off-season provided a rather large challenge for the Jackals Front Office and new General Manager Robbie Nichols. He was hired with the task of turning around a franchise that had not seen playoff action in two years, spanning back to the 2003-04 Colonial Cup Finals. Nichols completely overhauled the lineup, bringing back just one player from the 2005-06 roster and heavily recruited players from a variety of leagues and championship experience to bring a winning team back to Elmira. The Jackals rushed out of the gates to an 11-5-0 record and the 2nd best record in the UHL by late November. Since that point the Jackals have hit a speed bump, going a dismal 2-7-0 in their last 9 games, including a current losing streak of 5 games, limping to a .500 record of 13-13-0.
Two weeks ago Nichols joined Coach Kris Waltze in practice and on the bench for the two-game home series with the Fort Wayne Komets; an intense, physical and exciting weekend of hockey that saw Elmira split with the Western Conferences 1st place team.
Since the early summers months, Nichols has spent a great deal of his time building the Jackals from scratch, recruiting players and setting up all of the teams accommodations, travel, etc. Now that a majority of the recruiting is behind him, he will turn his focus towards the Jackals on-ice performance to ensure that the team lives up to his ultimate goals, bringing a winning team back to Elmira.
Nichols becomes the 5th Head Coach in the Jackals seven-year franchise history. In 570 games as a Head Coach he has amassed a record of (309-205-56) totaling a .551 winning percentage while at the helm of the Flint Generals, the Adirondack IceHawks and the Richmond Riverdogs. His best year coaching came in his first year behind the bench, as he led the 1995-96 Flint Generals to a 51-18-5 record and the Colonial Cup Championship that year. Nichols is one of only four coaches in the UHLs 300 Club, along with Mark Reeds (323), Paul Gillis (358) and Greg Puhalski (367) for having 300 or more wins in the league.
Nichols will take over today and run his first practice as Head Coach of the Jackals Wednesday morning. Kris Waltze will continue to play a very active role with the Jackals as Nichols Assistant Coach and both are very eager to halt the teams currently losing streak before the Christmas holiday.
The Jackals are on the road this week as they begin with a heavily anticipated rematch with the Fort Wayne Komets Friday December 22nd at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Indiana. Saturday December 23rd the Jackals will be in Chicago to face off with the Chicago Hounds before returning home for the Christmas break. Elmiras next home game is on Friday December 29th as they host the Port Huron Flags for a 7:35 pm face off.
The First Arena and the Jackals would like to with everyone a safe and happy holidays! Dont forget to pick up your First Arena gift certificates just in time for the holidays.
First Arena Section 4 vs. Section 5/PA High School Basketball Shootout 2006.
Friday December 22nd features two games beginning at 6 pm. Saturday has five games on the schedule, starting at 1 pm. For more information, contact the First Arena office at 607-734-PUCK.