Michael Souza (born January 28, 1978) often referred to as Mike Souza, is a former Italian-American professional ice hockey forward who currently is the head coach of the University of New Hampshire men's ice hockey team.
Playing career Souza was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Souza attended the University of New Hampshire from 1996 to 2000. He is a cousin of fellow UNH player Paul Thompson. In 1997 Souza was drafted 67th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1997 NHL entry draft. At UNH, Souza was noted for his speed and skating skill. In 1999 UNH reached the championship game of the 1999 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. In the championship game Souza scored a key goal in the third period to force overtime. Maine won in overtime, however. In 2000 Souza was a member of the Hockey East All Star team.
After leaving UNH he played in the AHL for three seasons with the Norfolk Admirals and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In 2001 and 2002 he attended the Chicago Blackhawks' training camp. The next two seasons Souza split his time between the ECHL and the AHL, playing for the Florence Pride and Reading Royals of the ECHL, and the Portland Pirates, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and Hershey Bears of the AHL.
In 2005 Souza began to play in Europe. In the 2005–06 season Souza played for the Kölner Haie of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, EHC Basel of the Swiss National League A, and EHC Olten of the Swiss National League B. In 2006, he moved to Italy to play in the Serie A. He played with SG Cortina for four seasons before moving to the Bolzano-Bozen Foxes in 2010.
International career By playing in Italy, Souza later gained Italian citizenship and participated at the 2009 and 2010 IIHF World Championship as a member of the Italy men's national ice hockey team.
Coaching career Souza retired in 2011 and became an assistant ice hockey coach with Brown University. In 2013, he became an assistant coach with the University of Connecticut, and in 2015 he joined the staff at the University of New Hampshire. On March 14, 2018, Souza officially took over as the head coach of the Wildcats, replacing the retiring Dick Umile.
Career statistics Regular season Playoffs SeasonTeamLeague GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM 1996–97 U. of New Hampshire HE 39 15 11 26 20 — — — — — 1997–98 U. of New Hampshire HE 38 13 12 25 36 — — — — — 1998–99 U. of New Hampshire HE 41 23 42 65 38 — — — — — 1999–00 U. of New Hampshire HE 38 15 25 40 58 — — — — — 2000–01 Norfolk Admirals AHL 75 14 17 31 44 3 0 0 0 2 2001–02 Norfolk Admirals AHL 66 20 11 31 58 — — — — — 2002–03 Norfolk Admirals AHL 5 2 2 4 7 — — — — — 2002–03 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 59 7 15 22 89 9 0 1 1 12 2003–04 Florence Pride ECHL 17 8 13 21 29 — — — — — 2003–04 Portland Pirates AHL 27 5 5 10 16 — — — — — 2003–04 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 14 4 1 5 22 — — — — — 2004–05 Reading Royals ECHL 12 6 3 9 20 — — — — — 2004–05 Hershey Bears AHL 53 14 8 22 36 — — — — — 2005–06 Kölner Haie DEL 5 0 1 1 6 9 1 1 2 14 2005–06 EHC Basel NLA 3 1 0 1 4 — — — — — 2005–06 EHC Olten NLB 23 16 18 34 38 — — — — — 2006–07 SG Cortina Serie A 31 22 31 53 32 8 5 5 10 12 2007–08 SG Cortina Serie A 31 13 15 28 32 — — — — — 2008–09 SG Cortina Serie A 42 23 20 43 34 — — — — — 2009–10 SG Cortina Serie A 28 6 11 17 12 — — — — — Serie A totals 132 64 77 141 110 8 5 5 10 12
Awards and honors Award Year All-Hockey East Rookie Team 1996–97 All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1999 All-Hockey East Second Team 1999–00
Head coaching record
References
External links Official Biography, New Hampshire Wildcats