Meet the Staff

Scott Owens
The proof is in the numbers. Nine seasons, over 217 victories. Two regular season championships, six appearances in the NCAA's. Not too shabby by anyone’s standards. If there ever were any doubts that Scott Owens is a perfect fit at the Colorado College helm, they are long gone.

The 13th head coach in the program’s 70-year history, Owens has averaged more than 25 victories per year since accepting the position. CC's 31 wins in 2004-05 is the team's highest ever in one year. It’s no mere coincidence that the Tigers have kept a firm foothold among college hockey’s elite, while attendance figures at the Colorado Springs World Arena continue to rank among the nation’s best.

True, Owens has compiled an impressive list of coaching credentials spanning more than two decades. But when he returned to campus in April 1999 after four successful 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 Colorado College 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 CC 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 athletes. Having experienced, as a player and a coach, what works and what doesn’t at Colorado College, he knows exactly what the ingredients of success for the hockey program have been. He’s at home in the community, and his achievements everywhere he’s been are testimony to his ability to motivate 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 13 seasons combined, as a head coach in the USHL and at Colorado College, he’s won 450 games.

Prior to his first return to CC in 1991, Owens 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) in the National Junior A Tournament. His four-year coaching record there was 149-97-9, including a 41-18-3 mark in 1989-90, the club’s 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 52-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 CC 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.

He and his wife, Sally, were married New Year’s Eve, 2000. He has two step-sons, Evan and Sean, ages 23 and 19.

Joe Bonnett
Joe Bonnett is in his eighth year as an assistant coach at Colorado College, where he has helped the Tigers average 26 victories the last four seasons.

While overseeing areas of recruiting and concentrating on the defensive aspects of the game, Bonnett is known for working “hands on” with the blue-line corps and the development of individual skills. Under his guidance, CC’s team defense and penalty kill have continued to rank among the nation’s best.

Prior to joining the Tigers staff, Bonnett was the recruiting coordinator at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1997-01). He started his coaching career as associate head coach of the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings (NAHL), guiding them to an appearance in the 1994 junior “A” national tournament. Bonnett served as a volunteer assistant at Miami from 1995–97. While there, he earned his master’s degree in sport organization and helped coach the RedHawks to their second NCAA appearance in ‘96-97.

Bonnett was a four-year letterwinner as a forward at Western Michigan University (1989–93) and an assistant captain his senior year. A 1993 graduate of WMU, where he received a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, Bonnett was named Western Michigan’s Most Improved Player as a junior in 1991-92, then was named recipient of the program’s Catherine Lawson Sportsmanship Award as a senior in 1992-93.

During the summer months, Bonnett has continued to be very active as a volunteer with USA Hockey. He has served as a head coach for Team Michigan and Rocky Mountain districts at national select -14, -15, -16 and -17 festivals. In 1999 his select-16 team Michigan won a gold medal in St. Cloud, Minn. Bonnett served as an assistant coach with the United States under-17 select team that won the gold medal at the 2003 Five Nations Tournament in Prievidza, Slovakia.

The Canton, Mich., native and his wife Laura, who celebrated their eighth anniversary in June, are the parents of two sons, Noah and Sam, ages 4 and 2.

Norm Bazin
Norm Bazin, now in his eighth year as a member of the Colorado College coaching staff. In his first three campaigns with the Tigers helped them average 28 victories. Bazin came to CC from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, where he spent four years as an assistant coach. While at UMass-Lowell, he helped the Riverhawks explore new recruiting pipelines which contributed to producing six NHL draftees, including the school's first-ever first-round pick, as well as two Olympians who performed in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Bazin brought that same enthusiasm to Colorado Springs with a fresh and talented group of players making their mark on the WCHA. Among those making an impact were a school-record five Tigers selected in the 2003 NHL draft. Talent such as bruising defender Mark Stuart, a first-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2003, Brett Sterling, a former goal-scoring leader for the USNDP Under-18 Team, Richard Petiot, a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2001, Marty Sertich, Minnesota's Mr. Hockey Award winner in 2001, and goaltender Curtis McElhinney, a 2003 All-American, ensure Colorado College of continuing its winning ways.

Bazin is involved in all facets of the program including video analysis, game preparation and off-ice conditioning. His main on-ice focus lies with the offensive attack, working closely with the forwards and special teams.

A native of Notre Dame de Lourdes, Manitoba, Bazin played for the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League before enrolling at UMass-Lowell in 1990. As a senior in 1993-94, he finished second on the team with 20 goals as the Riverhawks earned a bid to the NCAA tournament. He went on to play minor-league hockey for the Birmingham Bulls of the ECHL and Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL in 1994-95. Bazin earned both a Master of Education degree and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

He and his wife, Michelle, who celebrated their tenth anniversary this year, are the proud parents of two sons, Blake and Coleston, ages 4 and 18 months.