Joe Burcar is in his 15th overall season as head coach of men’s hockey at Finlandia University. He was the head coach from 2001 until November 2009. Burcar returned to Finlandia in the fall of 2016.
Burcar is 119-182-17 in his tenure with the Lions, the second winningest coach in all sports in school history. After three years as an independent, Finlandia found a home in the MCHA/NCHA. Burcar guided the team to the playoffs in each of the first five seasons and in 2006-07 they won the Harris Cup, which was the first conference title in any sport in school history.
Burcar has coached two All-MCHA/NCHA Tournament MVP’s, seven all-conference and three all-freshmen selections. He has always put an emphasis on academics as proven by his 107 conference all-academic selections and 32 ACHA / Krampade All-American Scholars.
A native of Houghton, Mich., Burcar helped Houghton High School win three Class B-C-D Regional championships. As a junior, the Gremlins won the state title.
Burcar coached junior hockey in the U.P. In 1993, He led the Marquette Peewee AA team to a state and national championship. From 1994-99, Burcar coached the Marquette Electricians Midget AAA team, taking to a state championship in 1995. That team made it to the national semi-finals where they lost to the eventual national champion. He was an assistant coach at Houghton HS for two years prior to his first stint at Finlandia.
From 2009 until 2016, Burcar was coaching in California. He guided the Orange County Hockey Club (18 AAA, 14 AA) and the Anaheim Jr. Ducks (14 AAA, 16 AA) to a total of four state championships. Burcar was the head coach at Edison High School and took them to a runner-up finish at the state championship.
Counting Michigan and California, Burcar has coach six national tournament qualifiers.
He was also a scout for the United States Hockey League (USHL), North American Hockey League (NAHL) and British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).
In addition to Finlandia, Brucar is an evaluator for USA Hockey for district, regional and national camps. He has a daughter Ashley who is a nurse in Hancock. Burcar resides in Houghton.
