CRAIG FURSTENAU - HOCKEY & WELLNESS COACH
BUILD A STRONG FOUNDATION
ABOUT ME
CRAIG FURSTENAU
Craig grew up in southeast Michigan where he began playing organized hockey at the age of 3. Craig played travel hockey through Juniors and finished his playing career as the Captain of the Oakland University Grizzlies.
Craig's coaching career started at his former high school, Grosse Ile before he got behind the bench at Oakland. Craig spent three seasons as the head coach of OU from 2002-2005. In his 3 seasons at OU, Craig led his teams to an above .800 win percentage, 2 GMHL Regular season titles, 2 GMHL playoff titles, 3 national tournament appearances including a national title in 2004 and finalist in 2005. In his time at OU, the Grizzlies lost only 1 regular season game on home ice and had a 23 game unbeaten streak in the 2003-2004 season. Craig founded the Oakland University D3 team in 2004 and was central region coach of the year that same season. In 2005 Craig was inducted in to the Oakland University Hockey Hall of Fame.
Craig spent four seasons with the Little Caesars AAA program. In his 3 years as head coach at LC, Craig led his teams to numerous tournament titles as well as back to back to back state finals. Craig's teams won state titles in 2007 and 2008 before qualifying for the national tournament in those years. Craig helped guide the team to a national title in 2008.
The 2009-10 season had Craig as the video coach of the Toledo Walleye. The ECHL franchise was the farm team for both the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. As the video coach for Toledo he also spent time working on player skills and enjoyed doing color commentary for the team's radio broadcasts.
2010-11 Craig coached the Yellowstone Quake Junior A team in Cody Wyoming. In his one and only season in Wyoming Craig led the team to a playoff appearance despite a host of injuries and player call ups.
2011-12 Craig returned to youth hockey in the Detroit area by working with the 1997 Michigan Ice Hawks. In his season with MIH, the team finished in the top 3 nationally after a season of multiple tournament titles as well as league and playoff titles.
2012-2014 Craig began training in Aspen Colorado for the Rocky Mountain Snow Kings. A team sponsored by Jeff Soffer, Craig traveled weekly working with kids on their basic hockey fundamentals. The team consisted of kids from Michigan and Colorado that Craig had trained and paired the groups together in tournaments across North America.
2014-2015 Craig helped coach the Belle Tire AAA 03 team where they finished #1 nationally after a very successful campaign. The team finished the season as state champions after not losing or tying a single game from December 1st through middle of March.
In 2016 Craig took on a new endeavor with the Michigan Ice Hawks 04 team. Under his leadership the team won several tournaments before winning the LCAHL playoff title and ended the year as the state champs. The state title was Craigs 4th state title with his third different organization.
Currently Craig is training the Meijer 2007 AAA team and the 2006 Troy Sting in addition to working with players on their individual skill sets
SUCCESS STORIES
"Craig has Coached Ryan in the past. His Love for the players and His desire to help them become more off the ice and better than they were the day before on the ice is really incredible! He is the type of Coach that would do anything in His power for his players and Families. His knowledge on sports nutrition and supplementation is off the charts. He is all about all pieces of the puzzle to ensure the Athletes can give their very best. I love his teachings on what to do before, during and after for the athlete. He taught us 2% dehydration can reduce work out put by 30%! Wow!
I HIGHLY recommend Craig."
Shannon
"Craig and his team have been training my son for the past few years. I love that he focuses on the complete player on and off the ice."
Jen
"Craig was one of a group of coaches who worked with my son years ago at Caesar’s .. all of their teachings were a part of him making it to play in the USHL,NAHL and college.. if you want development in your player .. you’ll find all the tools here for them to take their game to the next level."
Debra
"The very few times Gavin has worked with Craig has resulted in immediate progress of his skating. Looking forward to a summer full of growth with these clinics!!!"
Kris