Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward R.J. Umberger to coach the Ohio State Hockey team during lockout
Richard Allen Umberger Jr., known as R.J. Umberger, will keep himself in action and warmed up during the National Hockey League (NHL) lockout by coaching the Ohio State Hockey Team that he once represented.
The American forward, who plays for Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL, started his hockey career with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) in the year 2001 and played there for three years, before he moved to Philadelphia
Phantoms in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Since the NHL lockout which began on 15th September and saw the pre-season, first three weeks of the regular season cancelled, hundreds of NHL players have left NHL and joined different leagues of the world. Most of the foreigner players went
back to join their native country’s leagues whereas American and Canadian players joined minor leagues like Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Western Hockey League (WHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) etc.
But 30-year-old Umberger has been enjoying time with his family for last one month as he said,
“I’ve gotten to do extra things I wouldn’t have been able to”.
He also feels that it would be an interesting job to help the upcoming players and it would be great to make an impact on their lives, as he also said,
“I think college would be really fun. Being around the young kids and impacting their lives.”
The feeling of sitting workless and not playing is always an irritating for any sportsman and so it is for Umberger, who feels that it was such a long summer and he had been waiting for the next season to start very excitedly, so NHL lockout is obviously
a disappointment, as he added,
“At the same time, it was already a long summer with the season ending early. I was anxious to get started. I put in a lot of hard work and was ready to go.”
The Pittsburgh native will be an assistant to Ohio’s coach Mark Osiecki, who is very excited to have Umberger as a coach. Osiecki said,
"As an All-American in college he knows what it takes to be successful at the collegiate level and he has carried that on to a successful professional career”.
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