Plymouth hockey coach Dallas reaches amazing milestone
Plymouth High School Hockey Coach Brian Dallas recorded his 400th career victory Jan. 29 against Traverse City West.
Throughout his distinguished (and quickly closing in on legendary) high school hockey coaching career, Plymouth Head Coach Brian Dallas has won an MHSAA state championship, been elected to the Michigan High School Hockey Hall of Fame, and coached his son (Graham) and his future son-in-law (Angelo Barlesi).
On Jan. 29 in Trenton, Dallas added to his stellar resume by earning his 400th career victory — a 2-1 decision over Traverse City West.
Four hundred wins in any sport, at any level, is rare and deserving of a ton of props.
Memories aplenty
“I still remember my first win — a 5-2 victory over Brighton during the 94-95 season, my first year at Divine Child,” Dallas recounted. “What does 400 mean to me? Well, it’s a pretty big number (he smiled).
“One reason for my longevity is how much I love hockey. It’s an amazing sport. It requires the skills a lot of other sports do — eye-hand coordination, timing; like baseball, you have to hit something that’s moving, using a stick instead of a bat, obviously — and the players do it all on skates. It’s just a beautiful game to watch.”
Dallas said he was beyond grateful for the celebration his players and assistant coaches had ready for him once win No. 400 was chiseled onto his career achievements.
Cool celebration
“They made a nice poster for me, gave me a T-shirt and I got the game puck,” Dallas said. “When I was at 399 (wins), we played in Rochester, which is close to where my daughter (Kelsey Barlesi) lives, so she was able to make it, but we in overtime to a very good Rochester team.”
Dallas won a state championship with Divine Child in 2002 and was inducted into the MHSHCA Hall of Fame in 2012.
He coached Divine Child for 18 seasons before taking the reins of Dearborn Unified, with whom he coached his son for three seasons, for nine years.
He loves coaching Wildcats
This is his fourth year coaching the Wildcats.
“I love this group,” Dallas said. “They’re hard-working, very coachable and very respectful. Our record is a little deceiving (10-13-1) as we’ve lost a lot of one- and two-goal games. At one point — and I don’t know why it would have changed since — we were in the top 10 in the state (all classes) defensively.
“Our defensemen play great team defense — they do a great job of back-checking — our forwards are always in position so we don’t give up many odd-man rushes, and our goaltenders (Liam Villalobos and Jack Caveney) have been outstanding.”
Ray Villalobos, the father of Liam, talked about how much goes into a career like Dallas’s during a post-400th-win locker room speech.
A ton of responsibility
“Getting to 400 wins means a lot for a hockey coach,” Villalobos said. “It includes countless hours spent: preparing practice and game plans, film analysis, competitive scouting, being first at the rink and last to leave, selecting great team gear for the players to wear on and off the ice, mentoring assistant coaches, having meaningful and developmental discussions with players and, most importantly, it’s about the players — past, present and future.”
Dallas, who resides in Oak Park, has been an educator at Dearborn Edsel Ford High School since 2000.
“I drive a triangle every day,” he said chuckling. “From Oak Park to to Dearborn, from Dearborn to Plymouth and back home again. I’m putting a lot of miles on my tires, that’s for sure.”
And he’s putting a lot of wins in the victory bank.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
