Ferris State University men's ice hockey alum Seth Appert earned a National Hockey League (NHL) head coaching victory on Saturday (Dec. 30), leading the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Appert, who servers as the head coach of the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans, was called up by the Sabres to fill in as the head coach in the absence of Don Granato due to illness. He proceeded to lead the Sabres to the victory for his first NHL head coaching win. The Bulldog alum is also expected to serve as the bench coach again on Sunday evening for the club's road game against the Ottawa Senators.

With the victory, Appert becomes the third former Bulldog to earn a NHL head coaching victory in the last two seasons, joining an alum in former Detroit Red Wings head coach and current Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Blashill along with Derek Lalonde, who formerly served as a FSU assistant coach and is currently the head coach of the NHL's Red Wings. All three coached at FSU under longtime Bulldog head coach Bob Daniels while Appert and Blashill also spent time in the program as four-year letterwinners during their collegiate playing careers.

Presently, Appert is midst his fourth season as head coach of the Rochester Americans after being appointed to the role in 2020. He posted a 84-71-15-7 record over his first three seasons behind the Amerks bench, which includes a 37-win campaign in 2021-22 that culminated with an extended playoff run as part of team's first playoff appearance in four years. After leading Rochester to a fifth-place finish in the American Hockey League's North Division standings and becoming the sixth straight head coach to reach the 30-win mark in his first full season at the helm, Appert spearheaded one of the most impressive playoff runs in nearly two decades. Under Appert, the Amerks won their first playoff series since 2005 and advanced to the third round of Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004, first sweeping Belleville in the play-in round before ousting Utica, one of the AHL's top teams in the regular season, in the best-of-five North Division Semifinals.

Last season, under Appert's guidance, Appert led the club to its most impressive and deepest playoff run in 23 years as they reached the Eastern Conference Finals. After losing three straight to close out the month of January, the resilient Amerks closed out the regular season going 14-8-4-2, earning points in 20 of their final 28 games. That, of course, set up the Eastern Conference Finals showdown with the Hershey Bears in a battle of the league's two cornerstone franchises. The Amerks came within two wins of advancing to the Calder Cup Finals for the first time since 2000 and were still playing hockey in June for the first time in 23 years.

The 33rd head coach in the 67-year history of the franchise, Appert has a long history of developing players at all levels. Prior to joining the Amerks, he spent three years (2017-2020) alternating the head coaching duties between the Under-18 and Under-17 teams at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program (NTDP).

Appert wrapped up his tenure with the USA National Team Development Program by setting a record with 17 USA NTDP players being selected in a single National Hockey League (NHL) draft in June of 2019, including eight first round choices and the number one overall pick (Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils).

In his time with Team USA, Appert commanded the bench for the International Ice Hockey Federation's Under-18 World Junior Championship in 2018 where he guided USA to a Bronze medal. During his first season with the NTDP in 2017-18, Appert guided the Under-18 Team to a gold medal at the Five Nations Tournament.

Prior to his time with team USA NTDP, Appert was the head coach for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) from 2006-2017. He was an assistant coach for the prestigious Hlinka-Gretzky Cup USA squads in 2006 and 2007. While at RPI, Appert guided the Engineers to their first NCAA Tournament Appearance (2011) in 16 years, and their only trip since.

Appert also formerly served as the president of the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).

During the 2017-18 season, Appert lead USA NTDP Under 18 team to a record United States Hockey League (USHL) finish with a 22-3-0-1 record in 26 games.

The Cottage Grove, Minn., native began his coaching career as an assistant for the Denver University Pioneers from 1997-2006, helping the Pios to back-to-back national championships in 2004 and 2005 after spending the 1996-97 season as a volunteer assistant coach for Ferris State.

From 1992-96, Appert backstopped the Bulldogs as a four-year letter winner, overlapping with teammate Jeff Blashill, who played from 1994-98 and coached at Ferris State from 1998-2002.

Appert owns a Bachelor's degree in Public Relations from Ferris State and earned his Master's degree in Management from the University of Denver in 1999. Appert and his wife, Jill, have two daughters, Addi and Campbell.