Craig Homola

Craig A. Homola (born November 29, 1958) is an American retired ice hockey center who was an All-American for Vermont. Homola graduated in 1977 and began attending the University of Vermont that fall. After a good freshman season, he took over as the leader on offense, pacing the Catamounts with 55 points as a sophomore. As a junior Homola gained wide recognition for his scoring prowess and he was invited to join the US national team a month before the 1980 Winter Olympics but he turned down the offer and watched as his former teammate Pavelich went on to win a gold medal. That season Homola was named as an All-American and ECAC Player of the Year while helping the Catamounts capture the ECAC West Division.

After graduating in 1981, Homola signed on with the Minnesota North Stars minor league system and played well. Unfortunately, short players were not in high demand for NHL teams. He bounced around in the Minnesota and Chicago Blackhawks organizations for a few years before heading to Scotland in 1986. In his first season with the Dundee Rockets, Homola produced astounding numbers, scoring 167 points in just 34 games (nearly 5 points per game), contributing on more than half of the team's goals that season. Dundee folded after the year but Homola stayed in the city when the Rockets were replaced by the Dundee Tigers. Homola was again the focus of the offense but didn't continue his torrid pace for much longer. After 7 games the following year, Homola retired for the game and returned home, eventually becoming a coach at his old high school.

Homola was inducted into the Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1974–75 Eveleth-Gilbert High School MN-HS —————————— 1975–76 Eveleth-Gilbert High School MN-HS —————————— 1976–77 Eveleth-Gilbert High School MN-HS —————————— 1977–78 Vermont ECAC Hockey 3117183514————— 1978–79 Vermont ECAC Hockey 3024315539————— 1979–80 Vermont ECAC Hockey 3428416918————— 1980–81 Vermont ECAC Hockey 3319274644————— 1980–81 Oklahoma City Stars CHL 52240————— 1981–82 Nashville South Stars CHL 761935544730002 1982–83 Birmingham South Stars CHL 80304474341339128 1983–84 Salt Lake Golden Eagles CHL 682927563750220 1984–85 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 5616324818————— 1985–86 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 122242————— 1986–87 Dundee Rockets BHL 347394167275149232 1987–88 Dundee Tigers BHL 29756113642————— 1988–89 Tayside Tigers BHL 78101812————— NCAA totals 128 88 117 205 115 — — — — — CHL totals 229 80 108 188 118 21 3 11 14 10 IHL totals 68 18 34 52 20 — — — — — BHL totals 70 156 165 321 81 5 14 9 23 2

Awards and honors Award Year All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1979–80 AHCA East All-American 1979–80