Last season, the Seneca Valley High School hockey team took strides in its quest to become one of the PIHL's premier programs.

To help catch the perennial powers, the Raiders went out and got someone who has a history with one of those powers.

Seneca Valley hired former Bethel Park standout Denis Kirstein as its head coach late last month. Kirstein played on a state championship team in his three seasons at Bethel Park.

"I didn't come here to be a mediocre team," Kirstein said. "I'm here to help this team take it to the next level. [Former coach Mike Schall] took the program to a higher level; hopefully I can elevate the quality. It's a grade-A organization, a great organization. And with the support they have and a great coaching staff ... I think this organization can make it into the upper echelon of high school teams."

Kirstein, 25, a 2001 Bethel Park High School graduate, has been part of -- and had great success with -- just about every piece of prominent Western Pennsylvania amateur hockey.

He played for the prestigious Hornets as a youth, for the Bethel Park High School program that arguably has the best tradition of any in the state, won a national championship with the former Junior A Pittsburgh Forge and helped one of the two NCAA Division I hockey colleges in the state, Mercyhurst, win a conference title and reach the NCAA tournament.

Seneca Valley is hoping he can transfer some of that success to the Raiders, a team that had a breakout 14-4-1 record this past season, reaching the PIHL Class AAA quarterfinals (losing to Bethel Park) under Mike Schall. Schall resigned from the position after four seasons due to his desire to further his teaching career with graduate school work.

Seneca Valley sees last season as a stepping stone to becoming a program like Bethel Park.

"I think we're well on our way there," said Don Hillier, vice president and director of public relations for the Seneca Valley Hockey Association. "We've got a real nice group of young kids coming up, and we've had some successful seasons under Mike Schall, who did a great job really getting the program on track.

"We've got a lot of momentum. I think we're going to be a really strong organization. I definitely see us in that same caliber [with programs such as Bethel Park].

"[Kirstein is] a very well-spoken gentleman in his early 20s, so he's able to connect really well with players. He has an impressive resume as far as his playing days go, and he seemed like a real strong, solid candidate."

Kirstein was signed by the Youngstown SteelHounds of the professional Central Hockey League last fall but was released early in the season. He ultimately elected to cease pursuing a professional playing career rather than have to move far across the country, continent or even to Europe after recently getting engaged.

Still, Kirstein wanted to remain involved with the sport he loved via coaching but upon realizing that the full-time route would be almost as unstable and nomadic as playing, he took a job with a computer software company and sought a high school coaching gig using his bounty of local connections.

Kirstein had never held a coaching position before but Hillier said that not long into Kirstein's first offseason practice with the team, Seneca Valley officials are convinced they made the right choice.