Mike Folga enters his 18th year with the Mercyhurst University men's hockey program, serving as the equipment manager for all 18 years. After serving as the men's hockey teams athletic trainer for his first 15 years at Mercyhurst, Folga now serves as an advisor to the athletic training department.
Folga is no stranger to the Erie, Pa., area. He graduated from Cathedral Prep in 1973 and before obtained a degree in sports medicine from Mercyhurst in 1986. After graduating, he served as an assistant baseball coach at Penn State Behrend from 1981-83 before taking over as head coach in 1984.
Shortly after the season's end, Folga began a 16-year career as either head medical trainer or head equipment manager for a number of professional sports teams, including an 11-year stint in the National Hockey League (NHL).
From 1985-88, he worked as head medical trainer for the Pittsburgh Pirate and/or Chicago Cub affiliates in the Carolina, Midwest and Appalachian Leagues.
In 1988, Folga began a lengthy career in the NHL as head medical trainer for the St. Louis Blues. Five years later, he worked as the head medical trainer for the Indianapolis Ice, the Chicago Blackhawks' affiliate of the International Hockey League. Later that year, Folga returned to the NHL as head equipment manager for the New York Rangers. He was among the support staff for the 1994 NHL All-Star Game that season, then culminated the year by watching Mark Messier and the Rangers win the Stanley Cup.
Folga worked for the Rangers until the end of the 1999-2000 campaign, then joined the staff of Team USA in the 2000 Hockey Championships, held in St. Petersburg, Russia.
