Saint Anselm announced Friday the appointment of Sam Ftorek as the new head coach of the women’s hockey program.
Ftorek becomes the fourth head coach in program history, which dates back to 2004-05. He takes over for Jen Kindret, who was not retained after three seasons with the Hawks.
“It is an honor to be named head coach of the women’s hockey program at Saint Anselm,” said Ftorek in a statement. “I want to thank [vice president for athletics] Daron Montgomery for the opportunity to return to the institution and community that had such an impact on me. It has long been a goal of mine to one day return to the Hilltop and I am thrilled to lead this special group of student-athletes. I look forward to building on the tradition of excellence, that was started by Dave Flint, and help shape the future of Hawks women’s hockey.”
Ftorek brings a wealth of coaching and playing experience to the Hilltop, having most recently served as the head girls hockey coach at the Kent School in Connecticut, leading the program to a Founder’s League championship in the winter of 2024.
Prior to Kent, he spent five seasons at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., as the girls hockey coach and director of residential life.
“We are excited to welcome Sam, Misty, and the rest of the Ftorek family back to the Hilltop,” said Montgomery. “Sam’s passion for Saint Anselm College, combined with his vast playing and coaching experience, uniquely positions him to have an immediate impact on the student-athlete experience. We are confident Coach Ftorek will continue to build on the history of success of our women’s ice hockey program.”
Prior to coaching at the prep level, Ftorek recorded an 18-year professional playing career, playing over 1,000 games in both the United States and Europe. Fifteen of his 18 seasons were spent in the ECHL, where he set the league’s all-time games played record while playing with the Kalamazoo Wings in 2014-15.
In 2015, Ftorek announced his retirement from professional hockey and was named as an assistant coach with the Wings. In 2016, after one season as an assistant coach in Kalamazoo, he was named the first head coach of the SPHL’s Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, amassing a 22-41-11 overall record in 74 games on the bench.
In his last two years coaching professionally, his team led the league in the number of players promoted to the next level and games played at the next level by those players.
When Ftorek retired, he was tied for seventh in ECHL history with 367 career assists, 15th with 556 career points and 30th with 189 career goals. He earned a spot on the all-ECHL first team and was runner-up for the league’s defenseman of the year award in 2013-14, when he posted 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists) in 70 games with the Wings.
In December 2017, following his election into the ECHL Hall of Fame, Ftorek returned to the ice for the Norfolk Admirals under the direction of his father Robbie, playing 22 games and amassing 19 points before calling it a career at the end of the ’17-’18 season.
Ftorek, the son of former NHLer and Boston Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek, was a four-year letter winner with the Saint Anselm men’s hockey program from 1994 to 1998. He was also a three-year golf and a two-year lacrosse letter winner while on the Hilltop.
Across a four-year career at Saint Anselm, Ftorek fired home 20 goals and added 37 assists for 57 career points in 87 games. From his defensive position, he posted 25 points in both his junior and senior seasons, firing over 100 shots in each campaign. He picked up ECAC Division II second team all-league honors during a senior season where he notched nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points.
Ftorek was a key cog in the success of the 1996-97 men’s hockey team on the Hilltop, helping the Hawks to an impressive 13-2-0 record to begin the year. The Hawks finished the year participating in the ECAC Division II tournament for the first time in four seasons. Ftorek concluded his career with an Eastern College Division senior all-star game appearance in 1998.
Born in Phoenix, Ariz., but longtime summer resident of Wolfeboro, N.H., Ftorek and his wife Misty have three children, Ariana, Savo, and Mason.
