USCHO Staff
The 2025 PWHL Draft was held June 24 in Ottawa, Ont., at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The draft consisted of six rounds and allowed all eight teams to select eligible women’s hockey players from a pool of talent that includes recent collegiate graduates and/or players from other professional leagues. Of the 48 players … Read more
Maine’s men’s hockey team has added John O’Connor to the staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2025-26 season. O’Connor comes to Orono after spending the last seven years as the director of player personnel at Mount Saint Charles Hockey Academy in Rhode Island. During O’Connor’s time at Mount Saint Charles, the Mount won … Read more
Incoming Long Island men’s hockey coach Brendan Riley has introduced his coaching staff for the 2025-26 season. Mikhail Bryan (assistant coach), CJ Kusch (assistant coach), and Caleb Johnson (director of hockey operations) will join Riley for his first season leading the Sharks. Bryan comes to Long Island after three successful seasons as an assistant coach … Read more
St. Cloud State women’s hockey head coach Brian Idalski has been named the first-ever head coach of PWHL Vancouver. “We are excited for Brian and his future in the PWHL,” said St. Cloud State director of athletics Holly Schreiner in a news release. “It is always great to have Husky connections at that level. We … Read more
After five seasons as the head coach of the St. Olaf College men’s hockey program, Eddie Effinger has stepped down to accept the head coaching position at Amherst, his alma mater. Former Oles assistant coach Tyler Lindstrom has been elevated to head coach. Lindstrom, who has been Effinger’s top assistant coach for the last three … Read more
Dubuque has announced Erin Connolly as the new women’s hockey coach for the Spartans. Connolly becomes the university’s second coach in the school’s history. Most recently, she spent five seasons as an assistant coach for the nationally-ranked UW-Eau Claire women’s hockey team (overall 87-26-2, 36-9-1 in conference play). She served the team as its goalie … Read more
Adrian has announced the hiring of Carter Clarke as the Bulldogs’ new assistant coach for the men’s hockey team. Clarke returns to Adrian after spending last season as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Stout. “I’m thrilled to welcome Carter back to our program,” Adrian head coach Adam Phillips said in a statement. “He brings a sharp … Read more
The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders have announced that Chuck Weber, a two-time Kelly Cup champion and former ECHL coach of the year, has been named head coach and general manager of the Heartlanders. Weber joins the Heartlanders after spending the last seven seasons as an assistant coach at Rensselaer. “My family and I are excited to … Read more
After earning his undergraduate degree at St. Cloud State with plans for a doctorate in dentistry, SCSU defenseman Josh Luedtke has been selected the 2025 recipient of the NCHC’s annual postgraduate scholarship. Luedtke is only the second Husky to receive the scholarship, with both coming in the last three years (Aidan Spellacy in 2023). Luedtke … Read more
Providence has announced that Jace LeClair has joined the women’s hockey staff as the director of hockey operations. LeClair graduated from Endicott in May 2025 with a degree in sport management. He brings experience at the collegiate level, having worked most recently as a hockey operations assistant with the Northeastern women’s hockey team during the … Read more
Norwich has announced the hiring of Shavonne Leacy as an assistant coach for the women’s hockey team. “Being able to welcome Shavonne to our program is an absolute slam dunk for both our players and staff,” Norwich head coach Justin Simpson said in a statement. “Shavonne has shown she is a program builder, relentless recruiter, … Read more
Michigan State has announced that head hockey coach Adam Nightingale has signed a multi-year contract extension. Entering his fourth season at the helm in 2025-26, Nightingale has guided Michigan State hockey to back-to-back Big Ten regular-season and conference tournament titles and a 69-35-9 overall record. His .650 career winning percentage ranks second in program history … Read more
Clarkson has announced the addition of Corey Leivermann to the men’s hockey coaching staff as an assistant coach. Leivermann is bringing with him a wealth of experience across the NCAA, USHL and NAHL ranks. He will be involved in all aspects of the program, including player development, video analysis, recruiting coordination, and day-to-day operations. Leivermann … Read more
American International has hired Patrick Tabb as the ninth head coach in program history. Tabb takes over for Eric Lang, who took the head coaching job at Rensselaer after AIC announced it was moving down to Division II starting with the 2025-26 season. “We’re thrilled to welcome Pat Tabb as the new head men’s ice … Read more
Bowling Green has announced the hiring of Matt Nicholson and Jacob Pritchard as assistant coaches for the Falcons hockey team. Nicholson, a seasoned bench boss with nearly two decades of coaching experience, comes to Bowling Green after multiple stints in Atlantic Hockey with Robert Morris, Niagara, and Mercyhurst. Most recently, he served as the associate … Read more
Renderings of the future home of the Western Michigan men’s and women’s basketball programs and the WMU hockey program, the Athletics Performance Center and Kalamazoo Events Center, were unveiled June 5 at the State of Economic Development conference at the Radisson Hotel in Kalamazoo, Mich. “An opportunity like this, to offer our student-athletes a facility … Read more
The 59th annual Great Lakes Invitational will take place on Dec. 28-29, 2025 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. Michigan Tech, Michigan State, Ferris State, and Miami will compete for the MacInnes Cup. Michigan Tech and Miami will meet in the first semifinal on Sunday (Dec. 28) at 3:30 p.m. followed by Michigan … Read more
Lindenwood announced Monday the hiring of Keith Fisher as the next head coach of the men’s hockey team. Fisher, who takes over for Bill Muckalt, arrives in St. Charles, Mo., after spending 13 seasons on the staff at Penn State, including the last seven as the associate head coach of the Nittany Lions. Overall, Fisher … Read more
Western New England has named Matt Smith as the next head coach of the Golden Bears men’s hockey team. Smith joins WNE as the seventh head coach in program history and takes over for Mike Young, who stepped down earlier this offseason. “I am thrilled to announce Matt Smith as the new head coach of … Read more
The second annual Cactus Cup will return Jan. 2-3, 2026 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif. Next year’s event will feature UMass Lowell, Minnesota State, Yale and St. Cloud State. Friday’s first matchup begins at 3:30 p.m. PDT with game two starting at 7 p.m. The action continues Saturday with the consolation game beginning … Read more