This story is part of our September 2018 magazine – a speciality edition chronicling the top 40 people under 40 who are reinventing themselves in hockey.
Matt Greason
Head coach | Trinity College
The son of a former Bridgton Academy coach and AHL linesman, Matt Greason has spent nearly his entire life around the game of hockey. The North Bridgton, Maine, native played his college hockey at Trinity College from 1998 to 2002 and has since returned to his alma mater as head coach of the men’s hockey team during the most prolific era in the program’s history.
Greason led Trinity to the college’s first and only NCAA winter-sport national title in 2015, when the Bantams claimed the NCAA Division 3 title. They also returned to the NCAA title game in 2017.
Greason’s Trinity teams have gone 131-47-12 in his seven seasons as head coach. After leading the Bantams to a 6-10-2 record in his first season in 2011-12, Greason has never coached a Trinity team to fewer than 19 wins in a season.
“When the Trinity job became available, everything became crystal clear that I wanted to take the program to national prominence,” Greason said. “That was the dream when I got the job. We’ve become a national program.”
Greason, who graduated from North Yarmouth Academy (Maine) in 1997, has set himself up for a high-profile coaching position in NCAA Division 1 or even the NHL — if he chooses to go that route. He also has experience coaching with the United States National Team Development Program prior to his return to Trinity.
However, with a wife, Mary, and two sons under the age of 4 — Patrick and Connor — Greason is not currently looking for a locale where the grass is greener.
“The biggest thing right now is my family is incredibly happy, and we get to do a lot of great stuff in the offseason,” Greason said. “I love it here at Trinity, and for me to leave, it would have to be for something ultra-special.” — Dan Guttenplan
Greg Moore
Head coach | Chicago Steel
Lisbon, Maine, native Greg Moore was elevated to head coach of the USHL’s Chicago Steel in June after three seasons as an assistant with USA Hockey’s NTDP.
An All-American at the University of Maine, he competed in two Frozen Fours, including the 2004 national title game, and was a top-10 finalist for the Hobey. Moore played for nine years of pro hockey then ventured into the coaching ranks, helping lead Team USA to its best USHL season in program history in 2017-18 and U-18 gold in 2017.
Joe Lovell
Head coach | Northeast Generals
The Norwood, Mass., native played four seasons at Bentley University from 2000-04. He’s worked with his brother, Tim Lovell, as the duo have built up the Boston Advantage youth program.
He’s now entering his second season as head coach of the North American Hockey League’s Northeast Generals. His coaching philosophy was largely credited for the team’s turnaround during the 2017-18 campaign.
Nik Tasiopoulos
Director, coach | Militia Hockey
Norwell, Mass., native and former Babson College forward Nik Tasiopoulos has grown Militia Hockey into a formidable elite AAA youth and Midget hockey program, boasting numerous NCAA Division 1 commits and pro draftees. Tasiopoulos has spent time scouting with the U.S. NTDP and with Newport Sports, one of the largest NHL agencies in the country.
He’s helped put on charity games such as the Lt. Derek Hines Fund and the Hold the Line Charity Hockey Game in honor of Weymouth Sgt. Michael C. Chesna, featuring veterans, law enforcement and NHL players for a community cause.
Jared DeMichiel
Asst. coach | UMass-Amherst
DeMichiel played prep hockey in his hometown at Avon Old Farms before going on to play college hockey at Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2010, he guided the Tigers to their first and only appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four.
After two seasons of minor pro hockey, he jumped into coaching. He spent two seasons each at Nazareth and St. Lawrence before finding his way to Amherst. This will be his third season as an assistant for the Minutemen.
Jeff Giuliano
Asst. coach | U. New Hampshire
Despite changing jobs this offseason, the Nashua, N.H., native is staying in his home state to join new University of New Hampshire head coach Mike Souza’s staff as an assistant coach.
After four years at Boston College, Giuliano enjoyed a 13-year pro career that included 101 games with the Los Angeles Kings and 273 with the American Hockey League’s Manchester Monarchs. The New Hampshire Legends of Hockey Hall of Famer spent the past three years as an assistant coach for the Monarchs, now in the ECHL.
Robbie Barker
Head coach | Lawrence Academy
A Concord, N.H., native and former University of New Hampshire defenseman, Barker has spent the past handful of years building a winning program at his high school alma mater, Lawrence Academy.
His teams are coming off back-to-back NEPSAC playoff berths and a championship in the Piatelli/Simmons bracket last season. Prior to returning to Lawrence, Barker helped coach the football, hockey and baseball teams while working at Cardigan Mountain School.
Zech Klann
Head coach | Salve Regina
The 2017-18 season was a hockey fairy tale for Zech Klann and Salve Regina. Klann took the helm of the Seahawks in mid-summer and led them to the NCAA Div. 3 championship game. His club outshot champion St. Norbert College 14-9 in the first overtime before the Seahawks’ carriage turned into a pumpkin at midnight, a gallant runner-up in double OT.
“It feels like this year is a flash in the pan,” said Klann postgame, “all of a sudden, playing for the national championship.” He shook his head, his words trailing off.
Klann is a local guy from Jamestown, R.I., making his story all the more remarkable. A hockey lifer looking for a coaching gig, Klann learned that his ship might have come in, just over the Newport Bridge, when the Salve job went vacant.
“Through the grapevine, I heard it was opening up, so I walked into the athletic director’s office.” “One afternoon this young man handed me his résumé,” said Salve AD Jody Mooradian. “It wasn’t just a job someone was applying for out of the paper — his wife went to Salve. To me that meant this was real.”
The fact that Klann was a former Salve stickboy only helped his cause. “It was icing on the cake,” said Mooradian.
Previous coach Andy Boschetto (Watertown, Mass.) had transformed Salve into a legitimate threat in the ECAC Northeast, and Klann was eager to build on that success. Klann showed remarkable poise for a first-year coach, creating a player-centric vibe at Salve from preseason until the NCAA title game. He acquired valuable wisdom from his father, Dave.
“My biggest mentor was my dad, teaching at St. George’s,” said Klann. “He had a niche for getting the best out of the kids. You have to make it fun so they want to come to the rink, relate to them on a level they understand.”
The Klann family mantra translates to success, in Rhode Island and beyond. — Tim Rappleye
Ryan Warsofsky
Assistant coach | Charlotte Checkers
The Marshfield, Mass., native is just 30 years old and already has climbed through the ECHL to the American Hockey League, as he will serve as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19.
Warsofsky spent the past two seasons guiding the South Carolina Stingrays, becoming the second-youngest head coach in ECHL history to reach the Kelly Cup finals. Prior to his 88-win tenure as head coach, the former Sacred Heart and Curry defenseman spent three years as an assistant coach on the South Carolina bench.
Doug Janik
Assistant coach | Springfield Thunderbirds
Janik returned to Massachusetts as an assistant coach for the Springfield Falcons (now Thunderbirds) of the American Hockey League after playing in more than 800 professional games.
Janik’s move to coaching — after playing the 2014-15 season in Italy — represented a return home for Janik, as he grew up in Agawam and played youth hockey for the New England Junior Whalers. He won the 1999 national championship at the University of Maine before the Buffalo Sabres drafted him in the second round that same year.
Mike Ayers
Assistant coach | Boston College
The Hingham, Mass., native was a star goaltender for the University of New Hampshire from 2000-04, helping the Wildcats to two Hockey East championships and two appearances in the NCAA Frozen Four.
After graduation, Ayers played four seasons of minor pro hockey. Now, he’s entering his sixth season as an assistant coach to Jerry York at BC. In addition, he’s served as a coach for USA Hockey at international competitions.
Brian Robinson
Goalie coach | Harvard University
Robinson has experience coaching goaltenders at all levels. The Pentucket Regional High School and Worcester State graduate has worked as managing director and video coordinator for Stop It Goaltending since 2007, while Massachusetts Hockey appointed him as its Player Development Goaltending Coordinator last year.
He is set to begin his third season as the volunteer assistant coach at Harvard and also worked with Bentley’s netminders, among other previous roles.
Carl Corazzini
Head coach | St. Mark's
Like many involved in New England hockey circles, Carl Corazzini hasn’t had to travel to complete his journey in the sport to date.
The Framingham, Mass., native attended St. Sebastian’s School and Boston University before embarking on a professional career that included at least parts of four seasons in the Boston Bruins organization, including 12 National Hockey League games in 2003-04. All told, his pro playing days spanned more than 500 games and finished in Germany. These days, Corazzini is coaching hockey at St. Mark’s School, an Interscholastic School League program located just a stone’s throw from his hometown in Southboro.
The former BU captain and All-American wasted no time achieving success with the team he took over when U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Young (Clinton, Mass.) departed for a spot on BU’s staff, guiding the Lions to back-to-back NEPSAC small-school titles in his first two seasons behind the bench in 2015 and 2016. Prior, St. Mark’s had not earned that title even once since 1992.
Corazzini, who guided St. Mark’s to 14 wins and a return to the NEPSAC playoffs in 2017-18, is also the head strength and conditioning coach at Total Athletic Performance in Acton and a certified personal trainer. He coached at Weston High School and the 495 Stars prior to taking over the St. Mark’s program. — Joshua Kummins
Brian Eklund
Goalie coach | Boston University; owner, Mass Crease
From Braintree, Mass., Eklund played high school hockey for Archbishop Williams before a stellar career as a goaltender for Brown University from 1998-2002. He went on to play professionally for four seasons, including a brief cup of coffee with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He’s now the volunteer goaltending coach at Boston University in addition to tutoring young goaltenders at Mass Crease, the company he founded and owns.
Mike Donoghue
Strength and conditioning coach | Springfield Thunderbirds
Springfield Thunderbirds Donoghue has put together a vast résumé in hockey training since graduating from Springfield College in 2013 and currently serves as strength and conditioning coach for the American Hockey League’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
He has trained athletes from all levels through his work with Athletic Performance Training in Falmouth, Mass., and spoken at numerous coaches clinics while serving as the associate coach in chief for USA Hockey’s Massachusetts District.
Mike Busconi
Assistant coach | Lawrence Academy; NHL Central Scouting
The Watertown, Mass., native played college hockey at Westfield State and Southern New Hampshire before diving into the hockey industry as a coach, and now as a scout with NHL Central Scouting.
In addition to his duties as chief recruiter for Robbie Barker’s Spartans, Busconi is involved with the Boston Junior Blues and the Neponset Valley River Rats, two youth programs.
Jon Lounsbury
Lead instructor | RB Hockey
The Winthrop, Mass., native is lead instructor at RB Hockey School as well as the general manager of the Walpole Express junior and Midget programs. Lounsbury, who also serves as the Eastern Hockey League junior team’s head coach, has sent nearly 100 players from the Express to NCAA levels as well as worked with many other local collegians and pros.
He played at Bridgton Academy and the University of Southern Maine before a six-year professional career.
