The St. George's boys hockey team has a new voice at the helm. The seaside prep school in Middletown, R.I., has hired Allie Skelley as its next head coach. Skelley leaves Portsmouth Abbey, where he was bench boss from the 2016-17 season through this past winter. After going 10-74-4 from 2016-21 at Portsmouth Abbey, Skelley...
The St. George's boys hockey team has a new voice at the helm.
The seaside prep school in Middletown, R.I., has hired Allie Skelley as its next head coach. Skelley leaves Portsmouth Abbey, where he was bench boss from the 2016-17 season through this past winter.
After going 10-74-4 from 2016-21 at Portsmouth Abbey, Skelley delivered the Ravens their first winning season since 2007 in 2021-22 when they went 17-9-3, earning the No. 8 seed in the Piatelli/Simmons Small School Tournament.
He followed that up with a solid 2022-23 campaign, leading Portsmouth Abbey to a 13-11-3 record.
Skelley, a native of Wolfeboro, N.H., was a defenseman for St. Lawrence from 1999-2003, posting two goals and 12 points over 76 games. Before arriving at Portsmouth Abbey, he'd been at Holderness since the 2004-05 season. From 2010-11 through 2014-15, he was head coach. He went to Portsmouth Abbey in 2015-16, but didn't become head coach until 2016-17.
St. George's provides Skelley with a whole bunch of new challenges. Earning winning seasons will not be the goal — it will be the expectation. St. George's went 15-13-0 this past season but struggled midway through and missed a tournament birth.
Under former head coach Jeff Dwyer (New Canaan, Conn.), who left for an administrative role at another prep school, the Dragons worked their way into being one of the better prep hockey schools. When Dwyer took over prior to the 2013-14 season, St. George's went 4-18-1 and didn't experience a winning season until 2015-16 when it went 16-11-0.
In total, Dwyer went 100-125-9 over 10 seasons at St. George's.
