USA Hockey announced the four assistant coaches for the U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2021 World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, this December and January. The four assistant coaches will be led by Providence College bench boss Nate Leaman, who was named head coach for the Americans back...
USA Hockey announced the four assistant coaches for the U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2021 World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, this December and January.
The four assistant coaches will be led by Providence College bench boss Nate Leaman, who was named head coach for the Americans back in March. Joining Leaman will be Harvard head coach Ted Donato, Ohio State associate head coach Steve Miller, Michigan assistant coach Kris Mayotte and Providence director of hockey operations Theresa Feaster.
In addition to Feaster, who currently works for the Friars, Miller and Mayotte are former Providence assistants under Leaman. While there is no obvious connection with Donato, he became head coach at Harvard just two seasons after Leaman left the Crimson to become the head coach at Union.
Donato is no stranger to competing on the international stage. He played in the 1988 World Junior Championship, scoring three goals and two assists in seven games. Then, in 1992, he had four goals and three assists while representing the U.S. at the Olympic Games in Albertville, France.
In addition, he’s watched his son Ryan Donato wear the red, white and blue at the 2015 World Junior Championships and the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Donato has been head coach at Harvard since 2004. While playing for the Crimson from 1987 to 1991, he was a part of the 1989 NCAA championship team.
Miller has been an assistant coach in college hockey since 1988, including stops at his alma mater, St. Mary’s, Miami, Denver, Providence, Air Force and Ohio State. He was on the Providence staff for one year, but it was in 2014-15 when the Friars won the NCAA championship. He’s been an assistant for the Buckeyes for the past three seasons.
Mayotte also was part of the Providence coaching staff in 2014-15. He spent four more seasons with the Friars after that one before joining the staff at Michigan prior to the 2019-20 campaign. The former Union goaltender was previously a volunteer assistant at Cornell and an assistant for two seasons at St. Lawrence.
Feaster, a 2014 Providence grad, worked for the Friars as a student and has been on the staff since graduating. She will be the first woman to serve on a coaching staff for the Americans at the World Junior Championships.
