NEXT LEVEL HOCKEY DEVELOPMENT
BUILDING A FOUNDATION OF SKILLS, CONSISTENCY & CONFIDENCE
OUR STAFF
ERIC LANG
Coach Lang's Yellow Jackets have been back to back to back AHC regular season champions. With their 2018-2019 Atlantic Hockey Championship, they moved on to the NCAA National Championship and upset the #1 seed, St Cloud State - a feat that had never been accomplished in NCAA history.
Coach Lang has twice been Atlantic Hockey's Coach of the Year – and was a finalist for the AHCA Men’s Ice Hockey Spencer Penrose Award (Div I Coach of the Year) in 2019.
Coach Lang has been working with college athletes for over 10 years; and before he became the current head coach of his alma mater, Division I AIC, he was head coach of the men's and women's teams at Manhattanville and assistant coach at West Point.
Eric lives in Avon, CT with his wife Christine and their 4 kids (all hockey players)
JIM WALSH
Coach Walsh grew up in the Boston area and played high school at The Pingree School in South Hamilton, MA before playing as a four-year starter at Div II St. Michael's College (VT). During his first year in VT, Jim’s team won the NCAA Div II Hockey National Championship.
Jim served as team captain his senior year – and finished his time at St Michael’s with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance before earning a master’s degree in business administration from Clarkson University (NY).
Jim now lives in Avon, CT with his wife, Shelly, and their 3 kids - and spends spare time coaching in the Avon Youth Hockey and Northern Lights Girls Hockey programs.
BRENT HILL - QUINNIPIAC
Coach Hill is in his first season as Assistant Coach of the Quinnipiac Women's team and brings over 10 years of coaching at the collegiate level. In 2015, he was the defense and penalty kill coach for the U18 Women's National team that defeated Canada in the Championship game of the IIHF World Juniors in Buffalo. Brent has coached at Merrimack College (MA) and RPI (NY), and most recently, Brent was the program director and head coach of the U16 and U19 teams at Selects Academy in Rochester NY. In his time at Selects, he posted a record of 173-51.
Brent graduated from St. Michaels College in Colchester, VT (2004), where, as a senior, he was awarded the Saint Michael's College Victor Lemieux Award for his loyalty and leadership within the athletic program. When he's not on the ice, he enjoys spending time with family in Vermont.
CORY SCHNEIDER - AIC
Cory is in his second season as assistant coach at Division I AIC - and brings years of coaching experience, having previously served as the assistant coach at UMASS Boston and Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Prior to his coaching career, Cory played four years of DI Hockey at Ohio State University and then followed with time as a professional with the Fort Wayne Comets and Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL, and the Fort Worth Brahmas of the CHL.
MATT WOODARD - AIC
Matt brings a wealth of hockey knowledge and experience that fuel his passion for developing young players. With over 8 years of NCAA coaching experience, Coach Woodard has spent time at Manhattanville (NY), RIT (NY), Yale (CT) Div I Women’s team at Dartmouth (NH), and now serves as an Assistant Coach at DI AIC (MA).
Prior to coaching, Matt played for Wayne Komets and the Bloomington PrarieThunder. During his college years, Matt was a 4-year starter at Div I AIC (MA) and 4-time All-Academic honoree. Matt has degrees in criminal justice, psychology, and a masters in sports business management.
JOE GIORDANO - CONN COLLEGE
Coach Giordano grew up playing hockey in CT, spending early days with the Springfield Pics, then moving on to Loomis Chaffee – and finishing his playing career at Connecticut College, where he currently serves as the assistant coach. Joe’s responsibilities include recruiting, hockey operations, as well as team strength and conditioning – on and off the ice.
During his time at Conn College, Joe had the honor of being team captain and earned a spot on the NESCAC All-Academic Team. His passion for the game comes with a disciplined approach to skill development that helps build college, and youth, athletes develop the skills to get to the next level.