University of Vermont Men's Ice Hockey

Wallack boasts 16 years of Division I coaching experience and one season as a head coach in the United States Hockey League. Wallack has helped to craft some of the most prolific offenses in college hockey, while mentoring several standout goalies throughout his coaching career. Two years ago, Wallack helped the Catamounts secure back-to-back 20-win seasons for just the third time during the program's Division I era. Wallack coached the power play to a 20.1-percent success rate to rank 13th in the country. It marked the first Vermont power play unit to eclipse 20-percent in a single season since 2005-06. UVM's man advantage clicked at better than 22-percent in Hockey East play to rank second in the league. In 2013-14, Wallack's recruit Mario Puskarich became the first Vermont freshman to win the Hockey East Rookie of the Year Award. Puskarich was also one of three unanimous selections to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team after tying the NCAA lead with seven game-winning goals. Vermont ranked sixth during Hockey East play in power play percentage, as Wallack helped UVM to a 20-win campaign and a berth in its sixth NCAA Tournament in school history. In 2011-12, Wallack was the head coach of the Indiana Ice in the USHL, leading the team to a 35-16-9 record in the regular season. Prior to his time with Indiana, he spent five years as an assistant coach at Yale and recruited the nation's top scoring offense during his final two years in 2009-10 and 2010-11. The Bulldogs won two ECAC titles in the final three seasons of his tenure, and he recruited several members of Yale's 2013 NCAA national championship squad. Wallack previously served as an assistant at Holy Cross for two seasons and helped the Crusaders register a historic overtime upset of Minnesota at the 2006 NCAA West Regional as part of a 27-win campaign. The West Hartford, Connecticut native also spent three years at Quinnipiac, winning the 2002 MAAC Championship, followed by two seasons at Connecticut before accepting the job at Holy Cross. As a player, Wallack was a four-year starting goaltender at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. He served as the team captain as a senior and earned All-NECHA honors twice during his career. Wallack has mentored several standout goaltenders as a collegiate coach, as goalies from all five of his Division I jobs have gone on to sign NHL entry level or AHL contracts.

Patrick boasts 16 years of Division I coaching experience, including a national championship at Wisconsin, and two seasons as a head coach in the United States Hockey League. Patrick was an assistant under current head coach Kevin Sneddon for four years at Union College. Two years ago, Patrick helped the Catamounts post their second straight 20-win season for the first time since 1997. Vermont remained one of the top defensive teams in the country, ranking ninth nationally with a team goals against average of 2.22. UVM also continued its penalty killing success at a rate of 87.5-percent, which was 10th in the NCAA. As a team, Vermont was the seventh-least penalized team in college hockey and won the Hockey East Charlie Holt Sportsmanship Award for having the least penalty minutes in league play. Patrick had a major influence on senior captain Mike Paliotta, who was named the 22nd NCAA All-American in program history after the season. Paliotta became the first Catamount to win the Bob Monahan Award as the best defenseman in New England and was also recognized as the Best Defensive Defenseman in Hockey East. He also joined Chris McCarthy as one of only two UVM players to earn Hockey East Second Team All-Star honors. Patrick was selected as an assistant coach for the 2015 U.S. Junior National Team that competed in the IIHF World Junior Championships in Montreal and Toronto. Patrick was joined on the U.S. staff by head coach Mark Osiecki and assistant coaches Don Granato and Mike Ayers. He also attended the 2014 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, New York. In 2013-14, Patrick helped restore Vermont's penalty kill to national prominence as it finished tied for eighth in the NCAA at 85.2-percent. The Catamounts' team goals against average of 2.34 was also ranked 11th in the country. UVM won 20 games for the first time in five years and qualified for its sixth NCAA Tournament in school history. Paliotta was named a Hockey East Honorable Mention All-Star after the season. Before coming to Vermont, Patrick spent two years as the head coach of the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL, leading the squad to the playoffs in 2010-11. He previously spent five seasons as an assistant coach for Wisconsin, compiling a total of 113 wins in his tenure. In his first year on the staff in 2005-06, the program won 30 games en route to its sixth NCAA national championship in school history. Patrick and the Badgers made it back to the national title game in 2010.   Prior to his time at Wisconsin, Patrick was an assistant coach at Bowling Green for three years. He oversaw the team's defense and helped the Falcons earn their first winning record in the CCHA in nine years. The Schenectady, New York native also spent four seasons as an assistant at Union from 1998-2002 while Sneddon was the head coach for the Dutchmen.   Patrick was a four-year defenseman at Notre Dame and served as captain of the program during his final two seasons. He also played two years of lacrosse, helping the Fighting Irish qualify for the 1990 NCAA Tournament. After graduating in 1992, Patrick spent one year in professional hockey and was named to the 1993 American Hockey Association All-Star Team with the Green Bay Ice.

Sneddon enters his 14th year as the head coach of the Catamounts for the 2016-17 season and his 24th year in the coaching profession. Last season, Sneddon posted his 200th career victory at UVM and his 250th win as a Division I head coach. Over the last three years, his teams have posted an average of 19 wins. 12 of Sneddon's former players have signed NHL contracts during his tenure, and all 12 have signed in the last decade. He has led the Catamounts to three NCAA Tournament berths in the last eight seasons, including the program's second-ever NCAA Frozen Four berth in 2009. Sneddon's squads have also made three trips to TD Garden in Boston for the Hockey East Championship, including a semifinal appearance in 2015. 2015-16 Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup Champions 2013-14 NCAA Tournament 2013-14 Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup Champions 2012-13 Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup Champions 2009-10 NCAA Tournament 2009-10 Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup Champions 2008-09 Spencer Penrose Division I Coach of the Year Finalist 2008-09 NCAA Tournament 2008-09 NCAA Frozen Four 2008-09 Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup Champions 2007-08 Bob Kullen Hockey East Coach of the Year 2007-08 Spencer Penrose Division I Coach of the Year Finalist 2006-07 Ice Breaker Invitational Champions 2005-06 Nye Frontier Classic Champions 2005-06 Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup Champions Sneddon's team came within a single goal of its second straight trip to TD Garden during the 2015-16 season. After sweeping 8-seed UConn on the road, the Catamounts took Hockey East regular season champion and third-ranked Boston College to overtime in Game 3 of the league quarterfinals at Conte Forum before falling 4-3. UVM faced one of the toughest schedules in the country last season, playing a total of 21 ranked opponents and hosting six different top-5 schools at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Cats also clinched their third Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup title in the last four years and their sixth overall in the 20-year history of the event. Sneddon led the Catamounts to a 22-15-4 record during the 2014-15 season as Vermont posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns for just the third time in its Division I era. UVM registered an upset of ninth-ranked and No. 3 seed Boston College in the Hockey East Quarterfinals and advanced to TD Garden for the first time since 2010. Vermont went 11-6-2 at Gutterson Fieldhouse for its highest home win total since 2005 and had 14 sellout crowds. Senior captain Mike Paliotta was honored as the 22nd NCAA All-American in program history and just the second since 1997. Paliotta became the first Catamount to win the Bob Monahan Award as the best defenseman in New England and was also recognized as the Best Defensive Defenseman in Hockey East. Paliotta joined Chris McCarthy as one of only two UVM players to earn Hockey East Second Team All-Star honors. Paliotta became Sneddon's sixth former player to suit up for an NHL franchise as he made his professional debut with the Chicago Blackhawks and remained with the team throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Goaltender Brody Hoffman agreed to an entry-level contract with the NHL's Minnesota Wild after the season, and Nick Luukko (Lehigh Valley Phantoms) and Colin Markison (Bridgeport Sound Tigers) each signed AHL contracts. In 2013-14, Sneddon and the Catamounts celebrated their 50th anniversary as a program and won 20 games for the first time in five years. UVM qualified for its sixth NCAA Tournament in school history and made the Hockey East playoffs for the eighth time in the last nine seasons. The Catamounts captured the Catamount Cup for the second straight year and the fourth time in six seasons, running their all-time record in the tournament to 16-5-1 under Sneddon. Vermont collected a trio of 2014 Hockey East All-Star honors at the annual awards banquet. Chris McCarthy became Vermont's first-ever Second Team All-Star, Mike Paliotta was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-Star, and Mario Puskarich secured the program's first Rookie of the Year Award as a league member. Puskarich was also one of three unanimous selections to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team after tying the NCAA lead with seven game-winning goals. Four years ago, the Catamounts increased their overall and conference win total by five over the previous campaign and made their seventh playoff appearance in eight years. UVM also captured the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup for the third time in five seasons with wins over No. 12 Union and Princeton. For the second straight season, Sneddon's team placed 14 student-athletes on the Hockey East All-Academic Team, matching its highest number since joining the league in 2005. In 2011-12, Vermont's recruiting played a significant role on a young team as seven of the squad's top nine scorers were underclassmen. Sneddon helped Kyle Reynolds become just the fourth Catamount to earn a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. Reynolds finished the regular season ranked among the top-30 rookie scorers in the nation with 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. Sneddon's 2010 recruit Connor Brickley was selected to the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team and competed at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta, Canada. He became the eighth Catamount to represent Team USA and the first in 20 years. Brickley is the second highest draft choice for the Catamounts in program history behind only U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer John LeClair, who was selected 33rd overall in the 1987 draft by the Montreal Canadiens. In 2009-10, UVM upset Hockey East regular season champion New Hampshire in the league quarterfinals to advance to the TD Garden in Boston for the Hockey East Championships. For the first time in program history, the Catamounts earned a spot in the Hockey East Championships and NCAA Tournament in the same year. UVM also won the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup. Sneddon led the Catamounts to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2008-09 and 2009-10, and took UVM to its second Frozen Four in school history in 2009. The Catamounts attained their highest-ever final ranking in 2008-09, finishing third in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll with a 22-12-5 record. Sneddon was named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award, given annually to the top Division I coach in the country. The 2008-09 and 2009-10 campaigns paved the way for Vermont to post six straight winning seasons for the first time since moving to the Division I level in 1974-75. The Catamounts won five in-season tournaments and compiled 113 victories in that six-year span, an average of nearly 19 wins per season. In 2007-08, Sneddon was named the Bob Kullen Hockey East Coach of the Year and was a finalist for National Coach of the Year after leading the Catamounts to a 17-15-7 record and their first-ever trip to the Hockey East Championship Game in Boston. The Catamounts defeated Northeastern in the quarterfinals before upsetting national power Boston University in the semifinals. Sneddon guided Vermont to a 18-16-5 record and a championship in the prestigious Ice Breaker Invitational in 2006-07. The Catamounts finished second in the country in scoring defense with a 2.00 goals against average and ranked third nationally on the penalty kill at 88.8-percent. In 2005-06, the Catamounts posted a 18-14-6 record in their first year in Hockey East. Vermont established the best start to a season in school history by winning its first seven contests. The Catamounts went on to claim tournament titles in both the Nye Frontier Classic and Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup. During the month of December that season, Vermont was ranked as high as third in the country in both national polls, giving the Catamounts their highest ranking in a decade. Vermont finished third in the nation in goals against average at 2.16 and won the Sportsmanship Award in Hockey East for the least amount of penalty minutes in conference play. In addition, captain Jaime Sifers 06 was one of seven finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, given annually to college hockeys finest citizen. During the 2004-05 season, Sneddon led the Catamounts to their first 20-win season in eight years with a 21-14-4 overall mark, including 13 wins in ECAC play. Vermont was picked to finish 10th in the ECAC Preseason Coaches Poll that year. Instead, the Catamounts finished fourth in the conference and were ranked as high as 10th in USCHO.com/CSTV Poll. Vermont advanced to the ECAC Championships in Albany for the first time since 1996 after defeating Dartmouth in the ECAC Quarterfinals. The Cats were the most improved team in the country, winning 12 more games than they did the previous season. Vermont defeated the No. 1 ranked team in the country for the first time in school history with a 3-2 victory at Minnesota-Duluth in October. A 1992 graduate of Harvard University, Sneddon is just the third coach since 1965 at Vermont. He succeeded Mike Gilligan, who stepped down in April of 2003 after 19 years behind the Catamount bench. The head coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York from 1998 to 2003, Sneddon was associated with the Union men's hockey program since 1993 when he was named an assistant under former head coach Bruce Delventhal. He was named head coach at Union in the summer of 1998, and in 2002-03 Sneddon led the Dutchmen to their first-ever ECAC home-ice playoff series. Union qualified for the ECAC playoffs in three of Sneddon's last four years with the Dutchmen. His career record at Union was 50-99-18 in five seasons. Sneddon's first recruiting class at Vermont produced the ECAC Rookie of the Year in goalie Joe Fallon and an ECAC All-Rookie Team member in forward Torrey Mitchell. Fallon, a sixth round pick in the 2005 NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, finished his career ranked first or second in every major goaltending category at UVM. His 20 career shutouts rank second all-time in NCAA history and his 2.05 career goals against average is 11th best all-time in Division I. Fallon holds a total of 11 career, single-season, and freshman records at Vermont. Fallon signed an NHL contract with Chicago in April of 2008. Mitchell, a San Jose Sharks 2004 NHL draft choice, completed his career with 35 goals and 70 assists for 105 points. He signed an NHL contract with San Jose in March of 2007 and was one of the NHLs top rookies in 2007-08. The Greenfield, Quebec native has played in more than 450 career NHL games and is currently a member of the Montreal Canadiens. In 2008-09, Viktor Stålberg became the fourth Catamount in program history to be named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top college hockey player in the country. Stålberg was also named a First Team NCAA All-American and signed an NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in April of 2009. He was the first UVM player to receive Hockey East First Team All-Star honors and ranked top-15 nationally in scoring with 46 points in his final season. The following year, Brayden Irwin became the sixth Catamount in as many years to sign an NHL contract. Irwin also signed a two-year deal with the Maple Leafs in March of 2010 and spent the 2010-11 season with the AHL's Toronto Marlies. Irwin became the first Catamount to be named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team in 2007. In November of 2013, former captain Kevan Miller made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins, becoming the 15th former Catamount to skate for an NHL team in program history. Two of Sneddon's players from the 2013-14 squad, Connor Brickley (Florida Panthers) and Chris McCarthy (New York Rangers), signed NHL entry-level contracts following the season. The Catamounts participate in several community service events each year. Sneddon and his players have former partnerships with organizations such as Sweethearts & Heroes (anti-bullying organization), The Ashley Lauren Foundation for childhood cancer research, the Ronald McDonald House, the Travis Roy Foundation Wiffle Ball Tournament, the Sled Cats, the UVM Medical Center, and Starr Farm Nursing Home. Sneddon has been very involved at the conference and national level in the sport of hockey. He completed his term on the NCAA Committee in 2015 and was Vice President of Convention Planning for the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) from 2003-06. Proceeds from Vermont's "Midnight Madness" went to Hockey Coaches Care, the official charitable organization of the AHCA. He also is a member of the Executive Board for the Hockey Humanitarian Foundation. In the collegiate ranks, he was a four-year starter at Harvard University where he helped the Crimson win the NCAA Championship in 1989. That season, he was named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team, the NCAA All-Tournament Team, and was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL Draft. During his four years at Harvard, he was the 96th captain of the Harvard men's hockey team and participated in the World Junior Camp and the Albany World Cup. Sneddon suffered two season-ending injuries, and operations on his shoulder and back limited his playing time in each of his last two seasons. Before beginning his coaching career, Sneddon had a brief stint with Kings in the NHL. Back surgery cut short his career and he made the decision to become a coach shortly thereafter. Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Sneddon attended Nelson High School before playing at Harvard. His father, Robert, played professional hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks and the California Golden Seals. He spent much of his career playing in the AHL and IHL minor leagues. Sneddon has a daughter Gabby who is in the fourth grade.