Sacred Heart head coach C.J. Marottolo has hired Steve Bergin to be an assistant coach for the Pioneers. Bergin, from Groton, Mass., was the ECHL Coach of the Year in 2019-20, his first season as a head coach with the South Carolina Stingrays. He had spent the previous three seasons as an assistant with the...
Sacred Heart head coach C.J. Marottolo has hired Steve Bergin to be an assistant coach for the Pioneers.
Bergin, from Groton, Mass., was the ECHL Coach of the Year in 2019-20, his first season as a head coach with the South Carolina Stingrays. He had spent the previous three seasons as an assistant with the minor league franchise.
Bergin, 32, played college hockey at the University of Connecticut from 2007 through 2011. A defenseman in his playing days, he scored six goals and 16 assists in his four-year career with the Huskies. Following graduation, he spent five seasons playing minor league hockey, mostly with the Pensacola Ice Flyers in the SPHL.
Bergin replaces Paul Kirtland, who left Sacred Heart to take the same position at Yale. Marottolo and the Pioneers are coming off their best season in school history. SHU went 21-10-3, including big non-conference wins over Boston University, Yale and Quinnipiac.
With Bergin’s hiring, the only vacant assistant position among Division 1 schools in New England is at American International.
“Steve Bergin has been a tremendous asset to our organization over the last four years, and although we are very disappointed that he won’t be leading the Stingrays from behind the bench during the upcoming 2020-21 season, we understand and appreciate that he has decided to take on a different type of challenge that he believes is best for him and his family,” Stingrays principal owner Todd Halloran said in a statement. “I certainly wish him the best of luck.”
Other possibilities for Union
I mentioned some possible candidates to replace Jason Tapp at Union in a story last week. Wilkes head coach Tyler Hynes, Albertus Magnus head coach Kyle Wallack, former Dartmouth assistant coach John Rose, Indy Fuel head coach Doug Christiansen and Trine University head coach Alex Todd were candidates I mentioned.
A source pointed out to me that Union head coach Rick Bennett could look for a goaltending guru to fill the void left by Tapp, who played that position at Boston University. One available coach who would fit that description are longtime Division 1 assistant David Lassonde, who was recently let go at Dartmouth. Like Bennett, Lassonde is a Providence College alum. The other possibility is Alaska-Fairbanks assistant coach and former Colorado College goaltender Joe Howe.
