Brennen McHugh was named the assistant hockey coach prior to the 2022-23 season.
McHugh comes to Saratoga Springs with over a decade of coaching experience at various levels, including six years with NCAA Division I programs. McHugh began his coaching career as a video coach at St. Lawrence University for three years from 2012-15. He then spent the 2015-16 season as the director of hockey operations at Cornell University before assuming the same position at the University of Massachusetts for two years.
At UMass, McHugh managed team travel and meals, scheduled practices, and maintained internal communications while assisting with budgets, personnel management, and compliance. During his time at UMass, the program laid the groundwork for sustained success, which has resulted appearances in two NCAA National Championship games, and a national title in 2021. In his second year in Amherst, he assisted in the development of then-freshman Cale Makar, who has since won the NCAA Top Collegiate Player (Hobey Baker Award), NHL Rookie of the Year (Calder Trophy), NHL Best Defenseman (Norris Trophy), NHL Stanley Cup MVP (Conn Smythe Trophy), and the 2021-22 Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.
"I am very excited to have Brennen join the staff here at Skidmore," said head coach
Rob Hutchison. "He brings an impressive hockey background and wealth of coaching knowledge to the program from his previous NCAA stops at St. Lawrence, Cornell, and UMass.
"Brennan will play a major role in nearly all capacities of the program including recruiting, practice planning, skills development, video, and in-game management. I look forward to seeing him build relationships with the players, alums, and friends of the program and continue to help move this program forward."
McHugh graduated from Campbell University in North Carolina with a degree in business administration. Most recently, he was the associate hockey coach for the Selects Academy at South Kent School in Western Connecticut. Previously, he was the head coach for the New York City Cyclones 16U team.
Skidmore went 16-10-2 last season with a pair of road playoff victories on the way to finishing as the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) runner-up.
