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University of Massachusets Athletics
Hockey Head Coach Greg Carvel’s Contract Extended Through 2024
October 09, 2019 | Hockey
The Minutemen enjoyed unprecedented success under Carvel in 2018-19 with a program-record 31 wins and an appearance in the National Championship game.
AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts ice hockey head coach Greg Carvel contract has been extended through the 2023-24 season, while associate head coaches Ben Barr and Jared DeMichiel are also receiving one-year contract extensions, though the 2020-21 season, Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford announced on Wednesday.
"One of the strategic goals we have for our athletics department is to hire and retain great coaches and staff," said Bamford. "We believe that Greg, Ben and Jared are the best staff in college hockey and we have a strong desire to keep them at UMass for the foreseeable future. In partnership, they have built a first-class program that has grabbed national attention on the ice, doing it with student-athletes that achieve at a high level in the classroom and commit to service in our community. We will continue to invest our energy and resources in keeping Massachusetts hockey regionally dominant and nationally prominent."
"I am extremely grateful that Ryan Bamford and Chancellor Subaswammy continue to support the vision of UMass Hockey," said Carvel. "I am excited to continue building upon the success of the past two years. I want to thank my incredible staff, particularly my assistant coaches, Ben Barr and Jared DeMichiel, for the outstanding job they all do for our hockey program. I also want to thank our players, who have made the sacrifices and have built a culture which has proven to be invaluable to our success. All of us, together, have shown that UMass hockey has the potential of being a National Champion. Our focus and our challenge now is to continue raising our standards and elevating every part of our hockey program. Being a college hockey coach is extremely rewarding and I feel very fortunate to work with our high-character kids on a daily basis. I hope to be at UMass for a long time and am very happy to sign an extension to continue serving as head coach."
Under Carvel's guidance, UMass enjoyed unprecedented success in 2018-19 with the team breaking program records for wins overall (31) and in conference play while finishing as the 2019 National Runner-Up after reaching the National Championship game. The Minutemen went 18-6-0 in Hockey East play and captured the school's first Hockey East Regular Season Championship. Carvel was the recipient of the 2019 Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the year as well as being named both the 2019 Clark Hodder Award winner (New England Coach of the Year) and the 2018-19 Hockey East Bob Kullen Coach of the Year.
Carvel's Minutemen also eclipsed previous school records for home and road victories and posted the longest win streak in program history in 2018-19. Taking a team that won just five games two seasons prior, Carvel led UMass to its first-ever No. 1 rankings in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
UMass finished in the top-10 nationally in virtually every statistical category in 2018-19, including first in combined special teams (57.9) and power play percentage (28.5), third in scoring margin (1.66), third in scoring offense (3.68), fifth in penalty kill (86.9) and seventh in scoring defense (2.02). The Minutemen posted their highest goals total in the program's Hockey East era (151) and set a program record for power play goals (43).
On Carvel's watch, Minutemen garnered a host of individual accolades in 2018-19, highlighted by Cale Makar being chosen as the 2019 Hobey Baker Award winner. Makar and Mitchell Chaffee were both tabbed first team All-Americans, while Makar was named UMass' first-ever Hockey East Player of the Year and Chaffee earned the title of Hockey East Scoring Champion. Chaffee received the Herb Gallagher Award as New England's best forward. Chaffee, Makar and senior forward Jacob Pritchard were all tabbed New England All-Stars, while Makar picked up both the Bob Monahan Award as New England's best defenseman and the Leonard Fowle Award as New England player of the year. College Hockey News selected Makar as its CHN Player of the year and to its All-CHN First team, while naming Marc Del Gaizo to its CHN All-Rookie Team. Additionally, the Minutemen collected a school-record six Hockey East All-Star accolades.
For continued coverage of UMass hockey, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@UMassHockey) and on Facebook at facebook.com/UMassHockey.
"One of the strategic goals we have for our athletics department is to hire and retain great coaches and staff," said Bamford. "We believe that Greg, Ben and Jared are the best staff in college hockey and we have a strong desire to keep them at UMass for the foreseeable future. In partnership, they have built a first-class program that has grabbed national attention on the ice, doing it with student-athletes that achieve at a high level in the classroom and commit to service in our community. We will continue to invest our energy and resources in keeping Massachusetts hockey regionally dominant and nationally prominent."
"I am extremely grateful that Ryan Bamford and Chancellor Subaswammy continue to support the vision of UMass Hockey," said Carvel. "I am excited to continue building upon the success of the past two years. I want to thank my incredible staff, particularly my assistant coaches, Ben Barr and Jared DeMichiel, for the outstanding job they all do for our hockey program. I also want to thank our players, who have made the sacrifices and have built a culture which has proven to be invaluable to our success. All of us, together, have shown that UMass hockey has the potential of being a National Champion. Our focus and our challenge now is to continue raising our standards and elevating every part of our hockey program. Being a college hockey coach is extremely rewarding and I feel very fortunate to work with our high-character kids on a daily basis. I hope to be at UMass for a long time and am very happy to sign an extension to continue serving as head coach."
Under Carvel's guidance, UMass enjoyed unprecedented success in 2018-19 with the team breaking program records for wins overall (31) and in conference play while finishing as the 2019 National Runner-Up after reaching the National Championship game. The Minutemen went 18-6-0 in Hockey East play and captured the school's first Hockey East Regular Season Championship. Carvel was the recipient of the 2019 Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the year as well as being named both the 2019 Clark Hodder Award winner (New England Coach of the Year) and the 2018-19 Hockey East Bob Kullen Coach of the Year.
Carvel's Minutemen also eclipsed previous school records for home and road victories and posted the longest win streak in program history in 2018-19. Taking a team that won just five games two seasons prior, Carvel led UMass to its first-ever No. 1 rankings in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
UMass finished in the top-10 nationally in virtually every statistical category in 2018-19, including first in combined special teams (57.9) and power play percentage (28.5), third in scoring margin (1.66), third in scoring offense (3.68), fifth in penalty kill (86.9) and seventh in scoring defense (2.02). The Minutemen posted their highest goals total in the program's Hockey East era (151) and set a program record for power play goals (43).
On Carvel's watch, Minutemen garnered a host of individual accolades in 2018-19, highlighted by Cale Makar being chosen as the 2019 Hobey Baker Award winner. Makar and Mitchell Chaffee were both tabbed first team All-Americans, while Makar was named UMass' first-ever Hockey East Player of the Year and Chaffee earned the title of Hockey East Scoring Champion. Chaffee received the Herb Gallagher Award as New England's best forward. Chaffee, Makar and senior forward Jacob Pritchard were all tabbed New England All-Stars, while Makar picked up both the Bob Monahan Award as New England's best defenseman and the Leonard Fowle Award as New England player of the year. College Hockey News selected Makar as its CHN Player of the year and to its All-CHN First team, while naming Marc Del Gaizo to its CHN All-Rookie Team. Additionally, the Minutemen collected a school-record six Hockey East All-Star accolades.
For continued coverage of UMass hockey, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@UMassHockey) and on Facebook at facebook.com/UMassHockey.
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