Episode 89: Adam Dennis. Fellow goalie and current president of the North Bay Battalion Adam Dennis stopped by the pro

hockeypod this week to share his story and his rise in Major Junior Hockey. I was fortunate enough to train many summers with Adam at a local goalie school and followed his career with great interest. Adam was a 14th round draft pick to the Guelph Storm of the OHL but he didn’t let that stop him from achieving his goals. A couple years later Adam was a starting goalie in the OHL appearing in back to back Memorial Cups , where in his second season, he would hoist the trophy with the London Knights and in doing so Adam was drafted to the NHL by the Buffalo Sabres, soon beginning his pro journey. This included three years in the AHL before heading over to Europe to play in Italy and Germany. He was also fortunate to represent the Italian National team in multiple tournaments during his career. Once he was done playing, Adam received a job with the OHL player development for three years before joining the North Bay Battalion as a assistant coach, assistant, general manager, and goalie coach. We talked about all his responsibilities and what he learned along the way. He was then promoted to General Manager of North Bay, where they appeared in three straight conference finals in the OHL. Adam has since then been promoted to President of the hockey club. It was great to catch up with an old training partner who I looked up to and hear how he has worked his way up the ranks. We still had lots to talk about so could be a follow up episode coming. Hope you enjoy!

Episode 88: Tom Upton. Tom first grew up on Long Island and shared some memories of going to Islander’s games as a kid. He would move to Austin, Texas at 10 years old which was a different hockey experience for him. He would go on to play parts of 4 seasons in the NAHL before deciding to attend D3 Wisconsin Stevens-Point University. He talked about his amazing 4 years there and how he is still close with a group of teammates to this day. One of them is last week’s guest, Anthony Noreen, who both played with and coached Tom at UWSP. After graduating, Tom would also stay on as an Assistant Coach and begin his coaching journey. This journey has taken Tom through various leagues such as the USHL, NAHL and NCAA Division 1. Tom is now in his 4th season at the University of Massachusetts, working under a veteran coach in Greg Carvel. We talked about his crazy route to where he is and what he has learned along the way. I was also curious to Coach Carvel’s impact on Tom. Tom brought up the word “hard” and that is a common theme at UMass. Everyone needs to be hard and Tom gave many examples of what it means. It is easy to see why UMass has been on a great path for the past 10+ seasons and why Tom is a good fit there. Like anyone, he still has dreams and one of those is the NHL. A potential awesome achievement for a kid from Texas. Hope you enjoy!

Episode 87: Anthony Noreen. After a little break, the prohockeypod returned this week with Miami of Ohio Head Coach Anthony Noreen. Anthony has been a journey man who coached 16 years in various leagues before getting this NCAA Division 1 job. He grew up in the Chicago area and was immediately integrated into hockey from his father. Anthony would go through Junior hockey before heading off to D3 Wisconsin Stevens-Point. He talked about how he went on a visit with a teammate and fell in love with the set up right away. He knew this is where he wanted to be. After 4 years of playing, Anthony would stay at this University as a Graduate Assistant Coach. He took on a lot of roles and was “thrown into the fire” right away, while not earning any salary. After Wisconsin, Anthony would get a job in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms. Over 5 seasons, he would help get the club on the right path and also win Coach of the Year in 14/15. A pro coaching opportunity would come available with the Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL (who were affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs). Anthony talked about his 2 years there and how he learned a lot observing from affiliated coaches. He would then return to the USHL, this time with the Tri-City Storm, where he would spend 7 seasons as HC and GM. During this time, he would win Coach of the Year 2 more times, as well as win a Gold Medal with Team USA U19 in 2018/2019. Finally after so many years of grinding and building his resume, Anthony received the Head Coaching job at Miami of Ohio University. He talked about how it was a dream come true and how he had been there previously years before which solidified his desire to coach there one day. We talked about his journey, the campus, set up and how he likes to build his teams. He is very excited about the future/potential at Miami of Ohio and it was clear how true his passion is. Hope you enjoy!