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(UJ Sports Information) – The University of Jamestown announces Dean Stork will join the University as the school’s first head men’s hockey coach.

Stork will be joining the Jimmies after serving as head coach for the Greenville Road Warriors, the New York Rangers affiliate in the East Coast Hockey League.  

“After my visit to the University of Jamestown, I knew this is where I wanted to coach,” commented Stork. “To be able to coach in such a hockey hot bed and to raise a family in such a great community was something I just could not pass up.

“I know athletic success cannot be achieved without academic success. It will be my job to make sure our student athletes balance their academic and athletics in pursuits that will enrich their lives and fuel their passions. 

“My whole coaching career I have thrived on the challenges that lie ahead in creating and building a hockey program. We must be patient in the build, but with the experience I have coaching professional athletes I know we will be a very competitive college hockey program. I live, eat and breathe hockey–it’s the competitive nature in me that makes me want to win every day in life.  The love that I have for this game cannot be measured. My heart and soul will be completely committed to the University of Jamestown.”

He has been coaching in the ECHL for the last 9 years, the past 5 seasons as head coach in Greenville.

As a head coach he led the Warriors to 4 consecutive Kelly Cup playoff appearances including a division title in 2010-11 and the conference finals in 2013-14.  He posted a winning season in each of his five years as head coach, compiled a record of 201-131-28 and advanced 6 players to the NHL and 42 to the American Hockey League.

“I think we have hit a home run with Dean Stork as our first men’s hockey coach, said University of Jamestown Athletics Director Sean Johnson.  “He brings the combination of skills and experiences that makes him the perfect choice to start our men’s hockey program.  Dean will set forth a vision for our program that will set the groundwork for long term success.”

Coach Stork will be putting together the first Jimmie hockey team, and will be spending the next year recruiting, scheduling and planning for the team’s first season.

The University of Jamestown will apply for admission to the American Collegiate Hockey Association and compete at the Division 1 level.

Stork earned his Bachelor of Science in Sports Management and was an NCAA Division 1 hockey player at the University Of Massachusetts-Amherst where he was named to the Hockey East Honor Roll Team.

The Penticton, British Columbia native played junior hockey for the Penticton Panthers and the Bellingham Ice Hawks before attending college.  After his collegiate career he signed a 3-year contract with the Washington Capitals and played 476 professional games over eight seasons in the ECHL and AHL.

He began his fulltime coaching career as an assistant with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones in 2006.  During his four years as an assistant the Cyclones won two ECHL Kelly Cup championships.

Dean and his wife Jodie have two daughters, Lillian and Charlee.