Union Nabs Crimson Men's Hockey Coach

Nate Leaman, the principal assistant coach on the Harvard men’s hockey team, was named the head coach at ECAC rival Union College, according to a press conference Monday afternoon.

The move comes a week after speculation about Leaman’s candidacy intensified, as he was one of the four finalists that Union declined to name during the search process. The Dutchmen have been searching for a head coach since the June departure of Kevin Sneddon ’92 for the University of Vermont, and they found their ideal candidate in Leaman, a young first-time head coach with experience at major Division I programs.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for Nate, and very, very well-deserved,” said Harvard head coach Mark Mazzoleni. “This opportunity speaks very positively about Nate and his work at both Maine and Harvard.”

Ron Rolston—a former Harvard assistant coach, a current assistant at Boston College and a longtime roommate of Leaman’s—agreed.

“I think Nate’s going to do a tremendous job,” Rolston said. “He’s going to bring a lot of passion to Union, and a lot of energy.”

Leaman has been behind the bench at Harvard for four seasons, since the beginning of head coach Mark Mazzoleni’s appointment. Before his time at Harvard, Leaman spent a year as a volunteer assistant coach to Maine’s Shawn White during the Black Bear’s 1999 national championship season.

After the departure of Rolston from Harvard in the summer of 2002, Leaman was named principal assistant and recruiting coordinator for the Crimson. Along with Rolston, Leaman has attracted highly regarded recruiting classes to Cambridge, evidenced by the fact that Harvard was tied with Boston University for having the highest number of drafted players on its roster last season.

“He has distinguished himself amongst his peers with his impeccable integrity, work ethic, leadership skills and thorough knowledge of the game,” Union Athletic Director Val Belmonte said in this afternoon’s press conference. “Nate is one of the up-and-coming coaches of his generation and we are thrilled to have him on staff.”

Leaman’s recruiting abilities and experience mixing athletics and academics at Harvard is something that likely appealed to Union, a small school with a strong academic reputation relative to other ECAC teams. But with a lack of scholarships comes a burden the new coach must bear.

“Union is a good school, but you have to compete against the Ivies as a non-scholarship school,” Rolston noted.

Still, Leaman inherits a program that was moving forward under Sneddon and finished sixth in the 12-team conference as well as hosted a playoff series on its home ice of Achilles Rink last season.

“Whoever does come in [as head coach] is inheriting a pretty good program,” Sneddon said.

A very difficult non-conference schedule comes with the program, including a game at UNH, two matches in Schenectady versus Minnesota-Duluth and a holiday trip to Madison for the Badger Showdown—a tournament that includes UMass-Lowell and Ferris State, in addition to host Wisconsin.

But the tough schedule would not act as a deterrent, according to Sneddon, who felt that any new coach would want a chance to test his team against the toughest competition in preparation for the ECAC stretch run.

Leaman’s departure leaves the Crimson with only second year assistants Sean McCann ’94 and Bruce Irving currently on staff. Mazzoleni said that he will begin a formal search for Leaman’s replacement in a week’s time, and hopes to have someone in place by mid-August.

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.