John Micheletto Staff

The 2002-03 season marks John Micheletto[apos]s fourth season as an assistant coach with the Notre Dame hockey team. The veteran coach joined the Irish after spending three seasons as the top assistant at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. from 1996 to 1999.

Micheletto teams with assistant Andy Slaggert to give the Irish one of the top assistant coaching duos in all of college hockey.

With the Irish, Micheletto?s coaching responsibilities include working with the defensemen and the team?s penalty killing units. He is also responisble for all aspects of on-ice teaching and game preparation, video analysis and scouting reports.

The popular assistant is also involved in on-and-off campus recruiting and the observation and evaluation of prospective student-athletes. He serves as the coaching staff liason with the Notre Dame Admissions Office and the Office of Academic Services while working with the NCAA Clearinghouse in compliance issues.

[quote]John has been a valuable asset to the staff in his first three seasons at Notre Dame,? says head coach Dave Poulin. ?His work on a daily basis with our young defensemen has gone a long way in the development of our defensive corps. Recruiting-wise, he has done an outstanding job in helping our staff bring in some of the top talent in North America. He and Andy (Slaggert) compliment each other very well and give us a well-rounded staff both on the coaching and recruiting levels.?

Micheletto has been heavily involved with USA Hockey both on the national and international level for the past 11 years.

For the sixth straight season, he?s served as coach of the Atlantic District?s Select 17 team that competes at USA Hockey?s Junior Olympic Festival in St. Cloud, Minn.

In 1999, he led the Atlantic/southeast district?s Select 17 youth team to a bronze medal in the annual 10-team Select Festival. That finish marked the first medal finish ever for the Atlantic/southeast district team in the history of the festivals.

In August of 2000, the Dartmouth graduate served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Select Team that participated in the Four Nations Tournament, held in Kezmarok, Slovakia. In 1990, he was sent to Mexico to train their Junior Olympic team for its first international tournament that year.

At the Four Nations tournament, Micheletto helped guide the U.S. team to five wins before falling to Canada in the title game. He was joined on the bench by head coach Mark Osiecki ? brother of former Irish star defenseman Matt Osiecki. While at Union, Micheletto served as recruiting coordinator and was responsible for all aspects of on-ice instruction, plus game preparation and administrative duties. He served in ?96-?97 under head coach Stan Moore ? the Eastern College Athletic Conference coach of the year ? and also worked that season with first team All-America goaltender Trevor Koenig.

Before moving into Division I coaching, he spent five years (1991-96) at the prestigious Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., where his various duties included serving as head coach of the hockey program, English instructor and dean of students.

As a player, the Chicago native attended Mount Carmel High School for two years before enrolling at Milton (Mass.) Academy in 1982, where he was a defenseman and team captain on the varsity hockey team, in addition to serving as boarding school president.

After graduating from Milton Academy in 1984, Micheletto took his game to Dartmouth College where he graduated with a degree in English modified with Education in 1988. He played two seasons for the Big Green before electing to pursue a professional career in the Netherlands.

There, he served as a player-coach in 1986-87 with the Enschede Lions of the Netherlands First Division League earning all-league honors while ranking third in league scoring among defensemen.

As a coach, he helped Enschede improve from a last-place finish in ?85-?86 to third place in ?86-?87 while his first experience with coaching included running practices and implementing systems for professional and junior programs.

He returned from the Netherlands in time to join the Erie Golden Blades for the Atlantic Coast Hockey League playoffs. Following a free-agent tryout with the Saginaw Hawks of the International League, he returned to Dartmouth and completed work on his undergraduate degree while also serving as a teaching assistant for various education and sociology courses.

Micheletto ? who completed his master level coaching certification in 1996 ? was co-owner and director of the Skaters Edge Hockey Schools, from 1990-94. The business venture included eight schools located in five states, with Micheletto holding responsibility for all phases of organization and operation of the summer camps.