Men's Hockey | 6/20/2023 1:00:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – RMU head men's hockey coach Derek Schooley announced Tuesday that Ryan Durocher has been named an Assistant Coach for the Colonials.
"We are excited that Ryan is returning to Robert Morris," said Schooley. "Ryan has an excellent hockey mind, relates very well to the players and is very detailed in everything he does. We had a very good year when Ryan was here and I am looking forward to continuing what we started."
Durocher, spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach with the Colonials, returning back to the program after spending a season as Director of Hockey Operations at Colorado College, and a year as an assistant at Sacred Heart University.
During his year at Colorado College, he helped lead the team to the NCHC Championship game, falling to St. Cloud State. Along the way to the Championship, they beat Western Michigan in a best-of-three series, and knocked off Denver in the semifinal.
Before Colorado, Durocher spent the 2021-22 season at Sacred Heart University. He worked with the team's defensive unit and penalty kill. In the Atlantic Hockey conference, the team's penalty kill was ranked at the top with a .841 percentage. He also helped a pair of players earn Atlantic Hockey All-League honors.
In the 2020-21 campaign, Durocher was on RMU's staff for a successful season. With the Colonials, he mostly worked with the power play, which ranked No. 5 in the nation at 25%. RMU that season went 15-9 overall and 10-5 in conference.
Durocher was an Assistant Coach with the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League for two seasons (2018-20). In the 2018-19 campaign, the Musketeers finished with a 30-25-5-2 overall record and had four Musketeers selected in the 2019 NHL Draft. Previously, he had stints as the video coach for the American Hockey League's Binghamton Devils (2017-18) and St. Lawrence University (2015-17).
Prior to his coaching career, Durocher played Division III hockey at SUNY Cortland, where he graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor's degree in Sports Management. He then earned his Master's in Sports Management in 2014 from Southern New Hampshire University, where he began his coaching career at the DII level before moving on to join the EHL's New England Wolves staff in 2014.
Durocher's background and experience in pre-scouting, video analysis, skill development and hockey operations will serve the Colonials well in their bid to return to the top of Atlantic Hockey as the program returns for the 2023-24 season.
"I really believe with Ryan and Matt Nicholson, we have established one of the top staffs in Atlantic Hockey," Schooley stated.
RMU will open the home portion of its 2023-23 campaign with a doubleheader at Clearview Arena Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, at the RMU Island Sports Center on Neville Island. The women will host Saint Anselm, while the men will welcome Bowling Green. Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are on sale now and
can be purchased by using the following link. There are a limited number of season tickets available, so make sure to purchase yours today.
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