Connecticut Stars Coaches for the 2007-2008 Season

12U Coaches
Brad D’Arco - Co-Coach
Brad, the assistant boys’ varsity hockey coach at the Berkshire School, played at the Taft School and Colgate University.  He also played for and coached the CT Yankees, as well as coaching in the Mid-Fairfield organization.  Brad will coach the 12U girls with Jeff Beck, assisted by Betsy Muskin and Ed McEvoy

Jeff Beck - Co-Coach
Jeff played varsity goalie for the Fairport, NY high school team and for the Queen's University Golden Gaels. He has been a youth hockey coach for over 15 years at all age levels from mite to high school coach for Wilton High School and goalie coach for Joel Barlow High.  Jeff coached the Stars 14-1 girls team in the 2006/2007 season.  He holds a Level 3 Coaching Certificate.

Ed McEvoy - Co-Coach
Ed has been coaching youth hockey since 1994 and has coached at all levels from mite to midget, including two seasons with the CT Polar Bears 10 and under team. Ed has served both as head coach and assistant coach over the years.  He was assistant coach for Middlesex Mite A, the 03-04 CT state champions and has also worked with the CT Comets 3 on 3 hockey program in Northford and the SCSU Div. 3 mens' program. Ed holds a Level 3 USA Coaching Certificate.

14U-1 Coaches
Michael Lockwood - Head Coach
Mike has over 12 years of youth hockey coaching experience. Prior to coaching the Stars the last 2 years, he coached for Midfairfield and the Ridgefield Lions. Mike played prep school hockey at the Kent school before attending St. Lawrence University, where he played 4 years of varsity hockey. Mike brings his passion for the game to the Stars and loves coaching the girls. Mike is returning for a second year coaching the 14U team.

 Glenn Blicht - Head Coach
Glenn started playing hockey at age of 5 and played travel hockey for the Suffolk Royals, playing in the Met League for Royal's organization. He also played 3 years of varsity hockey at New England College and University Of Hartford. Glenn has coached youth hockey for 8 years, 4 as as a head coach. In 2006- 2007 Glenn coached the Stars U12U team which finished in second place in the State finals.

14U-2 Coaches
Mark Diot - Head Coach
Mark has coached youth hockey for over 10 years at all age levels from mite through high school.  Mark played Varsity hockey for 4 years at Stamford High where he captained a team that was All County in 1984.  He has coached for Midfairfield, Danbury Youth Hockey, and Stamford High School prior to coaching for the CT Stars. He is a co-founder of the Girls Hockey Academy. In the 2006/2007 season Mark was a coach for the Stars 12U team.

Joe Katz - Assistant Coach
Joe is a USA Hockey Certified Level 3 coach.  He has coached at levels ranging from Mites to High School, beginning in 1997 in the Ridgefield program.  At Ridgefield, Joe started in the House program and went on to work with Mites, Squirts, and Bantams, both in the winter and spring seasons.  This past fall he coached the Joel Barlow HS team in their fall league, and in the spring season he is an assistant coach with the Atlantic Sabre Cats, a Triple-A tournament team based in New Jersey.

 
16U Coaches
Bill Maniscalco - Head Coach
Bill brings a wealth of coaching experience to the Stars. He has been an assistant coach at Avon Old Farms for the past two seasons. Prior to this role, he spent two seasons with the men’s  varsity program at Quinnipiac. For the previous ten years, he was head coach of the boys’ varsity at Choate. Bill has also been actively involved with USA Hockey and New England Development Camps. In the summer months, he runs the Connecticut Elite Camps with a number of college coaches.

Cheryl Setchell - Assistant Coach
Cheryl is head coach of the girls’ varsity program at the Kent School. Prior to joining Kent in 2006, she was an assistant coach at the Taft School. Cheryl played hockey at Berkshire and Colgate and was captain of both teams. She has also been involved with USA Hockey evaluation camps.

19U Coaches
John Cooper - Head Coach
John has been a coach of the girls’ varsity hockey program at the Hotchkiss School for the past 19 years and has served as head coach for the past eight years. He has also coached Stars teams for the past five years, including three teams which have competed at the National Tournament. John has also worked with Moe Tarrant at his Cutting Edge girls hockey camps for the past seven years. John will be assisted by Vic Pucci, who was on the bench with John at the U16 level as well.

Goalie Development Program
Jeff Beck, who played goalie at Queens University, will oversee our goalie development program. The Stars will continue to have a program goalie coach.

Program Coach

Todd Johnson

Todd Johnson was a standout player for Boston University from 1977-1981.  Drafted by the New York Rangers, he followed his collegiate career with stints in the IHL, AHL, and Europe, and has been involved in coaching youth hockey for many years.  Along with Stars founder Moe Tarrant, Todd will be working with the Stars to bring the organization closer to the prep school community.

We will be adding a program to introduce our younger players to the New England prep schools and vice versa. The goal is to make involvement with the prep school community integral to the Stars experience. We have engaged Todd to design and implement this plan. It will include:

    a) A number of practice sessions run by some of New England's finest prep school women's hockey coaches. This will be great training and exposure.
    b) For those girls who are on the U14-1 team, games are currently being scheduled to play at various prep schools throughout the area. It will be a big plus to expose our girls to these wonderful schools, and to give them the opportunity to play in some of the most beautiful hockey venues in the country.