The United States Hockey League announced today that Evan Rand has been named Director of Hockey Operations, and is expected to join the staff prior to the start of the 2016-17 USHL season.
Rand comes to the nation’s premier junior league after spending eight seasons with the National Hockey League in a variety of roles. For the past five seasons, Rand served in the NHL’s Department of Player Safety where he was involved in the monitoring of player conduct during league games and preparing presentations for GMs, the NHL Board of Governors and Competition Committee. He was also involved in managing the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend’s Skills Competition.
In an earlier role with the NHL, Rand served as the Coordinator of Direct & Digital Marketing where he was involved in the marketing of Game Center Live, the league’s online game streaming service.
“Evan’s hard work and passion for the game of hockey served us extremely well at the National Hockey League,” said NHL Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Damian Echevarrieta. “I believe his experience, work ethic and attention to detail make him a perfect fit with USHL and where it is headed as a league. As much as we hate to lose such a valued member of our staff, we are very proud to see Evan take this step and excited for the future of the USHL.”
In his new role Rand will be responsible for league operations including dissemination of rules and regulations related to roster management, affiliate and injured reserve lists, player safety, transactions, and international transfers. The league’s Hockey Operations department has oversight responsibilities over events, licensing and management of league relationships with vendors that provide services for statistics, player databases, online streaming and player equipment.
Rand emerged from an impressive list of applicants for the position, vacated when Adam Micheletti was named by the Lincoln Stars as President of Business Operations in June. Rand will relocate to work in the USHL’s Chicago offices and report to USHL President and Commissioner Bob Fallen.
“Evan’s experience at the NHL made him an exceptional candidate for this position which calls for an individual with a diverse set of skills,” said Fallen. “Our operations staff regularly interacts with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety and his knowledge and experience on matters relating to player safety and discipline will allow Evan to make a seamless transition to the Director position.”
Originally from Roslyn, NY, Rand graduated from New York University with a degree in Sports Management.
