By Warren Kozireski–
Now in his eighth season behind the bench for the nationally ranked Providence Friars, head coach and former Cortland Red Dragon Nate Leaman registered the 300th win of his coaching career Dec. 29th versus Brown.
“No, nothing big,” Leaman said regarding the signature win in the first round of the Ledyard Bank tournament at Dartmouth back in December. “Just that now we get to play for a trophy and a championship tomorrow and that’s what is important.”
162 of his first 300 came as the coach of Providence where he also guided the Friars to the national championship in 2015. They have made the NCAA postseason in each of the last five seasons and entered the holiday break ranked tenth in the nation.
He was head coach at Union College from 2003-2011 where he remains their all-time winningest hockey coach. He was named the Spencer Primrose Award winner as National Coach of the Year in 2011.
Leaman played for the Cortland Red Dragons from 1993 through 1997 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2014. He still stands 20th all-time in scoring with 28 goals and 57 assists.
He also served as an assistant coach for the 2007 U.S. National Junior Team, helping the team win a bronze medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Sweden.
Leaman has been active in USA Hockey, also serving as an assistant coach on the U.S. National Under-18 Team that captured gold at the 2005 IIHF World U-18 Championship in Plzen, Czech Republic. He also coached teams at USA Hockey’s Select 14 Player Development Camp in 2001 and 2002.
