Kendall Newell, an assistant coach for the University of Maine women’s ice hockey team for the past two years, has left to become the manager of female hockey in Alberta.
This will give her an opportunity to be much closer to her husband, Jean Luc Deck, whom she married right before she took the Maine job. He works on the oil pipelines in Alberta.
“This was more of a family decision. He’s working up in Edmonton and I’m living in Red Deer, which is an hour-and-a-half drive,” she explained.
She said her job is a newly created one so there will be a “figuring out” process.
“Basically, I’ll be responsible for developing the game, the athletes, the coaches and officials as well as recruiting new athletes,” said Newell, who spent six years in Alberta prior to coming to Maine, including four years coaching at the Banff Hockey Academy.
The 30-year-old Newell said she “loved” her time at Maine where she did the majority of the recruiting and was in charge of working with goalies and defensemen.
The Phoenix, Arizona native, played goalie at St. Cloud State (Minnesota) and appeared in 65 games during her career before graduating in 2008.
“It was a difficult decision to leave with all of the relationships I developed. I really enjoyed working with Rick and Sara. I had always wanted to coach at the college level,” said Newell, referring to Maine head coach Richard Reichenbach and his wife and assistant coach Sara Reichenbach.
She also said she’ll miss the community and being a part of a program she expects to be on the upswing after a 10-23-2 season last winter.
The Black Bears have a nine-member freshman class including two Czech Republic national team players in forwards Tereza Vanisova and Vendula Pribylova.
“She oversaw the recruiting of those two girls,” said Richard Reichenbach.
“It’s sad to see her go. It’s hard to find real good people who had experience as a head coach, could run clinics and could work with goalies and defensemen. She’s a great girl. The players loved her,” said Reichenbach, who hopes to name her replacement within two weeks.
Hockey East agrees to marketing partnership
Hockey East announced on Wednesday a multi-year marketing partnership with Play By Play Sports, LLC, according to a press release.
Play by Play Sports will be the exclusive marketing and sponsorship consultant partner for the league and will be responsible for creating corporate partner and sponsorship programs, addressing revenue goals, assisting in promoting the conference tournaments and developing marketing, media and branding initiatives.
“This is an important development in the continuing growth of our conference,” said Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna. “We have already had some positive experiences with Play By Play Sports and we look forward to their working with us to enhance our brand and, in particular, grow our tournaments.”