Jim Montgomery enters his second season at the helm of the University of Denver hockey program after being appointed as the program's eighth coach on April 15, 2013.
Montgomery spent three seasons with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL), holding the title of general manager in addition to being the head coach. He guided the Fighting Saints to the Clark Cup championship during two of his three seasons and was also recognized as the USHL General Manager of the Year by his peers in both of those title-winning campaigns (2011, 2013). 2012-13 saw Montgomery lead the Fighting Saints to a regular-season record of 45-11-8 (98 points) en route to the Eastern Conference Championship, regular-season USHL crown and Clark Cup Championship.
"From the onset of our search Jim Montgomery was at the top of our list and it is an absolute pleasure to welcome him to the Pioneer family," said Bradley-Doppes. "Jim has all of the attributes needed to successfully take the reins of our hockey program - a commitment to excellence, integrity and superb hockey acumen to name just a few. He has won at every level and most importantly, he has comported himself with class and dignity at every stop. With this hire, we have landed a coach who has the experience and enthusiasm to guide our talented student-athletes to excel in the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference."
A native of Montréal, Canada, Montgomery's background includes time as an assistant coach at two collegiate programs. He spent the four years prior to his arrival in Dubuque as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Prior to his stint at RPI, Montgomery served as a volunteer assistant at Notre Dame during the 2005-06 campaign.
"I am honored to become the eighth head coach of the University of Denver's storied hockey program," said Montgomery. "I look forward to building upon the tradition of excellence created over the past 60 years by Murray Armstrong, and continued through the decades with other outstanding coaches, most notably George Gwozdecky - all have been blessed with some incredibly talented student-athletes who have played at DU. The vision and leadership of Chancellor Coombe and Athletic Director Peg Bradley-Doppes for the University of Denver and its student-athletes has me excited about what we can achieve together."
Montgomery played collegiate hockey at the University of Maine, where he is one of only three players to have his jersey retired at Alfond Arena. Montgomery is the University of Maine's all-time leading scorer with 301 points on 103 goals and 198 assists in 170 career games. He captained the 1992-93 team to the school's first NCAA championship, as the Black Bears went 42-1-2. That year, Montgomery was a Hobey Baker Award finalist, with the honor going to his line-mate and National Hockey League (NHL) standout Paul Kariya.
In addition to his collegiate exploits, Montgomery played professional hockey from 1993-2005. He spent parts of six seasons in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues (1993-94), Montréal Canadiens (1994-95), Philadelphia Flyers (1994-95 and 1995-96), San Jose Sharks (2000-01) and Dallas Stars (2001-02 and 2002-03). Internationally, he played in Russia and Germany as well as in the American Hockey League, International Hockey League and United Hockey League.
Montgomery is married. He and his wife Emily have two sons, JP and Colin.
