University of Denver Athletics

Tavis MacMillan is in his 11th season as an assistant coach with the Denver hockey team in 2025-26 and has helped the program win three NCAA Championships since being named to the position on May 27, 2015.
 
MacMillan (MAC-millan), 55, has served on the coaching staff during Denver’s 2017, 2022 and 2024 National Championship wins and helped the program reach six Frozen Four appearances, eight NCAA Tournament berths, win two NCHC Frozen Faceoff championships and three NCHC regular-season titles in over a decade with the team. Among his coaching duties on David Carle’s staff include leading the program’s recruiting effort and working with the forwards and penalty kill.
 
Prior to joining DU, MacMillan served eight seasons as a scout for the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and 10 seasons as a coach for his alma mater, University of Alaska Fairbanks. MacMillan spent seven seasons as an assistant coach (1996-2003) and three seasons as the head coach of UAF from 2004-2006 (46-54-15 record as head coach).
 
As a player, the Milk River, Alberta, native played four seasons with Alaska Fairbanks (1990-1994), recording 192 points (56g/136a) in 135 NCAA games. Professionally, MacMillan played with the Greensboro Monarchs of the ECHL in 1994-95 and the Alaska Gold Kings of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) in 1995-96, serving as a player/marketing director for the team.
 
MacMillan’s uncle, John, is a Denver alum and won two national titles with the Pioneers (1958, 1960) before embarking on a decade-long pro career. John MacMillan played in the NHL for both the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs and became the first DU player to win the Stanley Cup by raising the trophy with the Leafs in both 1962 and 1963.
 
MacMillan resides with his wife, Deon, and has three daughters, Taryn, Camryn and Lauryn, and four grandchildren. Camryn played five seasons and was a captain on the Denver women’s soccer team (2018-2023), while Lauryn also attended DU and used to play hockey as a goaltender. Taryn is a former NCAA soccer player as well and played at North Dakota and Concordia University St. Paul.