About this episode
Fresh off a championship run at a World Juniors tournament like no other, Nate Leaman joins us for this week's Glass and Out podcast. Led by Leaman, the Americans dominated their way to gold, going 6-1 while scoring 38 goals and allowing just 10. The championship game would see them surprise an equally dominant Team Canada with a 2-0 win. Leaman is currently in his 10th season at Providence College. He led the program to its first NCAA Championship in 2015 and currently has the Friars on a streak of six consecutive berths in the NCAA tournament. During his tenure, he's produced a total of 28 NHL draft picks. On a personal level, he was awarded the 2011 Spencer Penrose Award, presented to the top coach in college hockey by the American Hockey Coaches Association, and was also named the top coach in the NCAA in 2015 by USCollegeHockey.com. He got his coaching career started at the age of 26, volunteering at the University of Maine as they went on to win the 1999 National Championship team. After four seasons as an assistant at Harvard, Leaman would take over as head coach at Union College for nine seasons. In his final year at Union, the Dutchmen's hockey program would capture their first ECAC regular season championship and invitation to the NCAA tournament. Prior to winning gold at this year's World Juniors, Leaman was an assistant with Team USA twice, winning Bronze in 2007. Find out about the journey that ended in a gold medal, why an emphasis on skill has resulted in recent success for the Americans, and Leaman's advice for other coaches navigating the early parts of their career.