ATHENS- The University of Georgia Ice Dogs club hockey team named Chris Copelli as an assistant coach for the 2015-16 season, according to an announcement on Tuesday, July 28, 2015 from the UGA Hockey Club Player’s Board.
Copelli, a native of Norcross, previously played for the Ice Dogs from 2005-2010 when he was an undergraduate at Georgia, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics with a Minor in Religion.
A captain his senior year, Copelli led the Ice Dogs to their second 10-plus win season in three seasons, including a clean three-game sweep over in-state rival, Georgia Tech, the most recent time the Ice Dogs have swept the annual three meetings of Clean Old Frozen Hate with the Jackets.
“Chris was a great teammate and we built a strong friendship during the two seasons we shared as players on the Ice Dogs,” UGA Hockey General Manager Henry Oddi, who played with Copelli during the 2006-07 and 2009-10 seasons said. “I’m ecstatic that he’s going to be able to pass on his vast knowledge and teach the current players the great skill and hard work he displayed when we were teammates.”
Following his senior year, Copelli went behind the bench as an assistant coach helping guide the Ice Dogs to a second consecutive 10-plus win season, marking the first time the club achieved that feat since the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.
Prior to, during, and following his Ice Dogs playing career, Copelli has coached youth hockey at a variety of levels in the Atlanta area, including coaching with the Atlanta Phoenix Bantam and Midget AA club travel hockey teams as well as the Milton/Cambridge High School hockey club. Copelli also worked with the former NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers Hockey Development team from 2004-2011.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge of helping return a program myself and many of my fellow Georgia Hockey alumni hold in high regard back to a top level where it belongs,” Copelli said. “I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to help this team reach its goals this season and get back behind the Ice Dog bench.”
Copelli is the second assistant coach named to the Ice Dogs’ 2015-16 coaching staff. Be sure to check back to UGAHockey.com for updates as the Georgia Ice Hockey club continues to put the final touches on its coaching staff for the upcoming season.
Full season memberships and single game tickets are still available for the 2015-16 Ice Dogs Hockey season! To catch the fastest game on ice in downtown Athens, fans can visit the Classic Box Office at 300 North Thomas Street, call the Classic Center Box at 706-357-4444, or visit the Classic Center’s website, www.classiccenter.com.
