There is no overstating Nate Leaman\u2019s influence on Colorado College hockey coach Kris Mayotte.<\/p>\n
He learned much about hockey and life from the NCAA title-winner, whom he calls his \u201cformer coach, mentor, and thankfully now, friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBesides my parents, he has made the biggest impact on my life,\u201d says the first-time head coach, 38, who plans to build upon the veteran coach\u2019s transformative lessons observed at Union College and later Providence College. \u201cIt\u2019s not just Xs and Os. He cares for the players, the college, and the community. It\u2019s why you see a complete program when you look at Providence, because Nate is a complete person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized the impact coaches have on young men\u2019s lives,\u201d Mayotte says. \u201cUnion and CC are quite similar as Division 3 schools with a D1 hockey program. It\u2019s the kind of setting I believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n
That means helping athletes beyond the whiteboard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the responsibility to do more,\u201d he says. \u201cCoaches cannot hole themselves up in their offices and just focus on wins and losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned that from all the coaches I played and worked for all the way back to [Cornell] coach [Mike] Schafer,\u201d he adds. \u201cThey worked to build relationships on- and off-campus while spreading the message and embracing the mission of the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayotte was a Union goalie from 2002-06, competing for Leaman his final three seasons. After playing professionally, he landed a volunteer position under Schafer that eventually led to being hired as the Tigers\u2019 coach on April 7.<\/p>\n
After 10 years as an assistant and associate head coach, Mayotte knows how to turn around programs.<\/p>\n
His two years under Greg Carvel rebuilding St. Lawrence showed the importance of a culture based on hard work. Carvel led once-struggling Massachusetts to the 2021 NCAA title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked hard to prepare well and made sure we demanded the opponents\u2019 respect,\u201d Mayotte says.<\/p>\n
Leaman snapped up Mayotte in 2014 and says he was a big reason why the private school won its first NCAA title that season.<\/p>\n
Mayotte grew up a lot while Leaman turned Union around. Later as a Friars assistant, Mayotte learned how an underdog became and stayed a contender. Mayotte led recruiting efforts, which helped Providence qualify for the NCAAs in all five years there.<\/p>\n
Mayotte won two golds and a bronze as a U.S. assistant at the world junior championships and assisted the past two seasons at Michigan, where he coached many NHL draft-caliber players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about not getting comfortable and challenging myself,\u201d he says. \u201cI knew I would learn a lot from Coach [Mel] Pearson. I still have a lot to learn. That is why I chose the [CC] assistants I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a lot of work ahead for Mayotte and his assistants, 2005 NCAA champion and Denver goalie Peter Mannino and former NHL defenseman Mark Stuart \u201906<\/strong>, a CC All-American.<\/p>\n Mayotte is ready, Leaman says. \u201cHe has won championships by recruiting top players and great role players. He has coached all aspects of a team. He is a very bright young coach.\u201d<\/p>\n His track record made him the choice, according to CC Vice President and Director of Athletics \u00a0Lesley Irvine.<\/p>\n \u201cThe match is very clear and the momentum it brings is truly exciting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Mayotte believes he can take advantage of that impetus and invigorate a team that last reached the NCAAs in 2011.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew from my playing days that Colorado College was a top program and made steps to return to that level with Robson Arena [opening this fall],\u201d Mayotte says. \u201cI know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is no overstating Nate Leaman\u2019s influence on Colorado College hockey coach Kris Mayotte. He learned much about hockey and life from the NCAA title-winner, whom he calls his \u201cformer coach, mentor, and thankfully now, friend.\u201d \u201cBesides my parents, he has made the biggest impact on my life,\u201d says the first-time head coach, 38, who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1496,"featured_media":17267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-17336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summer-2021","tag-athletics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/files\/2021\/08\/CC-BUL-SUM21-13-ATH-Mayotte.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1496"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17337,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17336\/revisions\/17337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}