Erick Echeverria
📌 Coaching Director
🏒 Squirt Head Coach
Erick has been coaching for the NJ Icedogs for 10 years. He was a key component along with others in creating a successful Mite program back in 2014. After 7 years establishing the Mite program, Erick moved onto coaching at the Peewee level leading our team to multiple tournament championships and the HVHL 12U A1 league championship during the '23-'24 season. Erick found his love for coaching and developing athletes after discovering CrossFit and Olympic Weightlifting. He spent a number of years creating programming and personal training/nutrition programs for Crossfit gyms in New Jersey and Oregon and is a former Fair Lawn High School hockey player himself. At the Squirt level, we focus on teaching kids the changing rules of the game as they graduate from Mite to Squirt, as well as teaching them how to win and move the puck as a team. Our goal is to equip them with the tactical tools to play at a faster pace as they graduate to Peewee, all the while continuing to develop their individual skills and hockey IQ.
Chris Salvatore
🏒 Mite Head Coach
Chris is beginning his 3rd year as Mite Head Coach for the NJ Icedogs and is a very accomplished hockey player himself. Our Mite program has continued to excel in Chris’s time, winning multiple tournaments while establishing the basics of hockey. Chris seeks to teach kids positioning, as well as the intangibles (being coachable, working hard) while developing their skillset. Chris has been key in continuing our successful Mite program. Our goal for the Mite program is to give players the tools they need to excel in the sport of hockey, but also to give them tools for life - things such as respect for teammates and coaches, putting in your best efforts, listening attentively, and so forth.
Chase Hausler
🏒 Peewee Head Coach
Coach Chase is our Peewee coach this year and is an Icedog through and through. He is a former member of the first ever Icedogs team and takes great pride in coaching the next generation of Icedogs. Chase began his hockey career at Paramus High School as a freshman goaltender and became team MVP in 2009. He then went on to play hockey for William Paterson University. Chase has spent time as the Paramus High School Goalie Coach and has been a head coach for the Icedogs for 6 seasons at the Squirt level where he won one HVHL Championship (B) and is now moving onto coaching the Peewees. At the Peewee level, we seek to teach kids more advanced team tactics as well as how to move the puck more quickly and effectively to assist in the transition to the hitting game.
Dan Murphy
🏒 Bantam Head Coach
Coach Murphy is his own institution with the NJ Icedogs. He has been playing and coaching hockey for over 40 years and is supported by his assistants Bobby and Andrew. Coach "Murph" is a “throwback” Coach that we believe is needed in our program. Some of the highlights throughout his career have been winning back-to-back championships during the '22-'23 and '23-'24 seasons and watching his former players grow into successful high school players. He will challenge kids to work at their maximum capacity while bringing the edge and intensity needed when players graduate to the Bantam level where checking is legal. Coach Murph seeks to foster a positive player/coach relationship based around a hard work ethic. The main goal of our Bantam program is to get kids ready for HS hockey, sharpening their individual skills, and increasing their IQ as players.
Mark Schaefer
🏒 Midget 16U Head Coach
Mark played hockey with the NJ Icedogs for 10 seasons as a player and played High School hockey for River Dell HS all 4 years. Mark has been coaching for 9 years with the Icedogs and has taken on many roles during that time which have included Mites, Squirts and Midgets. Mark has also coached Fair Lawn High School Spring Seasons. Coach Mark is energetic and has built a great rapport with his players through the years – some whom he worked with in their first years at Squirt and their final in Midgets. At the Midget level, our goal is for players to improve their instincts and decision making while keeping skills fresh as they move in to the high school season.
Eric Frank
🏒 Midget 16U Assistant Coach
Eric played hockey with the NJ Icedogs for 8 seasons as a player where his teams won numerous tournaments at the AA level and competed against multiple AAA teams in both NJ and NY. He was also a member of the Don Bosco Prep ice hockey team as a 2 year starter for the JV upper team and then played some games on the varsity team for one season. After playing hockey for both teams, he then received an ACHA Division 1 offer from the University of Jamestown in ND, but ultimately decided to pursue an academic based college career, opting to play for the College of Charleston at the ACHA Division 2 level and then in the CHF at the Division 2 level, competing in the National Tournament and placing 26th out of 200 teams nationwide.