Aaron Saul was today named head coach of of the Postdam men’s hockey team. Saul, a former Potsdam assistant coach, will replace Glenn Thomaris who announced his retirement from Potsdam last month.
“We’re tremendously excited that Aaron has agreed to coach our men’s hockey team. While the competition for the position was great, his passion for coaching, his ability to recruit high quality student athletes, and his work ethic clearly separated him from the rest of the field. Our department is happy to be reunited with him and we look forward to many years of top flight hockey with Aaron Saul as our coach,” said Potsdam athletic director Jim Zalacca.
Saul comes to Potsdam from Elmira College where he has been the assistant hockey coach since first leaving Potsdam in 2001. He is also the head men’s golf coach at Elmira.
“I am extremely excited to return to the Potsdam Bears Hockey program. My time as an assistant coach at SUNY Potsdam was a great learning experience working with Ed Seney and Jay Green. It has been a dream of mine to become a Head Coach at the Division III level. Working with Tim Ceglarski at Elmira College for the past six seasons has prepared me for that and I am looking forward to the challenge,” Saul said.
During Saul’s six seasons coaching at Elmira, the men made five trips to the ECAC West Playoffs and picked up two conference championships. In two visits to the NCAA Tournament, Elmira advanced to the quarterfinals in 2005 and the Frozen Four in 2006.
In addition to his work with the Soaring Eagles, Saul has also been active in hockey schools and clinics having coached in the Paul Vincent Hockey School since 1998.
Saul holds a Master’s Degree from SUNY Potsdam and a Bachelors Degree from Elmira. While a student at Elmira he played four years of varsity hockey when he was twice chosen as team captain. His teams competed in three ECAC tournaments including one ECAC Championship. At Elmira he was elected team MVP and rookie of the year by his teammates.
