Michigan State has announced that Peter Ward has been named senior advisor to the coaching staff and Dylan Strom has joined the program as a volunteer assistant coach.
Ward brings significant experience, having most recently served as a special assignment scout for USA Hockey in what was his second stint with the organization. He worked with USA Hockey for eight seasons with the NTDP as assistant director of player personnel and then director of player personnel. During his time with the NTDP, Ward helped the U.S. capture gold six times at the IIHF Under-18 Championships.
In between his time with USA Hockey, Ward was the head U.S. scout for the Vegas Golden Knights from 2016 to 2019.
“Peter brings a lot of experience as an advisor to coaches, so it’s good to have Peter on board,” Spartans coach Danton Cole said in a statement. “Someone with Peter’s experience both on an individual scouting level and team scouting level brings knowledge and unique aspects to the team and makes us better as coaches.”
Strom is an active duty member of the United States Air Force and comes to MSU from Colorado, where he has served as a high school head coach. Strom was the head coach at Fort Collins High School for the last three seasons where he compiled a 39-6-3 (.844) regular-season record. He led Fort Collins to the state semifinals in all three seasons he was behind the bench, and to the championship game in 2020 and 2021.
Strom worked alongside former Spartan assistant coach George Gwozdecky for two seasons as an assistant with Team Colorado. He served as a head coach in the Colorado Prep Hockey League from 2016 to 2021, where he helped his team earn an invite to USA Hockey Nationals in 2021.
“There is a lot of entitlement in today’s society and in what Dylan is doing, he’s really representing the opposite in how he’s trying to move forward in his coaching career,” Cole said. “He will bring a very important leadership aspect that will be an outstanding benefit to all of our players.
“We’re excited to have both Peter and Dylan joining our program.”
In addition, two current staff members have received new titles. Dan Sturges, who joined the program in 2018 as director of hockey operations, has received the title of director of hockey strategy, video and analytics. Barbara Powers has been with the Spartan hockey program since 2016 and now holds the title of director of hockey operations.
