Rylee Orr has been named head coach of the Lawrence men’s hockey team.
Orr is the 10th head coach in Lawrence history and comes to Lawrence from Marian, where he had been an assistant coach the past two seasons.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rylee Orr as our new men’s ice hockey coach,” Lawrence director of athletics Jason Imperati said in a statement. “His strong vision for the program aligns perfectly with our athletic department and university values. With his familiarity with the league and his commitment to hard work, we are confident he will drive positive outcomes for our student-athletes both on and off the ice. Together, we look forward to an exciting future ahead.”
“I am excited and honored,” Orr added. “My wife Heidi and I love the city of Appleton and are pumped to make the move and be part of the community.”
Orr replaces Brett Wall, who spent two seasons with the Vikings before stepping down this past spring to coach the NAHL’s Janesville Jets.
A native of Maple Creek, Sask., Orr brings head coaching experience to the Lawrence program. For five seasons, he served as the head coach of the ACHA team at Oregon. Under Orr’s guidance, the Ducks won three Pac 8 Conference championships and posted an overall record of 77-21-5.
“I am very excited for the opportunity to take over the Lawrence hockey program,” said Orr, who was named Pac 8 coach of the year at Oregon. “I have heard nothing but great things about the guys, and I can’t wait to start getting to work with them. I would like to thank Jason, as well as the rest of the athletic department, for putting their trust in me and giving me this opportunity.”
In two seasons at Marian, Orr put together some of the best special teams in the NCHA. Both the power play and penalty kill excelled under Orr’s guidance, and both units ranked in the top three in the league during the past season. The Sabres reached the NCHA Harris Cup playoffs in each of Orr’s two seasons.
“We’ve got a team that made some noise down the stretch last year, and I am excited to see if we can build off that,” Orr said. “This conference is very unforgiving, but I think we have a good group to work with and my goal is to continue building it in the right direction.”
A 2017 graduate of Utah State with a bachelor’s degree in human movement science, Orr was a standout player for the Aggies ACHA team. Orr led the team in points in two of his four seasons and helped them qualify for the ACHA national tournament three times. Orr led his team to the conference championship as a senior and earned the team’s MVP award.
Following his graduation from Utah State, Orr also played professionally for EHC Neuwied in Germany.
