Matt Pinchevsky is excited to coach college hockey after spending all of his 15-year coaching career helping players get to the collegiate level.

Earlier this week, Pinchevsky was named the University of Southern Maine men’s hockey coach. He previously was the Maine Nordiques head coach but was let go after the team’s playoff run this past season.

Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky runs practice in November 2021 at The Colisee in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Pinchevsky said the USM job is a good situation for his family.

“We thought to put the priority on family and what’s most important in order to be a situation to continue to serve the game and have an opportunity to coach young men in a college scenario, and even some young women, personally grow to the development of the next chapter and maybe step away from a whole gamut of hockey experiments over the years, and startups, and whatnot,” Pinchevsky said. “It was really exciting and I thought it was a good fit — in terms of something well-established and certainly sustainable.”

Pinchevsky has coached at the youth and junior levels, starting with the Florida Alliance youth program in 2009 and the Selects Academy at the South Kent School in 2011. He then served as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights of the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League for the 2014-15 season and head coach of the Portland Jr. Pirates 18U team in 2015-16. He moved on to the Seacoast Performance Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 2016 before the Nordiques hired him as an assistant coach ahead of their inaugural 2019-20 season.

After the Nordiques let go of Nolan Howe in November of 2021, Pinchevsky was named the Nordiques’ second coach.

USM athletic director Al Bean is impressed with Pinchevsky’s background.

“Matt has a truly outstanding hockey background, is greatly respected in the hockey community by athletes and colleagues alike, and brings contagious energy, positivity and excitement to the position,” said Bean in a news release. “I’m confident he will be a tremendous addition to our staff and a fantastic leader for the young men in our program. I’m looking forward to the next era of Husky Hockey under Matt’s leadership.”

Pinchevsky takes over the Huskies bench from Ed Harding, who resigned in June and later took a coaching position with the Seacoast Performance Academy. The former Lewiston Maineiacs coach spent the past eight seasons coaching USM, accumulating a 53-129-17 record.

Being a part of an athletic department is something Pinchevsky is also looking forward to.

“I was just on the other side of the fence trying to advance players to college and on to pro (hockey), but to be on the other side of the fence gives me an idea of how things operate, and being a part of a team and an actually athletic department with amazing coaches you can surround yourself with in all different sports,” Pinchevsky said.

Pinchevsky is the second staff member of the 2022-23 Maine Nordiques to take a college coaching job this summer. Eric Soltys, the former general manager, is now an assistant coach with the University of Maine men’s hockey team.

USM is coming off a 5-18-2 season. Pinchevsky said he wants the Huskies to have success in the New England Hockey Conference before they move to the Little East Conference — USM’s conference for the majority of its sports. The Little East announced in July that it will be sponsoring men’s and women’s hockey starting in the 2025-2026 season.

“We want to progress in every single category as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible,” Pinchevsky said. “In terms of some winnable games that maybe weren’t won last year, we are going to make sure we earn those points. Being in a deep conference, we want to make a serious statement in that conference immediately.

“So when there’s (realignment) of conferences in the Division III landscape in about a year or two, we want to carry that momentum to whatever the new conference change looks like. Like I said, I want to restore some pride in this program, raise some banners in our arena, and play meaningful games — play for a national championship and make it to the tournament.”

Pinchevsky is looking forward to Huskies forward Curtis Judd continue to lead the team on and off the ice. Judd led the team last season with 25 points (15 goals and 10 assists). Pinchevsky expects another solid season from Lewiston native and defenseman Cole Ouellette and defenseman Nolan McElhaney.

However, Pinchevsky will give the entire roster a chance to prove they belong in the lineup.

“Due to the fact it is new, and it’s a process, whether it’s Cole or Curtis — and I am holding myself to that standard and the staff as well — we are all trying out how Husky hockey is going to look forward,” Pinchevsky said. “We are excited about all the players.”