Chad Kolarik, an Abington native, is returning for a second season as an assistant coach with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.

Kolarik is working with the Under-17 team after spending the 2022-23 campaign as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Under-18 team. He helped Team USA to a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship and to a first-place finish at the 2022 Under-18 Five Nations Championship.

“When we think about the troubles we have gone through, wins and loses as a 16-year-old player, and working out every day for first time, we all understand that,” Kolarik said. “We can put ourselves in the kids’ shoes.

From his U.S. National Team biography:

Prior to joining USA Hockey, he began his coaching career with the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks as an assistant coach for the 2021-22 campaign.

Kolarik played 12 seasons of professional hockey in the U.S. and Europe. He suited up for the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers at the game’s highest level, in addition to stops in the AHL, and finished his career with seven seasons in Europe throughout Sweden, France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. He skated collegiately at the University of Michigan, where he produced 174 points (78g-96a) in 163 games for the Wolverines.

Kolarik has extensive international experience representing the United States, most recently as a member of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team that competed in PyeongChang, South Korea. In addition, Kolarik skated in two Deutschland Cups as a member of the U.S. Men’s Select Team, helping Team USA earn a first-place finish in 2013, and was a member of the 2004 U.S. Under-18 Men’s World Championship team, helping the U.S. win a silver medal.

For the full story, you can click here.

For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.