BURLINGTON, Vt. - University of Vermont Men's Hockey Head Coach Todd Woodcroft announced this afternoon that Stephen Wiedler will join the coaching staff as an Assistant Coach for the 2020-21 campaign.
 
"We were looking for a coach that was known for having a strong recruiting history, a current global recruiting network and also someone who can teach the modern game," said Woodcroft. "Stephen's track record, developed over many years nationally but honed specifically at AIC, made it evident he is the coach for this staff. He will work primarily developing our defensemen and our penalty kill and will be our main point of contact for recruiting. We interviewed dozens of men and women for this position and without a doubt, Stephen proved to be the ideal fit for UVM Hockey."

An Assistant Coach from 2015-2018 at AIC, Wiedler earned the title of Associate Head Coach in his final year (2019-2020). His responsibilities included being the recruiting coordinator, running the penalty kill, and developing the defense.
 
As the recruiting coordinator at AIC, Wiedler helped build the 2018-19 and 2019-20 AIC teams that won back-to-back Atlantic Hockey Conference (AHC) regular season championships. During his tenure at AIC recruiting highlights included AIC's first Division I All-American, the 2020 Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award Winner, the 2020 AHC Goaltending Champion, the 2019 Atlantic Hockey Tournament Most Outstanding Player, the 2019 AHC Scoring Champion, the 2018 AHC Rookie of the Year, 11 AHC All-Conference selections, AIC's all-time points leader, AIC's all-time defenseman scoring leader, AIC's wins and shutouts leader, and two AIC Valedictorians.

Under Wiedler's tutelage, the team's defense had great success, allowing a mere 52 goals in 28 AHC games during the 2019-20 campaign, the fewest in AIC's history and second-fewest in AHC history. Furthermore, AIC defenseman saw a 275% increase in goals scored, a 77% increase in assists, and a 95% increase in total points during that time. A key to the defensive success was the team's penalty kill, which under Wiedler's direction operated at a program-best 89% making it the fourth ranked penalty kill in the nation in 2019-2020.

Wiedler, a native of Farmingville, New York, spent two seasons as an assistant coach at DIII Curry College in Milton, MA prior to his time at AIC.  He had a two-year professional playing career with the Knoxville Ice Bears of the Southern Professional Hockey League and played collegiately at the University of Southern Maine, graduating in 2011 as team captain with a degree in history.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the UVM men's hockey program