Matt Smith is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach for the Men’s Ice Hockey team after joining the staff in the fall of 2024.
Smith comes to Amherst after spending the last two seasons as a Video Coordinator for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). While with the Sabres, Smith was responsible for breaking down video footage to support game planning and practice preparation for the squad, which went 73-70-13 and just missed out on a playoff spot both seasons he was on-staff.
Before his stint in the NHL, Smith was the program director and Head Varsity Hockey Coach at Saint Ignatius College Prep High School in Chicago, Ill., from 2016 to 2022. In his six seasons at the helm, Smith took an underperforming program that had not won a playoff game in a decade and built it into a powerhouse that annually competes for both league and state titles. He led the team to 1st place league finishes and Kennedy Cup tournament finals four times, taking home the school’s first Kennedy Cup Championship in 2022. In doing so, he earned the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois (AHAI) 2019 High School Coach of the Year, as well as Coach of the Year honors from the Chicago Catholic Hockey League (CCHL) in each of his first three seasons.
Smith has also worked with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program as a Regional Scout, as well as been a part of the staff for USA Hockey Camps and Symposiums and the University of Wisconsin’s Men’s Hockey Summer Camps. Smith has also worked in athletic administrative roles for both the Chicago Jets Hockey Club and Acero Schools.
