Gene Reilly is entering his third season as an assistant coach at Colorado College in 2016-17. Prior to joining the Tigers’ staff, he was a two-year professional scout (NHL / AHL) with the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes.
Reilly, who played at Elmira College and was captain of the 1985-86 team, has experience in nearly every level of professional hockey and over 28 years of coaching experience.
After playing two seasons in Sweden, Reilly launched his coaching career as an assistant with the Springfield Olympics. Working alongside legendary coach Gary Dineen, he tutored future NHL stars such as Bill Guerin and Scott LaChance.
Reilly served as co-head coach at Springfield from 1990-93, then head coach until the end of the 1998 campaign. Signature future NHL players he coached were Chris Clark, Ron Hainsey, Doug Janik and Dan LaCouture. His teams compiled a combined record of 131-15-8 and claimed the Eastern Junior Hockey League regular-season and tournament crowns during each of his final three seasons. He was named EJHL coach of the year in 1998.
Reilly began a three-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Maine in 1998, helping the Black Bears capture the 1999 NCAA Division I National Championship under legendary head coach Sean Walsh. Also during Reilly’s tenure, Maine won a Hockey East Championship in 2000 and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. He served as interim head coach at the start of the 2000-2001 campaign when Walsh was undergoing medical treatments. The Black Bears advanced again to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals that year.
In 2001, Reilly departed for the American Hockey League (AHL) were he spent two seasons in the Ottawa Senators’ organization with Grand Rapids and Binghamton, earning division titles in both years.
Reilly returned to the college game as an assistant coach at Harvard (2003-04) and helped guide the Crimson to an ECAC Championship and NCAA berth. The following year, he moved to the other side of the Charles River to spend four seasons at Northeastern University (2004-08).
Reilly’s hockey pedigree also includes international experience as a coach and director of player development with EC Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian professional hockey league. During four seasons in Salzburg, Red Bull won back to back Austrian Professional (EBEL) Championships in 2010 and 2011, the European trophy in 2011, the Salute International Championship in 2009 and IIHF Continental Cup in 2010.
Reilly also represented USA Hockey at the Under 17 Five Nations Tournament in Czech Republic (2003) and Slovakia (2002) helping to guide both teams to gold medals.
