Boys Varsity Ice Hockey

For Coach, more important than his accomplishments, is his commitment to personal and professional growth and development—he is a learner and believes to be the best coach you can be you must be continually evolving.  Just as he demands his players to challenge themselves, coach sees each season and off-season as an opportunity to be a better coach. He has worked closely with renowned coaches such as Eric Hoffberg and Mark Bennett.  He has completed his MBSR, is a certified Level 4 USA Hockey coach, and has been a coach educator for USA Hockey as well.  He regularly attends coaching conferences, is an avid reader, and regular follower of coaching podcasts such as Changing the Game Project.  Coach finds value and relevancy in many life experiences that inform his coaching including his current pursuit of surfing.  

As for the more standard accomplishments, Coach holds a Master’s degree in History, has coached 28 seasons of hockey, and has led championship teams at several levels both in the U.S. and internationally.  He played at and graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he was twice named to the Hockey East All Academic Team.  His coaching career began at Belchertown, High School in western Massachusetts, before ultimately heading to Avon Old Farms to start his Prep teaching and coaching career.  Coach also attended AOF in high school and was a member of the first NTDP-U18 team in 1997-98.  

Coach believes in balance. He prioritizes family and finds joy in both the intensity of the hockey season and living a relatively unplugged life in Maine in the summer months. Beyond coaching hockey at Loomis, he also teaches history, works in a dorm, and coaches J.V. lacrosse.  He lives on campus with his wife, daughter, son, and cat.

Steve Novodor joined the Loomis Chaffee ice hockey program in 2010 along with head coach J.R. Zavisza. Since joining, Novodor has been part of a program that has emerged as a major contender on the prep circuit, making the prep playoffs for three consecutive seasons and winning the Founders League title in 2015 and the Large School New England championship in 2014.

In addition to his work at Loomis, Novodor is a coach at the Yale Jr. Bulldogs program, serving as the head coach of the national champion U-16 Tier 1 split season team. Prior to joining the Bulldogs, Novodor spent numerous seasons in the Junior Bobcats/Wolf Pack organization, coaching at the peewee, bantam, and midget levels.

Novodor is one of the premier hockey coaches in the country, and his knowledge, integrity, and passion for developing players is invaluable in elevating the Loomis Chaffee ice hockey program to where it currently is.

John Cunningham joined the Island in 2017, after graduating from Connecticut College with a double major in United States History and United States Government. He currently works as the Sports Information Director in the Athletics and Communications and Marketing Departments, lives in Warham Hall, and is also the assistant varsity lacrosse coach.

Having grown up in Cheshire, Conn., Cunningham played his youth hockey under current Loomis assistant hockey coach Steve Novodor, before playing at Cheshire High School, where he was named a First Team All State defender is freshman, sophomore, and junior year, while winning state championships his freshman and junior year.

He then attended Pomfret School for two years and was named an All New England defenseman as a junior and a senior.

In college he played soccer and lacrosse, and worked for the men's hockey team as a statistician and broadcaster.