Army West Point has announced the hiring of Chris Azzano and Jack Riley as new assistant coaches.
Riley served as the director of hockey operations this past season.
Azzano spent the past three seasons on the staff at Colgate, serving as an assistant coach for the 2022-23 after a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant with the Raiders.
“We are very excited to add Chris to our staff,” said Army West Point head coach Brian Riley in a statement. “As an assistant coach, he played a key role last year in helping Colgate win the ECAC championship and get to the NCAA tournament. Chris has gained valuable coaching experience over the years and there’s no doubt that his goalie background will have an immediate and positive impact on our program. Most importantly, I know that Chris will be a great mentor and role model for our cadet-athletes. We are very excited to welcome Chris and his wife Amy to the Army hockey family.
“Jack is certainly no stranger to our program as he served as our director of operations last season. Because of the relationships that he established with our players last year, his transition to assistant coach will be an easy one. Jack knows this league very well as he was a former outstanding player in Atlantic Hockey. He has a great hockey mind and I know that he will be able to have a positive impact with our players both on and off the ice. The bottom line is Jack has grown up around Army West Point athletics, and in particular Army West Point hockey, and I’m not sure if we could’ve found anybody with a greater love and passion for our program and this academy.”
Prior to Colgate, Azzano also worked as an assistant coach at Morrisville from 2019 to 2022. He also spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL.
Before the Stars, Azzano spent two seasons on the bench with Cortland, serving as an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator. Azzano got his collegiate coaching start at Canton, where he was the assistant coach for the men’s program during the 2014-15 season.
Before coaching, Azzano spent three seasons with the Mustangs as a goaltender, where he was a three-time SUNYAC all-academic team and two-time SUNYAC Commissioner’s List recipient for excellence in academics and athletics.
He earned his bachelor of business administration from Morrisville in 2014 before earning his master of science in sports management from Cortland in 2017.
Jack Riley was a Hobey Baker nominee and Atlantic Hockey all-conference selection during his playing career at Mercyhurst and joined the Army staff in Aug. 2022 after serving as an assistant coach at Albertus Magnus.
During his year-long stint with the Falcons, Riley also served as the video and recruiting coordinator along with handling various administrative duties for the staff. Prior to joining Albertus Magnus in 2021, Riley spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Manhattanville where he obtained his master’s degree in sports business management. With the Valiants, Riley also served as the recruiting coordinator while being the team’s power play and video coach.
Riley also served as a two-time captain for Mercyhurst during his collegiate playing career. During his tenure with the Lakers, Riley made an immediate impact, being named to the Atlantic Hockey all-rookie team in 2014-15. Riley scored over 100 points in his career, highlighted by his senior season where he was named Atlantic Hockey’s top defensive forward along with all-conference second team honors. Riley graduated from Mercyhurst with a bachelor’s degree in business management in 2018.
