Kirk Golden has been named an assistant coach for the Castleton men’s hockey team.
Golden comes to Castleton after coaching in the NA3HL for four years and scouting in the NAHL for three.
He was an associate coach for the Great Falls Americans in 2020-21, reaching the Frontier Division playoffs finals. Golden was then chosen to turn around the Butte Cobras, taking the helm as head coach and general manager in 2021-22. He helped propel Butte to the Frontier Division playoffs in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, after posting their second and third-highest regular-season win totals in franchise history. During this time, he was also a scout for the Maine Nordiques in the NAHL.
Last season, he was head coach and general manager in the NA3HL for the Austin Ice Bats while scouting for the Corpus Christi Ice Rays in the NAHL.
Golden began in the coaching world working with the Hong Kong Typhoons and Hong Kong Selects youth programs in 2015-16. After returning to his home state of Colorado, he was an assistant coach for Aspen High’s varsity and JV teams (2016-17). The Aspen Junior Hockey program was where he spent the next few years (2017-20) holding multiple titles – skills director, coaching coordinator, head of player development, 16U girls assistant coach, and head coach of both the 19U A and 19U AA girls hockey teams.
After five Colorado state championships, one district championship and national tournament berth, Golden moved into the junior hockey coaching ranks.
Over the years, Golden has coached and developed 75-plus players that went on to play collegiately (50-plus ACHA, 25-plus NCAA).
As a player, Golden won a Tier I national championship his senior year of high school with Shattuck St. Mary’s (teammates with current NHL players Sidney Crosby and Jack Johnson) in 2002-03. After playing two years of Tier II junior hockey in the NAHL (team leading goal scorer 2003-04 with the Lone Star Cavalry), he went on to play NCAA III hockey at Hobart. The Statesmen made the national tournament three of his four years (two semi-final losses, 2006, 2009). Golden was ECAC West all-academic in 2007 and 2009.
Golden went on to play professionally in Germany for one season, France for three, one in Sweden, and one in the Federal Hockey League as well. He also played in the top leagues in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong before stepping to the other side of the bench.
