Niagara has announced that Hobart assistant coach Niko Kovachis will serve as an assistant coach for the Purple Eagles.
The move returns Kovachis to his alma mater, where he played four seasons as a defenseman from 2015 to 2019.
“Niko is going to do well in the coaching ranks, and I feel this was a great move for Niagara hockey, Jason Lammers, Niko and the Kovachis family,” Hobart head coach Mark Taylor said in a statement. “I know Coach Kovachis will have a special spot in his heart for Hobart hockey and especially the players that he has recruited and coached here. Niagara is his and his wife’s alma mater, it’s the right move at the right time, (and) we take pride in the fact he struggled with making a decision we knew he had to make.
“One of our mottos here is to take our hockey as far as we can. If this means as a team we win a championship or as individual players, coaches and staff we go on to higher levels, then we are successful in our development. The Hobart hockey family is excited for Coach Kovachis and wishes him well at Niagara.”
Kovachis joined the Hobart staff prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. In two seasons, he helped guide the Statesmen to a 57-3-2 overall record and two national championships. The Statesmen also won two NEHC titles. Hobart won all 33 games on its home ice under Kovachis, extending its NCAA Division III-record home unbeaten streak to 53 games. He mentored seven AHCA All-Americans and 18 all-NEHC selections.
The move not only brings Kovachis back to his alma mater but also unites him with two of Taylor’s former assistant coaches at Hobart in Lammers and associate head coach Mark Phalon. Lammers was Taylor’s assistant for the 2001-02 season. Phalon served on Taylor’s staff from 2015 to 2018.
“You hire good people, they do good work and they will have opportunities to move on,” Taylor said. “Jason coached Niko at Niagara. He recommended him highly to me for this job, so it was no surprise to see him scoop him up when the position opened at Niagara.”
Kovachis played in 125 career games for the Purple Eagles. He had 37 points on 11 goals and 26 assists and blocked 119 shots.
