Former University of Denver student-athlete and assistant coach David Carle has been hired as an assistant coach on the University of Denver hockey staff, head coach Jim Montgomery announced Monday.
Carle will officially join the Pioneers’ staff on Jan. 1, replacing departing associate head coach Steve Miller, who has accepted a position with the expansion Madison (Wis.) franchise in the United States Hockey League (USHL) as the head coach/general manager.
“We are so excited to announce David Carle as a new assistant coach on our staff,” Montgomery said. “David is an innovative and elite teacher and communicator that understands the DU culture of excellence and integrity in the classroom and on the ice. He is a proud alum and bright hockey mind who will work tirelessly to ensure Pioneer hockey continues as one of the elite college hockey programs in the country.”
Carle joins the Denver staff following a season as an assistant coach with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. During his time with the Gamblers, Carle helped guide Green Bay to an overall mark of 37-23-4 and a second-place finish in the USHL’s Eastern Conference with a total of 78 points. In addition, the Gamblers set a franchise record for 15 consecutive victories on their home ice during the 2012-13 campaign.
“I am very honored and excited to join my alma mater,” Carle said. “I am grateful and hungry for the opportunity to add to the rich and proud tradition that is Denver hockey.”
Carle originally was recruited to the University of Denver as a player, but was forced to retire from hockey in July 2008 after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – a primary disease of the myocardium muscle of the heart that is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.
Despite the fact that he had a medical condition that ended his playing career, Carle was a seventh-round selection (203rd overall) of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in finance in 2012.
Carle has a rich hockey tradition in his family; his brother Matt became Denver’s first Hobey Baker Award winner in 2006 and is a current member of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. His younger brother Alex is a member of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms.