Kurt Kleinendorst (born December 31, 1960) is an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

coach. Since January 2022, he is head coach of the Iserlohn Roosters from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Kleinendorst played four seasons at Providence College and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.

Playing career

Kleinendorst played for Providence College for four years, from 1979–80 to 1982–83, for Lou Lamoriello. He was selected in the fourth round (77th overall) of the

1980 NHL Entry Draft The 1980 NHL Entry Draft was the 18th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum. This was the first time that an NHL arena hosted the draft.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.241, Published in Canada by Doubled ...

by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, but never played in the NHL. He was a member of the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

( CHL) team that suspended operations on February 16, 1984, playing only road games for final six weeks of 1983–84 season. Despite this adversity, the team went on to win the Adams Cup. In 1986–87 he played with

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geography Iserlohn is locat ...

(Germany) and Peliitat Heinola (Finland) teams, and then with the Rotterdam Pandas in the Netherlands during the 1987–88 season,

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

(Germany) 1988–89, and continued to play minor league hockey through 1990.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Kleinendorst was director of hockey operations and head coach for the Raleigh IceCaps of the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

from 1991 to 1994, and again from 1995 to 1997. During the 1994–95 season he was the assistant coach and assistant general manager of the International Hockey League's

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

. He was both general manager and head coach of the Manchester Storm of the UK

Ice Hockey Superleague The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...

from 1997–98 to 1999–2000, where he was named Coach of the Year following the 1998–99 season. Kleinendorst joined the New Jersey Devils organization in 2000–01 as an assistant coach under

Larry Robinson Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils (which he held on two occasions), as well as the Los Angeles Ki ...

. He was a scout for five years prior to assuming the head coaching position at organization's Lowell Devils AHL affiliate from 2006–07 to 2008–09. On July 13, 2009, it was announced that former Devils star John MacLean would replace Kleinendorst as the head coach of Lowell. Kleinendorst was named head coach of

USA Hockey National Team Development Program The United States National Team Development Program (NTDP) was started in 1996 by USA Hockey as a way to identify elite ice hockey players under the age of 18, and centralize their training. There are two teams in the program: under-17 and under- ...

's Under-18 team for the 2010 season, leading the team to a Gold Medal at the

2010 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2010 IIHF World U18 Championships was the 12th edition of the IIHF World U18 Championship. The tournament was held in Minsk and Babruysk, Belarus, between April 13 and April 23, 2010. Tournament games were played at the Minsk Sports Palace in ...

. When interviewed about taking the position with USA Hockey, Kleinendorst stated "I could’ve stayed with New Jersey as a scout, but I had already done that. And when

Jim Johannson James Johannson (March 10, 1964January 21, 2018) was an American ice hockey player, coach and executive. He played for the United States national junior team at the World Juniors in 1983 and 1984, then played for the United States national t ...

called and asked me to think about this job, it was good timing ..These are high-school age players and I remember what my high school coaches t Grand Rapidsmeant to me. I know that the Development Program is one of the best programs anywhere and I’m intrigued by working with this age group." Kleinendorst had previously served as Team USA's assistant coach during the 2008 IIHF World Championship. On August 6, 2010, the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

signed Kleinendorst to a two-year contract as head coach for their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

affiliate Binghamton Senators. Kleinendorst replaced Don Nachbaur, who resigned as head coach following the 2009–10 season. He led the team to the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

in 2011. He left the Senators' organization at the end of the contract in 2012. On September 25, 2012, Kleinendorst was named head coach at the

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social scienc ...

. On May 29, 2013, Kleinendorst resigned as coach and was succeeded by Mike Corbett. On July 22, 2013, Kleinendorst was hired as head coach by the

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. The team was f ...

, the AHL affiliate of the NHL's

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

. He was sacked in November 2014 following a 2–10–0–0 start in the 2014–15 campaign. Kleinendorst was announced as the new head coach of German

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

team

ERC Ingolstadt ERC Ingolstadt (''Eishockey-und-Rollschuh club'', ) is a German professional ice hockey club that plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Commonly known as the Panthers, the team plays its home games at the Saturn Arena in Ingolstadt. History ...

on November 26, 2015 and had his contract renewed in March 2016. However, he returned to the Binghamton Senators on June 8, 2016, as head coach instead of staying with ERC Ingolstadt. The franchise became the Belleville Senators after his first season back and he was retained as head coach for 2017–18. After a 57–86–4–5 record over both seasons and failing to make the playoffs, his contract was not renewed. On April 25, 2019, Kleinendorst returned abroad to Germany after he was announced as head coach of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the DEL. On June 21, 2020, he resigned from the Ice Tigers' head coaching position citing the desire to spend more time with his family. On January 11, 2022 Kleinendorst returned to the DEL. He took over the struggling Iserlohn Roosters from Brad Tapper. This marked Kleinendorst's return to Iserlohn, where he had been a player during the 1986-87 season.

Personal

Kleinendorst and his wife, Deon (Barbara), have four children: Ryan, Kollin, Kaitlyn, and Jake. Their daughter Katie played

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

for North Andover High School and ice hockey for North American Hockey Academy in

Stowe, Vermont Stowe is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 5,223 at the 2020 census. The town lies on Vermont Routes 108 and 100. It is nicknamed "The Ski Capital of the East" and is home to Stowe Mountain Resort, a ski fac ...

. she was playing hockey at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

for the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. The Uni ...

under a scholarship. He is the younger brother of former NHL player Scot Kleinendorst, and the 5th of a family of 6.

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

References

External links

Profile at hockeydraftcentral.comInterview with Kleinendorst while Head Coach of Manchester Storm
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleinendorst, Kurt 1960 births Living people Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey coaches American ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey forwards Binghamton Senators coaches ECD Iserlohn players Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota Indianapolis Checkers players Lowell Devils coaches New Haven Nighthawks players New Jersey Devils coaches New Jersey Devils scouts New York Rangers draft picks People from Grand Rapids, Minnesota Providence Friars men's ice hockey players Rotterdam Panda's players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) players Toledo Goaldiggers players Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Ice hockey players from Minnesota