David Carle (born November 9, 1989) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach who is the head coach for the men's ice hockey team at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

Career

Hailing from

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, Carle attended prep school at

Shattuck-Saint Mary's Shattuck-St. Mary's (also known as Shattuck-St. Mary's School, Shattuck, or simply SSM) is a coeducational Episcopal-affiliated boarding school in the city of Faribault, Minnesota. History Established in 1858 as an Episcopal mission scho ...

Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,453 at the 2020 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...

. After his career at Shattuck, Carle was projected to be a second-round pick in the

2008 NHL Entry Draft The 2008 NHL entry draft was the 46th entry draft for the National Hockey League. It was hosted by the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, on June 20–21, 2008. The Senators were originally awarded the 2005 NHL entry draft ...

. While preparing for the draft an abnormality was detected during the NHL combine and after undergoing tests at the

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

Carle was diagnosed with

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which muscle tissues of the heart become thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ...

, an enlargement of a heart muscle. While the genetic abnormality is not immediately life-threatening, it has been shown to be a leading cause of sudden death in athletes. The diagnosis caused Carle to retire from ice hockey as a player, but despite the end of his career he was still drafted 203rd overall in the seventh and final round by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

. Then-owner

Oren Koules Oren Koules (born January 31, 1961) is an American entrepreneur and film producer. He is the co-founder of Evolution Entertainment and produced the Saw (franchise), ''Saw'' film series as well as the CBS television series ''Two and a Half Men'' ...

's son attended Shattuck-Saint Mary's at the same time as Carle; Koules directed general manager Jay Feaster to select Carle in recognition of Carle's hard work. The

honored the scholarship it had offered to Carle and he began attending the school in the fall of 2008. Wanting to keep him as part of the team, head coach George Gwozdecky offered Carle a place as an assistant coach with the program as long as he was a student at Denver. What started out as a tentative effort to see if Carle was still interested in the game eventually turned into a full-time coaching position. After graduating from Denver in 2012, Carle joined the

Green Bay Gamblers The Green Bay Gamblers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). They play in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, at the Resch Center. History Professional hockey in Green Bay The first p ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL) as an assistant coach, but returned to Denver less than two years later as an assistant under then-new head coach Jim Montgomery. Carle stayed with the Pioneers for four years, helping the team win the 2017 national championship, before he replaced Montgomery as head coach in 2018. In the 2018–19 season, Carle led Denver to the 2019 Frozen Four in his first season as head coach. In 2021–22 season, he led the team into the 2022 Frozen Four as a first seed (fourth overall), where they defeated Minnesota State 5–1. In 2022–23 season, Carle led Denver to a 30-win season, and the Penrose Cup as

National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference. The league was formed on July 9, 2011 and began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a ...

(NCHC) regular season champions. He was also selected to coach the U.S. national junior team at the 2024 World Junior Championship in Sweden. He led the U.S. to its sixth World Junior Championship gold medal, where they defeated

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

6–2. In 2023–24 season, he led Denver to its record-breaking 10th national championship in the 2024 Frozen Four as a first seed (third overall), where they defeated

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

2–0. He was again selected to coach the U.S. national junior team at the 2025 World Junior Championship in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada, where he led the U.S. to its seventh World Junior Championship gold. The U.S. defeated

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

4–3 in overtime to win back-to-back World Junior Championships for the first time in the country's history.

Personal life

Carle has two brothers who also played ice hockey. Older brother

Matt Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

played for

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, winning two national titles and a

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 44 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton Universit ...

, before embarking on an 11-year career in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). His younger brother Alex played for

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
Biography at Denver Pioneers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carle, David 1989 births Living people American ice hockey coaches Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Alaska Ice hockey people from Anchorage, Alaska Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks