Jared Nightingale (born October 3, 1982) is an American former professional

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 ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who primarily played in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL). He is the current Head Coach of the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL.

Playing career

On January 30, 2009, Nightingale signed an AHL contract with the

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...

. He was re-signed by Hartford on August 23, 2010. After five seasons with the affiliates of the

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

organization, Nightingale was signed to an AHL contract with the

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team based in Syracuse, New York. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. They play in they home games at the Upstate Medical Univer ...

on July 5, 2012. On July 22, 2013, Nightingale continued his journeyman career by signing a one-year contract with the Rockford IceHogs, an AHL affiliate of the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

. On February 5, 2015, the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing their home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of t ...

signed Nightingale to a professional try out. Nightingale recorded one assist in six games with the Hartford Wolf Pack, and one assist in 20 games with the Norfolk Admirals. Most recently he spent 13 games with the

Toledo Walleye The Toledo Walleye are a professional ice hockey team based in Toledo, Ohio. The Walleye are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL. The Walleye were founded in 1991 as the Toledo Storm and play their home games ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

, where he recorded three points. On February 9, 2015, Nightingale was released from his professional try out, and returned to the Norfolk Admirals. On August 26, 2015, the Toledo Walleye re-signed Nightingale to a one-year contract. Following the conclusion of the 2016–17 season with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

, and having appeared in 472 regular season AHL games, Nightingale announced his retirement from professional hockey on August 31, 2017. In the 2017–18 season, Nightingale briefly came out of retirement, playing a solitary game with the

Quad City Mallards The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the United Hockey League, International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named aft ...

of the ECHL on January 21, 2018, before returning to his assistant coaching role with the

Omaha Lancers The Omaha Lancers are a Junior ice hockey#Tier I, Tier I junior ice hockey team and are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Founded in 1986, the Lancers play at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ra ...

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 ...

Coaching Career

In 2017-18, Nightingale was an assistant coach for the

of the

USHL 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 ...

. In 2018-19, Nightingale served in the same role with the US National Development Team, also of the USHL. He was the associate coach of the

Saginaw Spirit The Saginaw Spirit are a Junior ice hockey#Major junior, major junior ice hockey team based in Saginaw, Michigan, Saginaw, Michigan. They are members of the West Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the ...

from 2019-21 and an Assistant with the

Flint Firebirds The Flint Firebirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. The team plays home games at the Dort Financial Center, and operates as a member of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team began play for the 2015–16 season. ...

in the 2021-22 season, both of the OHL. In 2022, Nightingale was named an assistant coach for the AHL's

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

, a position he held until being hired as the Head Coach of the

South Carolina Stingrays The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston ...

in 2024. In his one season at the helm, he lead South Carolina to the playoffs with a 52-15-5 record, and won the ECHL coach of the year award. On May 30th 2025, Nightingale was named the new Head Coach of the Rockford Ice Hogs.

Personal life

Nightingale's older brother,

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

, is the head coach for the

Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey The Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team that represents Michigan State University (MSU). The team plays at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan, on the MSU campus. The Spartans have won the NCAA ...

team, while his other brother, Jason, is Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingale, Jared 1982 births American men's ice hockey defensemen Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Chicago Wolves players Connecticut Whale (AHL) players Grand Rapids Griffins players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey players from Michigan Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players Iowa Stars players Living people Milwaukee Admirals players Norfolk Admirals players Sportspeople from Jackson, Michigan Quad City Mallards (ECHL) players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Springfield Falcons players Syracuse Crunch players Toledo Walleye players