Matt Curley is an American ice hockey coach and former player. As of 2021, he is the head coach of the

Des Moines Buccaneers The Des Moines Buccaneers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team has played in the Western Conference since the 2009–10 season. History The Buccaneers began USHL play during the 1980–81 sea ...

in 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 ...

Early life and education

Curley was born in

Madrid, New York Madrid ( ) is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York. The population was 1,735 at the time of the 2010 census. The town is named after the capital of Spain. Madrid is in the northern part of the county, north of Canton. Madrid-Waddington C ...

. He attended

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York. Clarkson has additional graduate programs and research facilities in the New York Capital District. It was established in 1896 and enrolled over 4 ...

, 12 miles from his hometown, in the fall of 2003. He was a member of the first recruiting class for new head coach

George Roll George Roll is an American ice hockey coach. He was the head coach of the Clarkson Golden Knights from 2003 through the end of the 2010-2011 season, leading them to their most recent conference championship and NCAA The National Colleg ...

. While the team finished a disappointing ninth place in the conference, Clarkson achieved a runner-up finish in the ECAC

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. After two middling seasons, Curley's senior year saw him named as an assistant captain for the team and the Golden Knights rocketed up the standings, finishing 2nd in the regular season but ending up as conference tournament champions. Clarkson received the #3 overall seed and was top ranked team in the East Regional bracket but in the opening game they drew

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and were unable to beat future

NHL 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 ...

star

Jonathan Quick Jonathan Douglas Quick (born January 21, 1986) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Quick was selected in the third round, 72nd overall, by the Los Angeles Kings at the ...

once in over 67 minutes of playing time. Curley graduated with a degree in history, law, business administration.

Career

Curley spent the next season with three separate teams in two leagues. In 2008 and 2009, he moved up to the AHL and spent the whole season with the

Reading Royals The Reading Royals are a professional ice hockey team that currently plays in the ECHL. The team participates in the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Royals play their home games at the Santander Arena located in downtown R ...

. After recording 7 points in 64 games Curley had had his fix of professional hockey and retired. Curley returned to the game in 2011 as an assistant coach for the US Under-18 team at the world junior championships and helped the program win its third consecutive title. The following year, Curley was with the US Under-17 squad as an assistant at the 2012 World U-17 Hockey Challenge and helped the team to a runner-up finish. The

Indiana Ice The Indiana Ice was a Tier I junior ice hockey team and member club of the United States Hockey League (USHL) that was formed in 2004 when the Danville Wings were purchased and moved from their location in Danville, Illinois, to Indianapolis, ...

named Curley as an associate head coach in 2012, but he continued to word with the US national junior team, acting as an assistant for the

2013 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2013 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 15th IIHF World U18 Championship and was hosted in Sochi, Russia. This was also a test event for the facilities to be used in the 2014 Winter Olympics. It began on 18 April 2013 with the gold medal ga ...

that saw the US finish second behind the

Connor McDavid Connor Andrew McDavid (born January 13, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre and Captain (ice hockey), captain of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Selected first overall by the Oilers ...

-led Canada team. Curley's tenure in Indiana ended after one season when he accepted an assistant coaching post with

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

and after a one-year hiatus he returned to the national program and helped team USA to its ninth tournament crown in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. Curley headed overseas in 2015 to coach the RB Hockey Juniors, the junior affiliate for

EC Red Bull Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club plays their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History In their first season, 1977–78, HC Salzburg took third ...

. After a year they promoted him to head coach for EC Red Bull Salzburg II, the team's minor affiliate in the newly created AlpsHL. After missing the playoffs the first year Curley led his team into the quarterfinals in 2018 but was on the move once more when he accepted the head coaching gig at Alaska Anchorage. In 2021, he was named the head coach of the

in the

College head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curley, Matt 1983 births Living people People from Madrid, New York American men's ice hockey centers Ice hockey coaches from New York (state) Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey players Flint Generals players Twin City Cyclones players Huntsville Havoc players Reading Royals players Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey coaches Ice hockey players from New York (state)