Former North Dakota captain Smaby returns to Grand Forks as Preventing Hawks’ new affiliate head coach

North Dakota has introduced the hiring of former UND captain and defenseman Matt Smaby as this system’s affiliate head coach.

“We’re excited to welcome Matt to our teaching workers,” mentioned Preventing Hawks head coach Dane Jackson in a press release. “Very like his taking part in days, his groups introduced a robust work ethic and tenacity to all the things they did, and we’re excited to have that in our program. He has succeeded at each degree he has performed and coached at and is aware of what it takes to win the correct means.”

Smaby returns to North Dakota after a profitable four-year run with the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks because the group’s head coach. Because the bench boss, he guided the Blackhawks to the postseason in every of his 4 seasons and received over 100 video games in that stretch.

In 2024-25, Smaby led Waterloo on a historic postseason run that included defeating the league’s high regular-season staff, the Lincoln Stars, earlier than coming inside an extra time objective of profitable the second Clark Cup within the group’s historical past with a 3-2 sequence loss to the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

“UND has at all times been a particular place to me,” mentioned Smaby. “My time at UND, each as a student-athlete and a coach, have molded me into the particular person, coach, father and husband I’m at the moment. Once I had the prospect to take a seat down with Coach Jackson, what was most evident was his ardour and love for UND hockey. Sharing that very same ardour, our visions aligned for what was wanted to carry this system to the highest of school hockey. I’m thrilled for the chance to work alongside Coach Jackson and the remainder of the workers, and I’m anxious to get to work.”

Smaby has additionally loved success on the worldwide degree, engaged on the teaching workers for Workforce USA on the World Junior A Problem during the last three seasons. He received gold as an assistant in 2022 earlier than taking on as head coach and capturing bronze in 2023 and gold as soon as once more in 2024.

He obtained his begin within the teaching world at North Dakota, serving as a volunteer assistant coach from 2017 to 2019 whereas finishing his diploma. After his time at UND, Smaby obtained his first full-time teaching place with EC Crimson Bull Salzburg in Austria the place he coached the league’s second-best penalty kill at 85.3%.

Smaby performed at UND from 2003-04 by way of 2005-06 and captained the 2005-06 squad to a berth within the NCAA Frozen 4. After main this system to a pair of Frozen 4 appearances and a WCHA title in his three seasons, Smaby went on to play in 122 video games over 4 years with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning earlier than profitable a number of championships in Europe.