Dan Fontas named Cushing boys hockey head coach

Well, that didn't take long.

Shortly after Ryan Bourque left Cushing to become an assistant for the AHL's Providence Bruins, the Penguins opted to promote assistant Dan Fontas as the boys hockey head coach.

Fontas has been at Cushing as a coach since 2021. From 2021-24, he was the head coach of the Varsity B team, which Cushing uses as a feeder to the big club. He jumped onto the bench as an assistant with the main varsity team this past season.

From 2012-19, he spent time as general manager and head coach of the New England Stars. He was the head coach for Acton-Boxboro High School in the MIAA from 2003-08.

Fontas' roots run deep at Cushing.

The Acton, Mass., native captained the 1998 team that won a New England prep championship. He went on to play four years at UMass Lowell from 1998-02, posting 16 goals and 56 points in 134 games.

READ MORE: The road to Cushing winning the Elite 8 championship

Fontas takes over a Cushing team fresh off winning an Elite 8 title. While the Penguins lost some of their top talent, they will be led up front by '09s Joseph Covelluzzi (Wakefield, Mass.) and Chase Warsofsky (Northboro, Mass.), as well as '07s Axel Favreau (Auburn, Maine) and Parker Murch (York, Maine), along with '08s Jeff Swartz and Miles Mireault (Topsfield, Mass.). Cushing graduated most of its defensive core from last season, but should be led by Oliver Svoboda.

The Penguins are also slated to bring in another high-end recruiting class with players of different birth years.

With Fontas, 46, Cushing is opting for stability. Bourque lasted one year before moving on and Paul Pearl was the previous head coach from 2021-24 before becoming the athletic director for Dexter Southfield.

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