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Daily Brews: Michigan hockey hires two new assistant coaches

Brandon Naurato has added some reinforcements to his coaching staff.

By njdurand
/ new
Syndication: Detroit Free Press Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

There will be some new faces on the bench for the Michigan hockey team for the upcoming season. On Monday, it was announced that head coach Brandon Naurato hired two new assistant coaches — Kevin Reiter and Matt Deschamps — to his staff. In addition, assistant Rob Rassey was promoted to associate head coach, while video coordinator Evan Hull was promoted to director of hockey operations.

Reiter joins the staff as the program’s full-time goalie coach. He was previously a member of the USA National Hockey Development Program, where he served as a goalie coach from 2013 to 2017. He has since served as the program’s director of player personnel. He also has previous coaching experience in Italy as an assistant goalie coach for the WSC Sterzing-SSI Vipiteno Broncos, and as a goaltending consultant with the Italian National Team.

Naurato spoke highly of Reiter in a press release by saying, “He knows what high-end talent looks like, how to identify it, and how to work with those types of players,” indicating Reiter should serve a pivotal role in the program’s ability to have success on the recruiting trail. Naurato also intimated the program will benefit in both recruiting and goaltender development from having a full-time goalie coach.

Deschamps will join the staff with the primary responsibility of working with defensemen. Prior to joining the Wolverines, Deschamps served as the associate head coach for the Chicago Steel of the USHL. He first gained coaching experience as an assistant with the EC Red Bull Salzburg Hockey Club in Salzburg, Austria. He also was the head coach of the club’s U18 team, and later an assistant at St. Lawrence University.

“Deschamps is one of the best defensive developers in the game of hockey,” said Naurato, who also mentioned Deschamps will also manage the penalty kill unit during games.

Deschamps and Reiter together bring plenty of experience in player development and will look to be valuable assets for the already strong Wolverine program.

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