Dan Jewell begins his fourth season on the Merrimack College men's ice hockey coaching staff in 2022-23.
Jewell helped Merrimack to a two-win improvement from the previous season in his first year on the staff and helped develop the Warriors' massive 16-man freshmen class. A trio of current players (Zach Uens, Declan Carlile and Jere Huhtamaa) were ranked in the NHL Central Scouting mid-term rankings for the NHL Draft, while a pair of future Warriors were also on the list. Carlile had one of the best seasons for a freshman defenseman in Merrimack history, as he tallied 22 points on four goals and 18 assists to earn Hockey East All-Rookie team honors and was named a finalist for the league's Rookie of the Year award. Merrimack also made a splash at the 2020 NHL Draft when Uens (Florida) and Alex Jefferies (NY Islanders) both went in the fourth round, which was the first time in program history that two Warriors were taken before the fifth round in the same draft.
Merrimack continued to take strides during Jewell's second year in North Andover, as the team had three ranked victories, including one over eventual national champion, UMass. The Warriors also earned their second straight Hockey East All-Rookie team selection during Jewell's tenure when Jefferies was selected to the team after he totaled 10 points in just 12 games. He also helped develop freshman goalie, Zachary Borgiel, who started 13 of the team's 18 games and notched four of the team's five wins.
It was a tremendous season of growth for the Warriors with Jewell on the staff. He coached freshman goalie, Hugo Ollas, who took over the starting job towards the end of the season and had a 2.24 goals against average and .920 save percentage, which was good for the fifth-best save percentage in the nation among rookies. Warrior netminders combined for a .903 save percentage overall, which lifted them to a 19-15-1 record, which marked the second-most victories in the school's history at the Division I level. Jewell also guided the team's penalty killing unit, which picked up plenty of steam as the year continued, as it killed off 18 straight opposing power plays in February and ended with a .802 success rate, which marked considerable growth from the campaign before. Merrimack had a pair of players sign NHL contracts after the season, as Carlile inked a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Uens signed on with the Florida Panthers. Carlile was also named a second team Hockey East all-star and Max Newton was selected as an all-star honorable mention player.
Jewell carried an extensive coaching background with him to Lawler Rink, most recently serving as the Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator / Goaltending Coach at RPI from 2017-19. Prior to that, Jewell enjoyed stints with the Bloomington Thunder of the USHL (2014-17), Hamilton College (2012-14) and SUNY Plattsburgh (2011-12).
Jewell oversaw three NHL Draft selections while at RPI, while also working with four future prospects and aiding in the signing of three Engineering to NHL/AHL contracts. Jewel's time in Bloomington also saw him develop professional talent with nine prospects garnering NHL Draft selections from 2016-18.
Jewell graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2011 with a bachelor of science degree in Kinesiology, and earned his master of science from Cortland as well in Sports Management. Jewell was a member of the hockey program at Cortland from 2007-11 and was an Academic All-American (09-11).