HEAD COACH DON VAUGHAN

During his 12 seasons behind the Raider bench, head coach Don Vaughan has built the Colgate University men's ice hockey program into a national contender. Now in his 13th year, Vaughan hopes to continue his team's momentum and lead the Raiders to an unprecedented third consecutive 20-win season.

Under Vaughan's tutelage, Colgate has enjoyed three 20-win seasons, two NCAA tournament berths and 11 appearances in the ECAC Hockey League tournament. The 2000 ECAC Coach of the Year has mentored two Hobey Baker Award finalists, three All-Americans, an ECAC Player of the Year, two ESPN The Magazine Academic all-District I honorees, two ECAC Merit Medal recipients, and 33 all-ECACHL selections.

In addition to his commitment to success on the ice, Vaughan has continually demonstrated his commitment to the success of his student-athletes in the classroom. During his tenure, Vaughan has graduated 99 percent of his players. Since the creation of the award in 2000, Vaughan's athletes have been named to the ECACHL all-academic team 21 times.

Vaughan recorded his 200th career coaching victory with a 3-1 win against Union on Feb. 18 last season. With 204 career coaching victories, Vaughan ranks as the second-winningest coach in Colgate history behind the legendary Terry Slater, who posted 251 wins during his tenure.

Last season, Vaughan returned from a one-year hiatus to guide Colgate to its second consecutive 20-win season with 25 victories, the most in Vaughan's tenure. It marked the first time that the Raiders have won at least 20 games in back-to-back campaigns in school history. Vaughan's skaters advanced to the ECAC final four for the third time in his Colgate career. The Raiders earned a berth in the 2005 NCAA tournament, where they lost to Colorado College in a one-goal game in the Midwest regional semifinals. Colgate finished the season ranked 14th in the national polls.

After a one-year absence from post-season competition, Colgate returned to the ECAC playoffs in 2002 after compiling a 13-19-2 overall record. That season, Vaughan reached two milestones. He registered his 150th career victory in a 4-1 win against Iona on Nov. 3, and posted his 100th career ECAC win versus Dartmouth on Jan. 11. For his accomplishments, Vaughan was recognized by the American Hockey Coaches Association as a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award, which is given annually to the University Division Coach of the Year.

Vaughan first led Colgate to national prominence during the 1999-00 season. That year, he led the Raiders to the NCAA East regional and a final ranking of No. 9 in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine national poll. Vaughan, who led his team to 24 victories, was honored as the ECAC Coach of the Year and received the Howard Hartman Award as Colgate's Coach of the Year.

Vaughan recorded his first 20-win season as Colgate's head coach during the 1994-95 campaign. With 20 victories, he became the first coach in school history to win 20 or more games in a season within his first three years behind the bench. For this accomplishment, Vaughan was honored by his Colgate peers with the Howard Hartman Award.

Vaughan began his coaching career as a player/coach with the Enschede Lions of the Dutch Professional Hockey League during the 1984-85 season.

He returned to the United States the following year to serve as a graduate assistant coach at St. Lawrence University during the 1985-86 campaign.

Vaughan worked as an assistant coach at St. Lawrence under Joe Marsh for the next two seasons, specializing in the areas of penalty-kill and power-play strategy. He also served as the recruiting coordinator and head coach of the junior varsity team. During his first season as a full-time assistant, the Saints participated in the NCAA tournament for the first time since Vaughan was a player. In 1988, Vaughan helped coach St. Lawrence to the ECAC regular-season and tournament titles. The Saints advanced to the NCAA championship game, where they lost to Lake Superior State in overtime.

Vaughan left St. Lawrence in 1988 to become an assistant coach at Cornell University under Brian McCutcheon. Vaughan coached Cornell's special teams and coordinated recruiting and team travel. The Big Red reached the ECAC final four during both of Vaughan's two seasons with the program.

Following the 1989-90 season, Vaughan returned to St. Lawrence for his second assistant coaching stint under Marsh. Vaughan extended his personal string of ECAC final four appearances to six by helping the Saints to back-to-back trips to the Boston Garden. In 1992, Vaughan was part of his second ECAC tournament championship and made his third trip to the NCAA tournament. In all, Vaughan has appeared in nine ECACHL final fours and five NCAA tournaments during his 18-year coaching career.

Vaughan played three seasons of varsity hockey for St. Lawrence from 1981 to 1984 after earning All-America status during his only season at Canton College. While with the Saints, Vaughan played in 96 games at the center position. In 1983, he helped his team to an NCAA tournament appearance and a first-place finish in the ECAC's West Region. Vaughan finished his career at St. Lawrence with 41 goals and 49 assists for 90 career points.

Vaughan is a member of the American Hockey Coaches Association and is a former chair of that group's Division I Committee. He was also a member of the NCAA Rules Committee from 1998 through 2002. He currently serves on the NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Committee.
In 2004, Vaughan was presented with a Silver Puck Award by Colgate's Silver Puck Club for his work with the Raider hockey program. In 2005, he was one of two non-alumni to receive a Maroon Citation for his record of service to the university.

Vaughan stepped away from the ice during the 2003-04 academic year to serve as the university's interim athletic director. Under his leadership, Colgate achieved remarkable success. Five teams won conference championships, six coaches were honored as league coaches of the year, and the Raider football team advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA national championship game. Vaughan continues to serve Colgate in an administrative capacity as an assistant athletic director.

An active member of the Hamilton community, Vaughan hosts a hockey school at Starr Rink every summer. In addition, he is often a guest speaker at area youth hockey events.

Vaughan graduated from St. Lawrence in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He earned a master's degree in general studies from St. Lawrence in 1987.

A native of Almonte, Ontario, Vaughan resides in Hamilton with his wife, Mariel, and their children, Mark (15) and Maria (13).