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Blackhawks Head Coaches

Kevin Bergner

Kevin has been an Assistant Coach with the Santa Clara Blackhawks at the Mite and Squirt level for the last 3 years and returns to the Mites for 2016-17. Kevin currently serves on the Blackhawks Board as the 2nd Vice President - Ice Scheduler.

Chris Harvey

Chris started coaching with the Blackhawks for the 2023-2024 season, at the Mite and Squirt levels. Chris grew up in the Bay Area and is a Blackhawk alumni, having played on the Midget A team from 1995-1998. Chris is focused on developing players' individual skills and hockey IQ while maintaining a fun and exciting environment that reflects his love of the game.

Sova Khuong

Coach Sova is a Certified Level 4 USA Hockey Coach that hails from Calgary, Canada, and played his youth hockey there. He has been coaching youth hockey for about 20 years and has coached Mini-mites, Mites, Squirts, Tier Peewees, Bantam, and Midgets as well as Spring Bantam AAA levels. His teams have competed at multiple State Championships and won the NorCal Championships at the Mite and Squirt levels and the CAHA championship at the Peewee AA level. He is a chiropractor who practices in San Jose and is also a personal trainer. His facility includes a fully equipped training center for strength and conditioning and developing skills for hockey players.

Craig Janik

Craig is a Certified Level 4 USA Hockey Coach. He grew up playing youth and high school hockey near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After high school Craig played two seasons of Tier II junior hockey in Ontario, Canada, and one season at the Division I level at the University of Denver. Craig has coached youth hockey in California for fifteen years at all levels from mite to 14AAA. He is the head coach of the Palo Alto Vikings High School team. Craig’s goal is to develop players in all facets of the game including physical skills and hockey IQ while keeping the game fun.

Paul Lieu

Paul is a Certified USA Hockey Level 4 Coach. Paul grew up in Southern California but has been a Bay Area resident since 1998. Paul has been coaching youth sports for more than 10 years, previously with the Tri-Valley Blue Devils. With the Blackhawks, Paul has been an assistant coach for the Mites program before coaching at the Squirt level. He has played hockey for many years and has now turned his attention to coaching. His coaching philosophy is to teach, develop, motivate, and inspire kids to be the best of themselves on and off the ice.

Spencer Mains

Spencer Mains is a Certified Level 5 USA Hockey Coach who has over two decades of hockey coaching experience leading U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18 travel teams in the Bay Area. Spencer is currently the head coach of Stanford University’s division 2 ACHA PAC 8 team as well as the Blackhawks U12-2 team. Spencer is known for holding teams accountable while generating an atmosphere of high-performance excellence with a strong  emphasis on process, playing the game the right way, and having fun all along the way  A player and fan of the game since childhood, Spencer’s attention to detail, love of the game and overall  leadership has helped players at all ages exceed their expectation on and off the ice.

John McNulty

John McNulty is a Certified USA Hockey Level 3 Coach who grew up playing youth and junior hockey in New Hampshire before moving to California. John started coaching with the Santa Clara Blackhawks in 1994 with the 18U-B team, and later with the Blackhawk's 12U, 14U, and 18U teams. Since 2000, John has worked with 14U A/AA and 18U A/AAA levels.  With more than 20 years of youth hockey coaching, John strongly believes in player development, competition, and making the game of hockey fun.

Eugene Murphy

Eugene is a Certified USA Hockey Level 4 Coach who began playing hockey at the age of 4 in the Washington, D.C. area. His playing background includes AAA youth hockey with the Washington Little Capitals, Junior A in the WSHL, and ACHA D2. Eugene has been a power skating and head coach for over 20 years, beginning coaching as a student coach at 16 with learn to skate and mini mite programs. After completing college, Eugene relocated to the Bay Area where he began coaching and started E3 Hockey & Power Skating in 2016.  Eugene served as an assistant coach and assistant GM for the Tahoe Icemen Junior A team of the WSHL (2018 - 2019).

Max Rosenthal

Max has coached hockey players since 2017 after goaltending with AAA, high school prep, and NCAA D1 programs in Buffalo, NY. He now coaches beginner through pro goalies of all ages while leading adaptive hockey programs for players with disabilities. Off the ice, Max has served as the Hockey Outreach & Inclusion Coordinator with the San Jose Sharks, the Special Sharks’ representative for the NHL’s ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ committee, and as a hockey writer. Max combines his postgraduate social work training and years of consulting experience with his on-ice expertise to help families create their ideal hockey experience.


Outside Coaches

The Blackhawks are fortunate to enlist the services of some of the Bay Area's finest coaches for skating and goaltending.

Cathy Andrade is a triple Gold certified former figure skater from Calgary, Canada who moved to the Bay Area in 1992 and pioneered the first formal power skating program. She established Power Hour in 1998 and is entering her 33rd year of coaching on the ice.  For her work with professional and minor league hockey players, she has been recognized and accredited in the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NHL.com, and local publications.

Cathy has been the Santa Clara Blackhawk's Power Skating Coach since 2009 through her company, Cathy's PowerSkating.

Jake Acton - Goalie Coach

Jake Acton is a former USHL goaltender, having played Junior hockey for the Omaha Lancers as well as the Minnesota Magicians (NAHL), Corpus Christi Ice Rays (NAHL) and the Wenatchee Wild (BCHL). While with the Magicians, Jake was named the NAHL Goaltender of the Month.  As an elite youth hockey goalie, Jake achieved the highest levels playing Tier 1 hockey and was selected to advance to the National Player Development Camp across multiple seasons.  Jake has been the Blackhawks Goalie Coach since 2022.