Jacksonville Icemen extend head coach Nick Luukko's contract
The leader of the Jacksonville Icemen is staying in the Sunshine State.
One year after leading the Icemen to their deepest postseason run to date, head coach Nick Luukko agreed to a multi-year contract extension with the ECHL team, the hockey club announced Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"It's an honor to get an extension. I love living and working in Jacksonville," Luukko said. "It's a great spot, and I'm really excited for the future."
The 30-year-old led the Icemen to a 40-27-3-2 record, third in the ECHL South Division, with the strongest defensive record — 185 goals allowed — in the 26-team league. Luukko assembled a disciplined and hard-working unit around Francois Brassard, winner of the ECHL goaltender of the year award with a 2.19 goals-against average.
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The Icemen also won a playoff series for the first time, sweeping the Atlanta Gladiators in the opening round before losing a second-round sweep to the eventual Kelly Cup champions, the Florida Everblades.
Luukko, formerly an assistant with the Reading Royals, took over as head coach in August 2021 after original Icemen head coach Jason Christie left for an assistant coaching job with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.
Originally from West Chester, Pa., Luukko played college hockey at the University of Vermont from 2011-15 and lined up with Reading in the ECHL from 2015-19.
Luukko's next task is beginning the assembly of the 2022-23 roster. Under ECHL rules, the club must designate its season-ending roster by Wednesday, and can begin the process of re-signing players Thursday. The league's free agency window opens July 1.
Roster moves have already begun. The Icemen's two leading scorers, Craig Martin and Abbott Girduckis, both agreed this month to join HC Grotto Presov in Slovakia.
In addition, the Icemen also traded two players Monday to complete deals from earlier in the 2021-22 season. The club traded forward Ben Hawerchuk to the Reading Royals as the player to be named later in an October deal for Kyle McKenzie, and sent defenseman Pavel Vorobei to the Wheeling Nailers to complete the January deal that brought forward Brendan Harris to Jacksonville.
Still, Luukko said he's confident that the club's returning core will form a solid foundation for further improvements.
"Year one, we established a culture and had a great run in the playoffs," he said. "Moving forward, we want to keep building off that... we still have some unfinished business."
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Nick Luukko, Jacksonville Icemen reach contract extension in ECHL hockey
