Staff Directory
- Title:
- Jeanette and Richard Given Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach
- Phone:
- 401-863-1915
- Email:
- Joined Brown:
- July 2009
- Alma Mater:
- Brown '94
Hometown: East Providence, Rhode IslandÂ
Education: Brown, 1994, B.A. , Organizational Behavior and Management
Coaching Experience:Â Head Coach, Brown University, 2009-present
                         Assistant Coach, Dartmouth College, 1998-2009
                       Assistant Coach, Brown University, 1997-1998
                         Assistant Coach, Colby College, 1996-1997
                       Volunteer Assistant Coach, Brown University, 1994-1996
East Providence native, Brendan Whittet, a 1994 graduate of Brown University, and an assistant coach at Dartmouth for 11 years, was named the 15th head men's hockey coach at Brown in July of 2009. He will begin his 17th season behind the Brown bench in 2025-26.
A 25-year veteran of the college coaching ranks, Whittet has guided the Bears to three ECAC Tournament Final Four appearances, most recently during the 2018-19 season. He spent the 11 seasons prior to joining Brown as an assistant on the Dartmouth College staff, helping to guide the Big Green to the 2006 ECAC Regular Season Championship and the 2007 Ivy League Championship. During Whittet’s tenure on the Dartmouth staff, the Big Green were perennially ranked among the nation’s elite, posting seven straight winning seasons (2000-2007) and 166 wins from 1998-2009.
Whittet's first season at Brown produced immediate dividends, as he guided the Bears to one of their most successful seasons in recent history. Brown won 13 games, the most since winning 16 during the 2004-05 season. Under Whittet's guidance, the Bears improved nearly every facet of their game offensively, while advancing to the ECAC Championship Tournament after finishing the regular season in 11th. Along the way during their historic playoff run, the Bears upset sixth-seeded Rensselaer in the First Round, before upsetting top-seeded and 6th-ranked Yale in the Quarterfinals. Brown closed out its first season under Whittet by finishing third in the League with a 3-0 shutout over St. Lawrence in the third place game.
Individually, tri-captain Jordan Pietrus ’10 was the national recipient of the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award. Aaron Volpatti ’10 and Jeff Buvinow ’12 were named All-Ivy, while Volpatti also earned All-ECAC honors and was a finalist for the ECAC’s Best Defensive Forward Award. Volpatti, who signed an NHL contact with Vancouver at the conclusion of the season, also earned Academic All-Ivy and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
In 2010-11, Whittet improved the Bears' regular season positioning from 11th to 9th and the Bears were in the hunt for a first round home series until the final weekend of the season. Whittet and his staff guided Brown to many big wins, including a 6-1 victory over #10 Boston University, a pair of ties with #6 UNH (5-5) and #2 Boston University (4-4), and a 3-2 win over #1 Yale, Brown's first-ever modern era win over a team ranked #1 in the Country. The Bears also swept Colgate and Cornell in the same season for the first time ever.Â
Individually, Harry Zolnierczyk ’11 was named the Ivy League Player of the Year and earned First Team All-Ivy honors, while Dennis Robertson ’14, a 2011 draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs (6th round) was named Second Team All-Ivy. Jack Maclellan ’12 (Second Team) and Robertson (All-Rookie) were both named All-ECAC at the conclusion of the season. Zolnierczyk, who signed an NHL contract with Philadelphia at the conclusion of the season, was also named CoSIDA Academic All-District.
Whittet’s third season was accompanied by some highs and lows. By the end of January, the Bears found themselves at 8-8-3 and in the upper half of the ECAC. They had compiled some impressive non-conference wins, including a 5-2 victory over UNH in Durham, N.H. and a 5-2 win against Providence College. The victory over the Friars earned Whittet his first Mayor’s Cup as head coach of the Bears. Unfortunately, Brown struggled down the stretch, ultimately losing a three-game first-round playoff series at Quinnipiac.
For his leadership and community-service work, Bobby Farnham ’12 received the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award. He also received the Joe Tomasello Unsung Hero Award, given by New England Hockey Writers. Dennis Robertson ’14 received Second Team All-Ivy honors. Jack Maclellan ’12 earned First Team All-Ivy and Second Team All-ECAC recognition. Following the season, Maclellan also signed a two-way contract with the Nashville Predators. Collectively, the men’s ice hockey team received a perfect APR, academic progress rate, from the NCAA.
In 2012-13, Whittet guided the Bears to the program’s best season in two decades. The Bears finished with an overall record of 16-14-6 for the team’s first winning season since the 2004-05 campaign and put together a remarkable run down the stretch in the ECAC Tournament. The seventh-seeded Bears earned a first round series win over Clarkson, in two games, and then a quarterfinal series win over second-seeded Rensselaer, in three games, before upsetting #1 Quinnipiac in the semifinals to advance to the Championship game for the first time since 1993. Brown fell to Union in the championship game but recorded seven more wins than the previous season.
Matt Lorito ’15 finished second in the conference in goals scored and was named Second Team All-ECAC following the season. Additionally, Anthony Borelli ’13 earned Third Team All-ECAC recognition. Borelli, Lorito and Dennis Robertson ’14 all earned First Team All-Ivy honors.
In 2013-14, the Bears finished the season with an overall record of 11-17-3, playing nine games against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament, which included wins over Quinnipiac and Colgate, and ties against Boston College and Denver. Whittet notched his 50th career victory in a season-opening weekend sweep over defending national champion Yale and Dartmouth to claim the Liberty Hockey Invitational. Dennis Robertson ’14 was named the ECAC Hockey Co-Best Defensive Defenseman following the season, and was also named Third Team All-ECAC and First Team All-Ivy. Matt Lorito ’15 was named Second Team All-Ivy, while Nick Lappin ’16 and Tyler Steel ’17 were both named Honorable Mention All-Ivy.
Brown went 8-20-3 overall during the 2014-15 season, highlighted by a Mayor's Cup Series victory over Providence College, the eventual 2015 National Champion, and a home won over Harvard, the eventual 2015 ECAC Champion. Brown put together a strong run late in the season with a six-game unbeaten streak during the month of February, including the program's first road sweep over the Capital District since the 2003-04 season, but the Bears bowed out to the Crimson in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. Matt Lorito '15 and Nick Lappin '16 were named Second Team All-Ivy following the season.
In 2015-16, Brown knocked off No. 1 ranked Providence College, the defending national champions, and also tied No. 4 UMass Lowell in the championship game of the Friendship Four, the inaugural tournament held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Nick Lappin ’16 was named to the All-ECAC First Team after the season, marking the program’s first All-ECAC First Team selection since Yann Danis ’04 in 2004. Tommy Marchin ’19 was named to the All-Rookie Team and was a finalist for the Rookie of the Year Award. Max Gottlieb ’19 joined Marchin on the All-Rookie Team as the Bears had multiple All-Rookie selections for the first time in program history. Sam Lafferty ’18 was named to the All-ECAC Third Team the following season, while defenseman Josh McArdle ’18 joined Lafferty on the All-Ivy Team. Lafferty and Gottlieb went on to earn All-Ivy honors for their efforts during the 2017-18 season.
Whittet led the Bears to a winning record in 2018-19, finishing 15-14-5 overall with a 12-7-2 record in the second half, as the team made a run through the ECAC Tournament and reached the conference semifinals for the first time since 2013. Brown earned the eighth seed in the conference tournament, and swept Princeton at home in the first round, capped by a triple overtime victory to clinch the series in the longest game in program history. Brown then swept top-seeded and No. 5 Quinnipiac on the road to advance to Lake Placid. The Bears also won the Three Rivers Classic tournament in Pittsburgh midway through the season, while Tommy Marchin ’19 and Zach Giuttari ’20 earned All-Ivy honors.Â
The Bears compiled nine wins, including three over top-10 opponents in 2022-23. Brown captured a 3-2 road win over eighth-ranked Providence for the Mayor's Cup in November and also claimed a 6-2 road win over eighth-ranked Merrimack and a 3-2 home win over ninth-ranked Harvard in January. Mathieu Caron and Luke Krys earned Second Team All-Ivy honors with Caron also garnering Third Team All-ECAC accolades.Â
The Bears produced offensively in 2022-23, finishing the season with 65 goals for, the most since the 2018-19 season. Brown also tallied 17 power play goals, the most since 2017-18, with James Crossman recording six power play goals.Â
Freshman Ryan Bottrill was the first rookie since 2015-16 to finish the season with 20 or more points. The Chandler, Arizona native finished the 2022-23 campaign with 21 points and a spot on the HCA Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Award Watch List.
Two freshmen: Lawton Zacher and Max Scott, earned spots on the HCA Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Award Watch List in 2023-24 in addition to transfer Ryan St. Louis earning Walter Brown Award semifinalist honors and a Hobey Baker Memorial Award nomination. Additionally, freshman Alex Pineau and St. Louis earned All-Ivy accolades after breakout seasons with the Bears.
The 2024-25 season saw the Bears host a home playoff game for the first time since 2019, a 3-2 victory over Princeton, in the most successful season in two decades on College Hill. The Bears swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence on the road for the first time since 2004 and just the third time in program history. Brown took a home win over both teams to complete the season sweeps - the first time Brown has swept both the Golden Knights and Saints in the same season. It marked the first season sweep over Clarkson since 2009-10 and just the fourth in program history.
Brown also posted a five-game winning streak in January 2025, marking the first five-game streak since the 2009-10 season and just the fifth dating back to the start of the 1977-78 season. The Bears also swept the regular season series against Yale for the first time since 2004-05 and just the fifth time since the start of the 1979-80 campaign.Â
Three Bears picked up All-ECAC honors with Lawton Zacher earning Second Team recognition, Tyler Kopff earning Third Team honors, and Brian Nicholas earning All-Rookie recognition. Additionally, Alex Pineau was named a finalist for the ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman Award and Max Scott was named a finalist for the Best Defensive Forward Award. The Bears also picked up five All-Ivy honorees and matched Cornell with two First Team selections in Kopff and Zacher. Pineau and Ryan St. Louis picked up All-IVy recognition for the second consecutive year and Scott also earned an All-Ivy nod.Â
While at Dartmouth, Whittet was involved in many aspects of running the program including recruiting, video analysis, off-ice skill development, NCAA compliance issues, working primarily with the Dartmouth defensemen, and overseeing the team’s penalty-killing unit. Whittet helped lead the program to a tremendous resurgence, as the Big Green were perennially ranked in the top-20 and posted four seasons with at least 18 wins, including two 20-win seasons. Dartmouth also appeared regularly in the ECAC Tournament, making semi-final appearances in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Under Whittet’s guidance, the defensive unit saw a similar transformation, reaching a milestone during the 2004-05 season when the team recorded its lowest goals against average in 44 years. Dartmouth allowed 2.37 goals per game that placed the defensive unit among the elite teams nationally. A similar trend can be seen in the penalty kill. The 2004-05 unit finished with an 86.1 percent kill ratio that placed statistically in the top 10 in the country.
Before his arrival at Dartmouth, Whittet’s teams at Brown and Colby both experienced success. In 1995, his first season coaching the Bears, Brown won the Ivy League Title. In 1996-97 Colby finished with a 19-6-1 record and captured the ECAC East Playoff Championship. Whittet then returned to Brown for one more season, helping to lead the Bears to a fourth place finish during the ECAC Regular Season, after finishing in 12th the year before.
For 12 summers, Whittet worked for the New England District at various USA Hockey Select Summer Festivals, serving as an assistant coach in the summer of 2008 for the US Under-17 National Select Team that competed in the 5 Nations Tournament, held in Prievidza, Slovakia. Whittet has also been the head coach for the New England Select-16 team that participated in the 2000 USA Festival that went undefeated in the tournament. Whittet also serves as a member of the New England Select coaching staff that works with elite New England players ranging in age from 13-18.
A former defenseman at Brown, Whittet was a four-year letterwinner. He appeared in 74 games and helped lead the Bears to an Ivy League title in 1992, two trips to the ECAC Final Four Championship in 1993 and 1994, and an NCAA at-large tournament team selection in 1993.
During Whittet’s high school career he was a two-time Rhode Island all-state and all-league selection at perennial powerhouse Mount St. Charles. He was named the Rhode Island Defensive Player of the Year in 1988-89. Whittet also played for Southern New England in the Junior Olympics in 1989, before heading to the Kent School for a postgraduate year.
This is Whittet’s second head coaching position at Brown, as early in his career, while an assistant coach for the Brown hockey team, Whittet was also the head men’s golf coach.
Whittet, his wife, Karen, are the parents of two daughters, Peyton and Addyson.
•   Whittet is the fourth Brown hockey alum to be named Head Coach of the men’s hockey team, joining Wescott E.S. Moulton ’31 (1948-52), Donald F. Whiston ’51 (1953-55), and J. Allan Soares ’60 (1971-74)
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| Season | Overall | ECAC Hockey (finish) | Ivy League (finish) |
| 2009-10 | 13-20-4 | 6-12-4 (11th) | 2-7-1 (5th) |
| 2010-11 | 10-16-5 | 8-12-2 (9th) | 4-6-0 (4th) |
| 2011-12 | 9-18-5 | 5-13-4 (12th) | 2-6-2 (6th) |
| 2012-13 | 16-14-6 | 7-9-6 (7th) | 5-5-0 (4th) |
| 2013-14 | 11-17-3 | 8-13-1 (9th) | 5-5-0 (4th) |
| 2014-15 | 8-20-3 | 5-14-3 (11th) | 2-6-2 (5th) |
| 2015-16 | 5-19-7 | 3-13-6 (11th) | 0-8-2 (6th) |
| 2016-17 | 4-25-2 | 3-18-1 (12th) | 1-8-1 (6th) |
| 2017-18 | 8-19-4 | 7-14-1 (10th) | 4-6-0 (4th) |
| 2018-19 | 15-14-5 | 8-9-5 (8th) | 3-6-1 (5th) |
| 2019-20 | 8-21-2 | 8-12-2 (9th) | 3-6-1 (5th) |
| 2020-21 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2021-22 | 7-20-4 | 6-12-4 (9th) | 5-5-0 (4th) |
| 2022-23 | 9-18-3 | 5-14-3 (11th) | 2-7-1 (5th) |
| 2023-24 | 8-19-3 | 6-14-2 (11th) | 2-7-1 (6th) |
| 2024-25 | 14-15-3 | 9-11-2 (8th) | 3-5-2 (4th) |
| TOTAL | 145-285-59 | 94-170-48 | 38-93-14 |
