A native of Boston, Massachusetts, O’Brien most recently served as Head Coach of Boys Varsity Hockey and Assistant Athletic Director of The Hill School in Pottstown, PA, and previously served for 3 seasons as Director of Hockey Operations at Harvard University.
O’Brien started his career in hockey, after playing one season in Germany for EC Pfaffenhofen, as an NHL Scout with the Florida Panthers. He then served as Vice President of LEGACY Global Sports, and continued as President/GM of the Portland Junior Pirates junior hockey organization in Maine.
O’Brien is a graduate of New England College with a degree in Business Administration, where he served as Captain of the hockey team, and he earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the Massachusetts School of Law.
Prior to joining the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite as Hockey Director, Danny was the Hockey Director at Maritime Varsity Academy in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He also served as the Head Coach for the Cole Harbour Major Midgets out of the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League. Danny has coaching experience at all levels as he was a Graduate Assistant Coach at Bemidji State University and has helped develop numerous players into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League during his time at Maritime Varsity Academy. Furthermore, Danny has spent time working within Hockey Nova Scotia’s program of excellence and most recently with Hockey Canada’s U17 Developmental program.
Danny finished his playing career at Acadia University and earned an Undergraduate Degree in Kinesiology. After Acadia, he moved to Bemidji, to complete a Master’s of Science degree at Bemidji State University.
In 2023 Danny was promoted to Executive Director, Hockey Operations and Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.
Contact Danny at damackinnon@pittsburghpenguins.com
Trevor has been with the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Staff since 2018 and has been heavily focused on the development of our advanced 8U and 10U players for the past 5 years along with many of our other athletes. He loves to working closely with his players and families to develop a high level of passion for the game while acquiring the advanced skill set that they will need to have success at the highest levels.
Prior to joining our staff he enjoyed a successful 9 year stretch with Detroit Honeybaked where his team won a USA Hockey 14U National Championship in 2015. Trevor also serves as the Director of Player Personnel for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. Trevor was born in Toronto, Ontario and went on to play NCAA Hockey at Clarkson University (00-04'). After college Trevor spent 3 seasons in the United Hockey League (UHL) before retiring in 2007 after scoring 40 Goals, 49 assists, 89 points in 182 professional games.
Contact Trevor at tedwards@pittsburghpenguins.com
Dan has spent the past two seasons at Trine University in Indiana where he has served as the Head Coach for the ACHA DII team and as the Assistant Coach for the NCAA team. In his two seasons as coach of the ACHA team, the Thunder has compiled a record of 54-9-2. They have also qualified for the ACHA DII national tournament in each of the last 2 seasons.
Dan has served in many coaching roles in his career. Since 2015, he has served as a NCAA Volunteer Coach at Bowling Green University, Head Coach of the Little Caesars 14U team, Associate Coach for the Honeybaked Midget 16/18U and St. Mary’s Catholic Central High School in Michigan.
Kevin has made a name for himself by blending his passion for hockey and technology into a unique training experience. His use of visual feedback and technical detail have made him a highly sought after skills coach across North America. Kevin has been working in private hockey training facilities and running numerous camps and clinics since 2002. In 2006 he formed online training and coaching website HockeyShare. In 2014 Kevin co-founded hockey training center LM Precision Training in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He currently works with a number of professional, collegiate, junior, and AAA athletes. Kevin also brings 15 years of team coaching at the bantam and midget levels as well as 3 years of hockey director experience.
Josh joins our staff after serving as a Pittsburgh Penguins Elite coach since 2017. Josh brings a wealth of experience at different age levels and has a true passion for developing each athlete into best versions of themselves.
Prior to joining Pittsburgh Penguins Elite in 2017, Josh served as an Assistant Coach with the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) and Volunteer Assistant Coach with Western Michigan University (NCAA). Josh was also previously a scout for the Sudbury Wolves (OHL).
Josh played NCAA Hockey at Bowling Green State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management.
After serving as a Penguins Performance Training Coach, Christian now joins the on-ice development staff as a Skills Development Professional. Christian has previous experience serving as a skills coach for TPH Detroit where he worked with a wide variety of age levels from 10U to professional.
Christian attended Trine University where he served as an Assistant Captain and earned a Bachelor of Science in Sports & Recreation and Minor in Coaching & Exercise Science. After receiving his degree at Trine, Christian joined Aurora University as an Assistant Coach.
Joe joins our staff after serving as Head Coach for the 16U Maine Nordiques and Head Skating and Skills Coach for the NAHL Maine Nordiques.
Joe played NCAA Hockey for Trine University, where he earned a Masters of Business Administration.
Mitch Harris, previously the Director of Program Development for the Goalie Doctor school in the Philadelphia area will be the Director of Goaltending for all UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex goalie training, EXCEL Hockey Academy and Pittsburgh Penguins Elite. Prior to joining the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex he served as the goalie coach for the Metropolitan Riveters (PHF), Alvernia University (NCAA Men's Division III), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (NCDC, Premier and Elite), The Hill School Boys Prep team and various youth programs in the Philadelphia, Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Harris is a USA Hockey Level 4 Coach and serves as a guest coach for multiple elite summer camps.
Mike is a former goalie from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia who was promoted to full time practice goalie for the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins. Mike is a former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League goaltender with the Rimouski Oceanic and finished his playing career with four years at Acadia University. Prior to joining the staff, Mike spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Acadia Axemen and the technical director for the Acadia Minor Hockey Association.
Contact Mike at mchiasson@pittsburghpenguins.com
Originally from Aurora, IL, Jason earned his Master’s Degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Miami in 2006. A major opportunity fell upon him in 2010 as Jason began serving as the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Athletic Development for IMPACT PERFORMANCE in Boca Raton, FL. That opportunity provided Jason access to train 1000’s of athletes, be an Athletic Trainer for multiple professional sports organizations, and run the NHL Combine for four years.
Early in Jason’s career, he was employed by the University of Miami and responsible for rehabilitating Olympic, professional, and collegiate athletes from various sports including football, track and field, and volleyball. A major highlight of Jason’s time at the “U” was serving as a Core Training specialist for the track and field program as well as working with numerous alumni from the NFL and MLB. For the past three seasons, Jason has had the awesome opportunity to serve the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite program and the Excel Hockey Academy as their Director of Sports Performance. Jason is a proud supporting member of the National Athletic Training Association (NATA).
Abrianna is a local Pittsburgh product and was a high level competitive gymnast growing up. She graduated from West Virginia University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Psychology. During her undergrad, she completed her internship with Penguins Performance Training and was hired on as a pat-time Performance Training staff member after graduating. Since then, she has worked her way up to becoming a full time staff member.
During Abrianna’s tenure with the Penguins organization, she has facilitated top level training with Pens Elite teams, Excel Hockey Academy, and adult clients. “Aubs”, as her athletes know her, specializes in training for softball, figure skating, cheerleading, and track and field. She is currently working on obtaining her CSCS certification (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) and looks forward to being the Girls Performance Coordinator this season.
Growing up, Vinnie was a competitive martial arts athlete for close to 12 years, competing in multiple different arts including Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and more. Following college, Vinnie decided to pursue strength and conditioning in an effort to help people better their lives and become the strongest version of themselves possible. He started in private training session and continued on to a commercial gym management position.
In the time prior to working for Penguins Performance Training, Vinnie worked extensively with youth to adult athletes, retired military, and those who just wanted to improve their fitness. In addition to hockey, he has worked with a vast array of collegiate athletes including softball/baseball, basketball, football, track and field, and swim. Vinnie looks forward to utilizing his expertise to further developing Penguins Performance clients.
