Jared Nightingale

Jared Nightingale (born October 3, 1982) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who primarily played in the American Hockey League (AHL). He is the current Head Coach of the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.

Playing career On January 30, 2009, Nightingale signed an AHL contract with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He was re-signed by Hartford on August 23, 2010. After five seasons with the affiliates of the New York Rangers organization, Nightingale was signed to an AHL contract with the Syracuse Crunch on July 5, 2012.

On July 22, 2013, Nightingale continued his journeyman career by signing a one-year contract with the Rockford IceHogs, an AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.

On February 5, 2015, the Grand Rapids Griffins signed Nightingale to a professional try out. Nightingale recorded one assist in six games with the Hartford Wolf Pack, and one assist in 20 games with the Norfolk Admirals. Most recently he spent 13 games with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL, where he recorded three points. On February 9, 2015, Nightingale was released from his professional try out, and returned to the Norfolk Admirals.

On August 26, 2015, the Toledo Walleye re-signed Nightingale to a one-year contract.

Following the conclusion of the 2016–17 season with the Chicago Wolves, and having appeared in 472 regular season AHL games, Nightingale announced his retirement from professional hockey on August 31, 2017.

In the 2017–18 season, Nightingale briefly came out of retirement, playing a solitary game with the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL on January 21, 2018, before returning to his assistant coaching role with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League.

Coaching career In 2017-18, Nightingale was an assistant coach for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL. In 2018-19, Nightingale served in the same role with the US National Development Team, also of the USHL. He was the associate coach of the Saginaw Spirit from 2019-21 and an Assistant with the Flint Firebirds in the 2021-22 season, both of the OHL. In 2022, Nightingale was named an assistant coach for the AHL's Rockford IceHogs, a position he held until being hired as the Head Coach of the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays in 2024. In his one season at the helm, he led South Carolina to the playoffs with a 52-15-5 record, and won the ECHL coach of the year award. On May 30th 2025, Nightingale was named the new Head Coach of the Rockford IceHogs.

Personal life Nightingale's older brother, Adam, is the head coach for the Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team, while his other brother, Jason, is Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting for the Buffalo Sabres.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1999–00 Soo Indians NAHL 5 0 0 0 15 — — — — — 2000–01 Soo Indians NAHL 49 2 13 15 108 — — — — — 2001–02 Soo Indians NAHL 55 6 21 27 102 — — — — — 2002–03 Michigan State University CCHA 38 1 3 4 42 — — — — — 2003–04 Michigan State University CCHA 42 0 8 8 54 — — — — — 2004–05 Michigan State University CCHA 35 0 4 4 39 — — — — — 2005–06 Michigan State University CCHA 41 1 6 7 26 — — — — — 2005–06 Springfield Falcons AHL 10 1 1 2 18 — — — — — 2006–07 Idaho Steelheads ECHL 11 0 1 1 22 — — — — — 2006–07 Iowa Stars AHL 9 2 0 2 4 — — — — — 2007–08 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 65 3 11 14 196 3 0 0 0 8 2007–08 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 2 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2007–08 Chicago Wolves AHL 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2008–09 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 22 0 6 6 106 — — — — — 2008–09 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 49 2 5 7 121 4 0 0 0 8 2009–10 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 16 1 5 6 52 6 1 1 2 9 2009–10 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 51 3 6 9 156 — — — — — 2010–11 Hartford Wolf Pack/CT Whale AHL 71 2 6 8 204 6 0 0 0 0 2011–12 Connecticut Whale AHL 67 1 9 10 110 9 0 1 1 10 2012–13 Syracuse Crunch AHL 56 2 5 7 121 — — — — — 2013–14 Rockford IceHogs AHL 67 1 3 4 114 — — — — — 2014–15 Toledo Walleye ECHL 24 2 2 4 24 14 1 1 2 11 2014–15 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 6 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2014–15 Norfolk Admirals AHL 20 0 1 1 32 — — — — — 2014–15 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2014–15 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 6 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2014–15 Syracuse Crunch AHL 8 0 1 1 11 1 0 0 0 0 2015–16 Toledo Walleye ECHL 37 0 7 7 79 7 0 1 1 4 2015–16 Chicago Wolves AHL 31 2 4 6 68 — — — — — 2016–17 Toledo Walleye ECHL 26 1 3 4 66 — — — — — 2016–17 Chicago Wolves AHL 12 0 1 1 18 — — — — — 2017–18 Quad City Mallards ECHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — AHL totals 472 16 43 59 989 20 0 1 1 18