Mike Vellucci

Michael George Vellucci (born August 11, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He is currently an assistant coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League. In 2025, Vellucci served as an assistant coach for the United States men's national ice hockey team at the IIHF World Championship, helping guide the team to its first gold medal since 1933. Previously, he was an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins for five seasons, and the head coach and general manager of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League for one season. Prior to that he was head coach of the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League for two seasons winning the Calder Cup in 2018–19. He was also head coach and general manager of the Plymouth Whalers in the Ontario Hockey League for 14 seasons.

Playing career Vellucci played major junior with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League from 1983 to 1986. During the summer of 1984 he was in a car driven by teammate Al Iafrate when it crashed and flipped multiple times. Vellucci was thrown from the car and broke his back. He missed the entire 1984–85 season as a result.

Selected 131st overall in the 1984 NHL entry draft by the Hartford Whalers, Vellucci played professionally in the IHL, AHL, ECHL and BHL from 1986 to 1989. Vellucci appeared in two games in the National Hockey League in 1987–88.

Management & Coaching career Vellucci was with the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) from 1994 to 1999, where his teams went 241–82–27 in the regular season and captured U.S. national championships in 1994 and 1999. The Ambassadors also captured two NAHL regular season titles and four Robertson Cups.

Vellucci coached the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) from 2001 to 2008, winning the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL Coach of the Year in 2007 becoming the first American to win. That same season, he led the Whalers to the J. Ross Robertson Cup and a berth in the 2007 Memorial Cup. He was also named the OHL's Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year in 2012–13. Vellucci stepped down as head coach of the Whalers in December 2007, as he wanted more time to concentrate on his general manager duties, and he was replaced by Greg Stefan. Stefan coached the club until November 2008, when he resigned to take a job with the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL, and Vellucci took over the coaching duties once again.

Vellucci left the Whalers after the 2013–14 season and took a job as an assistant general manager and director of player development with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. After three seasons, he became the head coach of the Hurricanes' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers in 2017. In his second season as the Checkers head coach, Vellucci won 2019 AHL's Coach of the Year award. The Checkers won the 2019 Calder Cup under Vellucci, beating the defending champion Toronto Marlies in the conference finals and the Chicago Wolves in the finals. This was the Checkers' first Calder Cup finals appearance and win.

On June 28, 2019, Vellucci parted ways with the Hurricanes organization. On the same day, he was announced as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL affiliate.

On September 2, 2020, Vellucci was named an assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

On April 22, 2025, Vellucci was named an assistant coach of the United States men's national ice hockey team for the 2025 IIHF World Championship in Denmark and Sweden, where he was responsible for the team's power play unit. The U.S. captured the gold medal, defeating Switzerland in the final. It marked the United States’ first IIHF World Championship gold since 1933. The American power play, overseen by Vellucci, operated at an efficiency of 32.35%, one of the best in the tournament, and was considered a key factor in the team's success.

On May 28, 2025, it was reported by Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff.com that Vellucci was closing in on signing on to be an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks. The signing was confirmed by the team on June 2nd

Personal life Mike and his wife, Sue, have 2 children, Allison and Ryan. Vellucci's son was drafted by Saginaw Spirit in the OHL. He was the captain for the Johnstown Tomahawks and currently plays for Adrian College. Vellucci's daughter worked for the Charlotte Checkers, Chicago Wolves and Florida Everblades as a broadcaster and social media manager, she currently works for the PGA TOUR.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1982–83 Detroit Compuware Ambassadors NAHL 23 20 43 98 — — — — — 1983–84 Belleville Bulls OHL 67 2 20 22 83 3 1 0 1 16 1985–86 Belleville Bulls OHL 64 11 32 43 154 24 2 5 7 45 1986–87 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 60 5 30 35 94 — — — — — 1987–88 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 66 7 18 25 202 — — — — — 1987–88 Binghamton Whalers AHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 2 0 0 0 11 — — — — — 1988–89 Indianapolis Ice IHL 12 1 2 3 43 — — — — — 1988–89 Binghamton Whalers AHL 37 9 9 18 59 — — — — — 1989–90 Whitley Warriors BHL 5 1 5 6 41 — — — — — 1989–90 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 4 0 0 0 5 — — — — — 1989–90 Winston-Salem Thunderbirds ECHL 10 2 7 9 21 — — — — — 1989–90 Erie Panthers ECHL 22 7 20 27 57 7 1 4 5 6 1990–91 EHC Lustenau AUT-2 — — — — — — — — — — 1991–92 Michigan Falcons CoHL 56 17 33 50 103 5 0 1 1 2 1994–95 London Wildcats CoHL 7 0 0 0 29 — — — — — IHL totals 142 13 50 63 344 — — — — — NHL totals 2 0 0 0 11 — — — — —

Coaching record Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result PLY 2001–02 68 39 15 12 2 92 1st in West Lost in Conference Quarterfinals PLY 2002–03 68 43 14 9 2 97 1st in West Lost in Conference Finals PLY 2003–04 68 32 24 9 3 76 2nd in West Lost in Conference Semifinals PLY 2004–05 68 30 29 6 3 69 2nd in West Lost in Conference Quarterfinals PLY 2005–06 68 35 28 — 5 75 1st in West Lost in Conference Semifinals PLY 2006–07 68 49 14 — 5 103 1st in West Won J. Ross Robertson Cup PLY 2007–08 29 18 8 — 3 39 (resigned) — PLY 2008–09 49 31 15 — 3 65 2nd in West Lost in Conference Semifinals PLY 2009–10 68 38 27 — 3 79 2nd in West Lost in Conference Semifinals PLY 2010–11 68 36 26 — 6 78 3rd in West Lost in Conference Semifinals PLY 2011–12 68 47 18 — 3 97 1st in West Lost in Conference Semifinals PLY 2012–13 68 42 17 — 9 93 1st in West Lost in Conference Finals PLY 2013–14 68 28 33 — 7 63 1st in West Lost in Conference QuarterfinalsTotal 826 468 268 36 54

AHL Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L OTL Pts Finish W L Win % Result Charlotte 2017–18 76 46 26 4 96 3rd in Atlantic 4 4 Lost in Division Finals Charlotte 2018–19 76 51 17 7 110 1st in Atlantic 15 4 Won Calder CupAHL total 152 97 43 11 206 19 8 2 playoff appearances