Hockey Ops

The 2023-24 season marks General Manager & Head Coach Tad O’Had’s fourth season with the Mavericks. 

The 2022-23 Mavericks had their best season under O’Had as the team made its first postseason appearance in four years. The club finished in third place in the Mountain Division with a record of 34-30-6-2. The Mavericks have increased their win total in each season under O’Had. 

On March 25, 2023, O’Had was behind the bench for his 700th game as a professional coach. 

The 2022-23 season marked Kansas City’s first as an affiliate of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. O’Had’s relationship with the Kraken and Firebirds organizations were instrumental in securing the affiliation agreement. In the first season, the Mavericks saw it pay off immediately, with seven players earning AHL call-ups in the initial season. 

There were numerous individual accomplishments to occur under O’Had’s tutelage during the 2022-23 season. Goaltender Shane Starrett played in a Mavericks-record 54 games between the pipes and finished second in the ECHL with a 2.68 GAA. Jeremy McKenna finished the season with the fifth-highest single-season points-per-game total in franchise history. Additionally, Joshua Lammon tied for the ECHL lead in shorthanded goals and Loren Ulett moved into fourth place in franchise history with 251 games played. 

McKenna and Pascal Laberge were each recipients of ECHL Player of the Week honors and Starrett was one of two players to win the ECHL Goaltender of the Week award on three separate occasions during the 2022-23 season. 

During the 2021-22 campaign and with the help of O’Had’s defensive acumen, Mavericks defenseman Marcus Crawford ranked second among all defensemen in the ECHL in assists (41) and fifth in points (52) on the season. It was Crawford’s second-straight year finishing in the top-five among defensemen in the ECHL in points. 

A native of Yakima, Was., O’Had came to Kansas City after spending seven seasons with the Florida Everblades as an assistant coach and his final four seasons as the Associate Head Coach. In the position, O’Had played a large role in the team’s defense, recruiting, penalty kill and strength & conditioning efforts. O’Had was behind the bench for nearly 500 regular season games and 67 postseason games during his tenure, being a part of a staff in Florida with a .699 winning percentage. He made the playoffs in six of his seven seasons, winning a Brabham Cup Championship in 2017-18 and five South Division Championships. 

O’Had served as head coach and general manager of the Florida Jr. Blades for three seasons. Under O’Had’s direction, the Jr. Blades consistently dominated, making two appearances at USA Hockey Nationals and capturing a pair of regular season titles. He guided the team to a 112-19-8 record in his tenure. O’Had’s Jr. Blades team captured the 2017 USPHL National Championship. O’Had involved himself in hockey growing up and playing in the Tri-Cities area of Washington where he found himself drawn to the defensive side of the sport. He went on to play hockey for Millbrook Prep School in Upstate New York for three years. After graduating from Millbrook, O’Had went on to play junior hockey in the North American Hockey League and Ontario Provincial Hockey League with the Capital Centre Pride and the Port Huron Clippers, respectively. 

While pursuing higher education, O’Had attended Connecticut College in New London, Conn., where he was a three-time team captain. He became one of the founders of BlueStreak Sports Training, one of most prestigious sports training facilities in the country. O’Had went on to be the co-founder for Hybrid Hockey, a recruitment and exposure service that prepares players who are looking to expose themselves at the collegiate level. In 2009, O’Had was granted the opportunity to work in Russia with the Olympic development program where he co-founded several training programs. 

O’Had served as the Vice President of Hockey for Athletic Republic Headquarters for six years. O’Had was awarded the Dick Vraa Award for his contribution to the Athletic Republic Network. In 2017, O’Had was named to the Gulfshore Business Magazine Top 40 Under 40 list, reserved for the most influential business leaders under the age of 40 in Southwest Florida.

Riley Weselowski begins his third year with the Mavericks and first as Associate Coach, a position he was promoted to in July 2023. A native of Pilot Mound, Manitoba, Weselowski entered the coaching world after a successful 13-year playing career, the majority of which was spent with the Rapid City Rush as well as other stops in the ECHL and CHL, where he played in more than 700 regular season and 81 postseason games.

With Weselowski as a part of the staff, the Mavericks earned their first postseason victory in four years following the 2022-23 season. Kansas City went 34-30-6-2 and finished in third place in the Mountain Division.

On October 29, 2022, Weselowski and the Mavericks were on hand in Rapid City, S.D., as the Rapid City Rush retired Weselowski’s No. 6 jersey. Weselowski played in 517 games for Rapid City across nine seasons.

Weselowski was the winner of the Presidents Cup as Central Hockey League Champions with Rapid City in 2010. Additionally, he was named the 2012 Central Hockey League Defenseman of the Year as well as Man of the Year for his community involvement. He finished his playing career at the top of many Rapid City Rush leaderboards, including games played, scoring by a defenseman and penalty minutes. A natural leader, Weselowski wore a letter as a team captain in each of his final 11 professional seasons.

Weselowski spent his final six seasons on the ice in a player/assistant coach role. In 2020-21, his final playing season, he spent the majority of the season behind the bench, working with the Wichita Thunder defenseman and preparing pre-scouts and video breakdowns.

He served on the Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA) executive board during his final seven seasons, working on behalf of PHPA and in conjunction with the ECHL to negotiate the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, also playing a major role in helping guide the players and the league through the COVID shutdown of the 2020 and 2021 seasons. 

A graduate of Bemidji State University, Weselowski started the Black Hills Hockey Academy in 2011, growing it into premier on- and off-ice summer hockey training in multiple cities across Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Weselowski and his wife Kelly have a son, Collin and currently reside in Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Rob Couturier begins his first season and the goaltending and video coach for the Mavericks. He comes to Kansas City after a successful career in the collegiate ranks with the two most recent seasons as the goalie coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. During his time at UNO, Couturier helped their goaltenders tally a 2.52 GAA and a .912 save percentage during the 2022-23 season to go along with three shutouts.

Prior to his two seasons at Nebraska-Omaha, Couturier coached two years as the men’s and women’s goalie coach at Colby College. Additionally, Couturier owns ProForm Goalie Development, an academy training goaltenders since 2015. 

Nick Potter enters his eighth season with the Mavericks and carries a reputation as one of the best athletic trainers in the ECHL. During his tenure with Kansas City, he received two of the highest honors in the league as he was named 2018-19 ECHL Athletic Trainer of the Year and 2020 ECHL All-Star Classic Athletic Trainer. Potter played an instrumental role in forward Jake Jaremko’s return from injury suffered in November 2022. Jaremko rehabilitated under Potter to be able to return for the final games of the regular season as well as playing a large part in the Mavercks postseason success. Potter has created specialized rehab programs for several players during his tenure in Kansas City, including Achilles’ tendon repair (Jesse Root, 2016); Shoulder Reconstruction (Andrew Courtney, 2017; Greg Betzold, 2020); and ACL Reconstruction (Rocco Carzo, 2018). Potter serves as the President of the ECHL Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society Executive Committee and is a member of the ECHL Player Safety Committee, ensuring the highest quality of healthcare and medical advancements provided to players and teams. Before joining the Mavericks staff, he spent eight seasons as an assistant athletic trainer for the Kansas City Chiefs. A 2005 Western Michigan University graduate, he spent his 2004 and 2005 summers as an athletic training intern for the Detroit Lions. Potter went on to earn his master’s degree in sports management from Texas Tech, where he spent two seasons as a graduate assistant with the school’s football and golf teams. He is a certified athletic trainer and a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association, Kansas City Athletic Trainers Society, in addition to his membership in PHATS. Potter lives in Shawnee, Kan., with his wife, Kaylee, stepson Brayden (13), and his sons Easton (six) and Cash (four).

Justin Sturtz enters his second season as Head Equipment Manager of the Kansas City Mavericks after being named to the position in August 2022. Sturtz comes to Kansas City after spending the 2021-22 season in the same position with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League. Prior to his time in Seattle, Sturtz was a member of the Iowa Wild’s equipment staff for three seasons (2018-21). Sturtz was with the Wild as Iowa won its first-ever playoff series. Sturtz began his career by spending four seasons (2013-17) with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, where Des Moines’ points total improved each year during Sturtz’ time with the Buccaneers. Sturtz lives in Independence, Mo., with his wife and two sons.

Owner of Summit Nutrition, Jourdan Mercurio-Lewis, brings a wealth of nutrition and diet expertise to the Mavericks as Team Nutritionist. Jourdan's passion for nutrition stems from being a former collegiate athlete herself and seeing the correlation between what happens in the kitchen and athletic performance. Jourdan graduated with her Bachelors degree from University of Missouri-Kansas City in Health Science with an internship under the dietitian at Children’s Mercy. She continued her education by receiving her Masters in Nutrition and Human Performance with an emphasis in Sports Nutrition at Logan University, where she was the valedictorian of her class. Alongside Mavericks and Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs athletes, Jourdan also works with a wide range of clientele needs including chronic illnesses, children/families planning and weight loss. Jourdan’s "anti-fad dieting" approach guides players off the ice to improved performance on the ice. This includes pre and post-workout nutrition tailored to each athlete's personal goals. “Nutrition is about creating a lifestyle, not a diet. Athlete or fan. The great can become greater and implementing proper nutrition allows that next step to happen.” -Jourdan Mercurio-Lewis

Richard Reichenbach is in his first season as the Mavericks Video Analysis Coach. Most recently, he was the Head Women’s Hockey Coach at the University of Maine where he guided the Black Bears to the Hockey East Semifinals in four of his final five years. He coached and developed numerous Hockey East all-stars and national team players, including five players who played in the 2022 Winter Olympics. In the 2017-18 season, Reichenbach guided Maine to its best season in program history, including a school record in wins en route to the No. 3 seed in the WHEA Playoffs and the first semifinal appearance in program history. Reichenbach won the 2018 Hockey Each Coach of the Year and New England Coach of the Year Awards that season. Prior to his time at Maine, Reichenbach was an assistant coach at the State University of New York at Cortland. He also worked as a hockey and lacrosse specialist and strength coach at Bluestreak Sports Training in Stamford, Conn. Prior to his time at the college level, he was a hockey and lacrosse coach at the high school level. He was a four-year letterwinner in hockey and lacrosse at Hamilton College (N.Y.) and played professionally for the Richmond Renegades (SPHL). A native of Baldwinsville, N.Y., Reichenbach earned his Master’s in Sports Management from SUNY-Cortland.

Sara Reichenbach begins her first season as the Mavericks Mental Performance Coach. She is the founder of A.C.E. Coaching (www.acecoachingllc.com), a performance coaching practice focused on achieving full-charge performance and self-growth. A native of Aylmer, Quebec, Canada, Reichenbach earned her MPM certification in mental skills and her Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Mercyhurst University following her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at St. Lawrence University. While at St. Lawrence, Reichenbach was part of the women’s hockey team. She he;ped her team appear in four ECAC hockey tournaments and two NCAA Frozen Fours. Reichenbach was a four-time ECAC All-Academic Team member. Following her time at St. Lawrence, Reichenbach played professional in Switzerland from 2004-05, earning herself a tryout with the Swiss National Team. Reichenbach coached on season at the North American Hockey Academy in the JWHL. Following her time at the NAHA, she was an assistant coach at Mercyhurst during the 2006-07 season. Reichenbach then had two stints as an assistant coach for the University of Maine’s women’s hockey team (2007-09, 2012-22). Between those stints, she was an assistant coach for three seasons (2009-12) at Dartmouth College.

Ricky Chitwood is in his 12th season as the Mavericks video coordinator. In his role, Chitwood is in charge of capturing game video for Mavericks coaches.

An Anchorage, Alaska, native, Chitwood grew up playing hockey. Outside of the Mavericks, he holds various video positions in and around the Kansas City area. 

Chitwood is a graduate of Louisiana Tech and was a former airline captain and flight instructor. 

A Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgeon at Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance specializing in sports surgery, complex and revision knee and shoulder surgery, and joint preservation.