Jim Tortorella completed his first season as the head men's ice hockey coach at Saint Anselm College in 2017-18. He was named the program's seventh bench boss on May 15, 2017, bringing with him over two decades of experience at the collegiate level, including time at Providence College, the University of New Hampshire and Colby College.
In 2017-18, Tortorella guided the Hawks to their 10th Northeast-10 Tournament title as his team rallied from 5-2 down with 11 minutes to go to defeat Saint Michael's College, 6-5, in overtime. Saint Anselm closed the season on an eight-game winning streak, the second-longest in program history, and ended the season with the program's first-ever overtime win in the NE10 title game. The Hawks finished the season 17-9-1 with the 17 wins being the program's most since since 2005-06.
Tortorella spent 16 seasons at NCAA Division III Colby College (Maine) where he remains the program’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 230-138-33 (.617). At Colby, he coached 78 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) All-Academic choices, 20 NESCAC All-Stars and 16 All-Americans, while guiding the Mules to the league’s final four 10 times.
Colby was consistently ranked in the top-15 nationally under Tortorella and won the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship in 1997 for the first time in 30 years. He was twice named the NESCAC Coach of the Year (2005-06, 2007-08) and was also tabbed the New England Sports Writers Coach of the Year in 2007-08, as well as being a finalist for the National Division III Coach of the Year three times (1995-96, 2005-06, 2007-08).
Tortorella then spent three seasons as the associate head coach at the University of New Hampshire from 2011-14. At UNH, he developed and coached two All-Americans and three Hockey East All-Star selections, including current NHL player Trevor van Riemsdyk of the Chicago Blackhawks. Tortorella also organized and coached the Wildcats' defense and penalty kill that led the Hockey East and ranked second in the country in 2013, assisted in all aspects of recruiting and developed, implemented and managed all video technology and analytic systems.
Tortorella was most recently a volunteer assistant at Providence College. With the Friars, he helped with scouting and video analysis, assisted with daily pre-practice goalie development and organized and implemented daily pre-practice sessions for forwards.
In addition to his experience at the collegiate level, Tortorella has also worked with USA Hockey as the long-time Director of New England Select Teams Player Development (1997-2003, 2008-15) and has coached at various international junior tournaments. He has also been highly-involved with the American Hockey Coaches Association, including serving as the association's president (2002-03). Tortorella currently holds a master certificate from USA Hockey, the organization's highest level of coaching education achievement.
Tortorella, a former standout goalie at the University of Maine, began his coaching career at Brunswick High School (1984-87) before moving on to Cony High School, where he was a two-time State of Maine Coach of the Year in five seasons. Prior to his time at Colby, Tortorella spent one season as an assistant at UNH.
A native of Concord, Mass., Jim resides in Stratham, N.H. with his wife Erin, stepdaughter Gracie and stepson Blake. He also has two adult daughters, Natalie and Caroline.
