Varsity

Head Varsity Coach: Brian Kinsella

Mr. Brian Kinsella begins his third season as coach of the Varsity Hockey Knights.

Mr. Kinsella played hockey in the NHL (Washington Capitals), the AHL (Springfield, Massachusetts), and the IHL, where he played for Dayton, Kalamazoo, Port Huron and Toledo. At Dayton, he was a member of a Turner Cup team in 1975-76, and played for the Toledo Goaldiggers when they won two Turner Cups (1981-84). He scored more than 500 points in the IHL and holds the IHL record for the fastest overtime goal in playoffs.

His coaching experience includes serving as travel coach for Mite through Midget teams, JV coach at Bedford from 1999-2002, Bedford Varsity Assistant coach during the 2003 season, and the Toledo Cherokee assistant coach from 2003-2006. He was past president of the Northwest Ohio Ice Hockey Officials Association from 1998-2003, and has been a high school official for 15 years.

Kinsella and his wife Laura have two grown sons, Derek, 25, and Kevin, 21, both of whom are licensed hockey officials. He has worked for Marshall-Kloene Orthopedics as a Board Certified Orthotist for 22 years.

Assistant Varsity Coach: Chris Varga

This season marks Mr. Chris Varga's third season on the Knight coaching staff. He coached as as assistant at Woodward High School for three seasons, and was the Head Coach for four seasons at Bedford High School. He also served as Head Coach of the Toledo Cherokees Junior B team for three years.

Coach Varga was under contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins.

Assistant Varsity Coach: Derek Kinsella

Derek Kinsella played travel hockey with Toledo Optimist Youth Hockey Association, and played varsity hockey at Bedford High School. He is currently a student at Owens College, where he is studying Criminal Justice. He has enlisted in the Air National Guard and will be graduating in November in Civil Engineering.

This is Derek's second year on the Knight coaching staff, but he has several years experience as a USA Hockey official and a high school official.

General Manager: Michael Marciniak

Mike Marciniak was born and raised in Toledo and is a 1960 graduate of Central Catholic High School where he played in the first St. Francis/Central Catholic football game, won by the Knights 28-0. Mike's involvement with St. Francis began when his son enrolled here and played both football and hockey. In the twenty fifth meeting of St. Francis vs. Central in football, in which Mike's son was the starting center, St. Francis won again, also by a score of 28-0. After high school, Mike was awarded a full athletic scholarship to Michigan State University where he played football all four years and graduated with a degree in business.

After college and a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, he began his career in public accounting and became a CPA in 1969. Presently, he's a retired partner with the firm Plante & Moran, and continues to work for them on special assignments. Mike's service to St. Francis began in 1981 when Mitch was a freshman playing for the Knight's hockey team. The team was young in age, stature, and organization. He joined the parents support group and began to help with administrative matters. At that time, the team was somewhat of a stepchild and Mike promised Fr. Olszewski and Dick Mattingly that he would lend his help for five years after Mitch graduated......he's beginning his twenty seventh season as the team's general manager, performing such duties as scheduling games and practices, buying equipment, paying the bills, managing collections, making travel arrangements, and maintaining uniforms (he can use the sewing machine pretty well, just ask his wife Joyce). In 2002 he was inducted in to the St. Francis Hall of Fame for Outstanding Service, an award which is presented annually to a non-graduate of the school.

He remains active in other areas of the sport as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sylvania Tam O'Shanter Arena, and with other community and civic organizations.

Trainer: Rob Poolos

Rob is a 1991 graduate of the University of Toledo/Medical University of Ohio in Physical Therapy. Upon graduation he relocated to Ft. Collins, CO where he resided for 12 years. During his time in Colorado, he worked with a group of 15 orthopedic surgeons specializing in sports medicine and post-operative rehabilitation of knee and shoulder injuries. In 1995 Rob received his athletic training certification and became the team physical therapist and assistant athletic trainer for the Colorado State University football team and athletic program. In the summer of 2004 he and his family returned to the Toledo area. He is currently the owner and therapist at Sylvania Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, where he sees a variety of sports and orthopedic injuries. Rob, his wife, Cindy, and children Zach and Hope currently reside in Sylvania. He is excited to start his fifth season with the SFS hockey team and is looking forward to the upcoming season.

Head Junior Varsity Coach: Jake Surdell

Jake Surdell joins the Knight Hockey family for his first season as the Head Junior Varsity Coach. He played varsity hockey for the Knights for four years, and was team captain his senior year (1997-98).  He brought the experience of several years of experience on travel teams in Ohio and Michigan to his years as a Knight Icer.

Jake played for the University of Toledo's club hockey team, and began his coaching career at UT, where he was an assistant coach for the club team from 2003-2005.  He was the head coach of the club team from 2005-2009.  His resume includes participation in a number of USA Hockey Mid-American camps from 2007- present.  Jake is looking forward to the challenges of Junior Varsity hockey and a successful first season as head coach.

Assistant Junior Varsity Coach: Josh Surdell

Josh Surdell has joined the Knight Hockey family this year as the Assistant Junior Varsity Coach. Josh is a 1993 graduate of St. Francis de Sales, Where he played varsity hockey for four years.  He attended the University of Toledo, where he studied Criminal Justice.  While at UT, he played for the school's club hockey team.  Josh has coached hockey at several levels, including Mites up to Pee Wee house leagues, as well as All-Star and travel teams sanctioned by the Sylvania Metropolitan Amatuer Hockey League.  From 1997-1999, Josh was the assistant JV hockey coach at SFS and from 2004-2009, he was the assistant hockey coach for UT's club hockey team.  Josh and his wife Kelley have two daughters, Haley and Kelsey. Currently Josh is a stay-at-home dad.