JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Icemen are rewarding head coach Nick Luukko after the best season in franchise history.
The team announced it signed Luukko to a three-year contract extension on Tuesday afternoon, keeping the 30-year-old in town for the foreseeable future.
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“The continued support with the extension here, like I’ve been saying all along I love living in Jacksonville, I love working in Jacksonville and I couldn’t be happier right now. It’s a great city, underrated hockey town in my opinion. If you just look at the attendance stats, we’re right at the top of the league. With the new Community First Igloo, it’s only going to grow the game even more in Jacksonville and I’m extremely excited to be a part of that.
Luukko had a stellar season in his head coaching debut. He led the Icemen to 40 wins and to the second round of the ECHL playoffs, both franchise-firsts for Jacksonville.
“We are beyond thrilled to have Nick return and remain with our organization,” Icemen CEO Andy Kaufmann said in a statement. “Nick has helped elevate our team to the next level both on the ice and in the community. He has established a culture here that our players have embraced. We are confident that Nick will continue to develop players to the next level, while bringing our organization to new heights for our fans to enjoy for the years to come.”
Luukko came to Jacksonville after spending the 2019-21 seasons as an assistant coach for the Reading Royals. He spent four years with Reading as a player, too, lining up as a defensemen in 274 career games there. Luukko also played in seven games with the American Hockey League’s Lehigh Phantoms. He was a sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Luukko said that his first season as a head coach was a positive one, with his biggest issues the ebb and flow of COVID-19 lineup shuffling the biggest challenge.
“I mean, other than that, there isn’t a whole lot I want to change,” he said.
“I like the way we handled our business this year, on and off the ice, practices, games, all that stuff. I think it’s just a little more experience from both myself and our players and moving forward it’s going to help us put us over the top.”