CHC prides itself on having among the most dedicated and passionate coaching staffs in the area. Our USA Hockey certified coaches are all parent volunteers who coach because they love the game of hockey and want to give something back to the sport that has given so much to them. They also happen to have significant playing and coaching experience – our staff counts many NCAA Division 1, Division 3, and ACHA alumni, along with several with professional hockey experience. Simply put, our coaches have the best combination of high level hockey experience mixed with community volunteerism that ensures a great youth sports experience for your child.
We do it because we love the sport, not because we are getting paid to coach. Hockey is a community, Cranford Hockey Club is a family and our coaches lead the way for us.
Casey Laflamme joins us in his 5th year of coaching at the Cranford Hockey Club.
Casey played NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey on a scholarship at Fairfield University after playing two years of junior hockey in the EJHL. He was a four-year starter, finishing with 70 career total points and named one of the team captains in his senior year.
Growing up in Maine, Casey began playing ice hockey at the age of 3 with the Biddeford Youth Hockey club. Casey was a 4 year varsity starter for the Class 'A' Maine high school Biddeford Tigers earning 1st-Team All State selections and the role of Team Captain for both his Junior and Senior years. Casey was named the 'Class 'A' All Star Game MVP' and later named the school's first ever Travis Roy award winner, an honor presented annually to the top male ice hockey player in the state of Maine. Casey was recently inducted into the Biddeford High Athletic Hall of Honor for contributions in Ice Hockey.
In his professional life, Casey is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in NY where he is head of Emerging Markets Sales. With 21 years of financial industry experience Casey has held roles at Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan in NY. Casey and his wife Laura live in Westfield with 2 children, Londyn and Walker.
Kevin Dougherty, more commonly known as Coach Doc, will lead the 2024/2025 Squirt Silver team. He has been involved with CHC since 2017 in multiple roles, notably overseeing the CHC Mite Dev program twice ('17 and '23) and as head coach of Pee Wee Gold for the ‘22 season. He also served as assistant coach at the Mite, Squirt, and Bantam levels in the years between. He sits on the CHC Board of Directors, is the CHC League Delegate and co-chairs the CHC Scholarship Fund. He is USA Hockey and Safesport certified.
His philosophy on coaching is to emphasize EFFORT and ATTITUDE over OUTCOME and you will hear him remind his players of the two things they can control and the one thing they can’t, respectively.
In his professional life, Coach Doc is the Head of Supply Chain Strategy for a leading global pharmaceutical company. He is the co-founder of The Tidelands Initiative, a NJ-based 501c3 focused on the environmental cleanup of coastal wetlands and he also sits on the events committee of NF2 Biosolutions, a PA-based 501c3 funding research to cure a pediatric disease known as Neurofibromatosis.
He and his wife Catherine live in Westfield and have three children, the oldest and youngest play for CHC.
Bill Dyer is the head coach of Squirt Green. This is his 7th season coaching for Cranford Hockey Club – his 3rd as head coach. Bill has led teams at the Mite, Squirt and PeeWee levels for CHC and is a USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach. Bill's passion for hockey began when he first joined Princeton Hockey Club as a Mite, and he hasn't hung up the skates since then. He continued his club career through high school playing for the Bristol Blazers in PA, winning a district championship as a Pee Wee. He continued playing on club and recreational teams through college and graduate school, and still plays as a member of the New Jersey Outlaws in the Hockey North America Adult League.
Bill has held various roles leading marketing and product teams at American Express for the past 20 years, and currently runs the online travel business for American Express Travel in NYC. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from Middlebury College, where he served as the varsity golf team captain. He lives in Cranford with his wife Christine, son Andy (a goalie) and daughter Molly (Squirt Green).
Michael Tanella has been coaching at Cranford Hockey Club for approximately 9 years and is currently the head coach of Squirt Blue AA. Throughout his years with CHC, Michael has been involved with Mite Development through PeeWee AA and has been a part of many great teams and accomplishments. Last season, as the head coach of the Squirt Blue, the team went on to win both the state and district championships for A National.
Michael played 4 years at NYU on the ACHA hockey team and just loves the sport and giving back through coaching. He is a USA hockey level 4 certified coach and Safesport certified.
When not coaching, Michael’s professional career is an equities trader at Trillium Trading and recently he celebrated his 20th year anniversary with the firm. He resides in Westfield with his wife Heather and 3 sons, all of whom play hockey, and their dog Cooper. In the off season, the Tanellas enjoy traveling as a family.
Jason LaBarge has been a coach with Cranford Hockey Club for 6 years as a mite, squirt and peewee assistant coach. Jason enjoys working with small groups of players on their skill development (skating, shooting, passing) and overall enjoyment of the game.
Jason played NCAA Division 1 hockey for four years for Clarkson University. Before that, Jason played junior hockey in the USHL for the Sioux City Musketeers and in the Central Canada Hockey League for the Smith Falls Bears. He grew up in upstate New York where he played high school hockey in Massena. He is a USA Hockey Level 3 certified coach.
In his professional life, Jason is Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities for Bausch Health Companies, an American-Canadian multinational specialty pharmaceutical company based in Laval, Quebec, Canada.
Jason and his wife Joanne have three kids and live in Scotch Plains, NJ. Cooper is a 2011 Bantam, Kate will be a freshman at Gettysburg College where she will study Health Sciences and play soccer, and Brooke will be a freshman at Sacred Heart University where she will study Business and swim.
Danny Perriello is a board member and goalie coach for Cranford Hockey Club. This is his fourth year coaching at CHC, including three seasons as a head coach at the squirt and mite levels in addition to working with goaltenders across all age groups. Danny has been a goaltender for over 30 years at various levels inclusive of two years playing at Montclair State University. He is a USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach and certified goalie coach.
In his professional life, Danny is the Director of Retail Operations for Wakefern Food Corp. Wakefern is a retailer owned cooperative that services and supplies 50 member companies who independently own and operate over 350 retail supermarkets across the Northeast. Danny obtained both graduate and undergraduate degrees from Montclair State University and resides in Cranford with his wife Emma and two children.
Mike DuHaime is the president of the Cranford Hockey Club. This is his ninth year coaching for CHC, including six seasons as a head coach at the squirt, pee wee and bantam levels. He led his Bantam A team to an EJEPL championship. Mike was a 2-year captain and 4-year skater on the Rutgers University ACHA men’s ice hockey team where he also later spent two years as an assistant coach. He is a USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach.
In his professional life, Mike is CEO and founder of a multi-state public affairs firm. He is also an adjunct professor and member of the Board of Trustees for Rutgers University. He has lectured on public affairs at Harvard, Princeton, UCLA, Seton Hall, NYU, and the University of Chicago among others. Mike frequently appears in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Star Ledger, and on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, CNBC, BBC and Fox Business commenting on current events. Mike and his wife Dore have three sons and live in Westfield, NJ.
Josh Mandel is the administrator of the Cranford Hockey Club. He has been a coach with CHC for 8 years from the Mite Development level up to Bantams. Both of his sons currently play for CHC. Josh started his hockey career with Cranford in 1988. He played for Penn State University where he was a 4 time First Team All-American leading the team to 4 straight ACHA Division 1 National Championships. He also played for Team USA in the World University Games in Poland (2001) and Italy (2003 Team Captain). He is a USA Hockey Level 4 Certified Coach.
In his professional life, Josh is the owner of the well known CrossFit KOA in Mountainside. His gym has classes focusing on building speed, agility, strength and conditioning. Many local sports teams and athletes attend classes at CrossFit KOA as well as people of all ages who enjoy the coach led supportive environment.
Josh and his wife Rachael have 4 kids (2 boys and 2 girls) and live in Cranford.
Erik Williamson is the head coach of Peewee Blue. This is his fifth year coaching at CHC, including three seasons as a head coach at the Mite and PeeWee levels. He has a son in his 6th year and a daughter in her 4th year with the club. Erik played youth and high school hockey in the Chicago area and continues to play in local adult leagues alongside fellow CHC coaches. He is a USA Hockey Level 3 certified coach.
In his professional life, Erik acts as the head of engineering at a fast-growing series A startup in New York City. As the owner of the software and data engineering consultancy ZLP, he has led engineering projects on behalf of several Fortune 500 companies. Prior to his evolution into a software engineer, Erik's focus was materials science and chemical engineering, including graduate research on nanostructured coatings at MIT and a position as an engineer synthesizing elastomers for artificial hearts at Syncardia.
He is a graduate of Princeton University. Erik and his wife Melissa live in Westfield, NJ.
Brian Murphy is returning for his second year as a Mite Head Coach for CHC. In previous years, Brian has spent time as an Assistant Coach, Videographer, Commentator, and, most importantly: an avid supporter of children learning the sport that has given so much to him and his family. Brian learned the love of hockey playing both street and ice hockey since the age of 12. He was part of the original Westfield High School Ice Hockey Team (94/95 and 95/96). Brian is a USA Hockey Level 3 certified coach and progressing to Level 4, this year.
Brian is an Investment Counselor for an International Private Bank. Brian and his wife, Sarah, have three boys and live in Scotch Plains, NJ. All three of their boys are proud to have started their hockey experiences at Cranford Hockey Club.
Dave Gerlach is entering his eighth year of coaching at Cranford Hockey Club, including two as head coach. He has coached at the Mite, Squirt and Pee Wee levels.
Dave was a 4-year member and 1-year alternate captain of the Bucknell University ACHA men’s ice hockey team where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He is a USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach.
In his professional life, Dave is a Senior Energy Trader at PSEG. He lives in Westfield with his wife, Andrea, and their four children, three of whom currently play for Cranford Hockey Club.
David Munsky has been an assistant coach with Cranford Hockey Club at the Mite and Squirt level for 2 seasons and will be the head coach of the Squirt gold team for the 2024-2025 season. He is an advocate for girls hockey, having two daughters playing for the club. David was a goaltender throughout his own youth hockey career. He is a USA Hockey Level 2 certified coach.
In his professional life, David is President of VC Renewables, a utility-scale solar and energy storage development company and subsidiary of the Vitol Group. He began his career as an electrical engineer for Lockheed Martin designing circuits for radar systems. David has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, and MS in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University. David and his wife Erica have two current and one future hockey players and live in Scotch Plains, NJ.