Notre Dame has announced Mike Garman has been named associate head coach of the Fighting Irish hockey team.
Garman arrives in South Bend after eight seasons with the USHL’s Chicago Steel, where he served in a variety of roles during his time with the Steel, including assistant coach, associate head coach, GM and most recently, GM/head coach.
He previously served under Notre Dame head coach Brock Sheahan as an associate head coach from 2019 to 2021, where the duo led the team to a pair of Anderson Cups, awarded to the USHL’s regular-season champions, as well as the 2021 Clark Cup championship. He was promoted to GM in Sheahan’s last season as head coach with the Steel in 2021-22. In addition to the two Anderson Cups, and Clark Cup, the Steel finished first in the USHL’s Eastern Conference in four of Garman’s eight years with the Steel.
“It has always been my plan to bring Mike Garman with me to Notre Dame if/when I became the next Catalino Family Head Hockey Coach,” Sheahan said in a statement. “Mike is, first of all, a great person, a family man, and the type of human I want our student-athletes to be around. He is a brilliant hockey mind, great at developing meaningful relationships, and will be a great support for me in the development of both our team, and each individual player. He will be involved in all areas of our program, running our penalty kill, goalie development, recruiting, and be heavily involved in the individual development of our players.
“I can’t wait to have Mike and his family at Notre Dame. They are a perfect fit for our culture, and he is the right person to help us achieve our vision for Notre Dame hockey.”
Garman succeeded Sheahan as head coach of the Steel following his departure for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves in 2022-23 before Sheahan’s arrival back at Notre Dame in 2023-24. Since taking over the Steel prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, Garman has led the Steel to a record of 86-82-18 and has an overall record of 269-159-50 in his eight seasons with the team.
He coached 31 NHL draft picks and one NHL free agent signing in his eight years with the Steel, including seven first-round picks, two of which were first overall selections (Owen Power 2021/Buffalo and Macklin Celebrini 2024/San Jose). Also, as general manager of the Steel, Garman tendered two future first round NHL picks in 2022-23 (Celebrini and Michael Hage) and coached two eventual Hobey Baker Award winners (Adam Fantilli – 2022-23/Celebrini – 2023-24). Garman also coached 12 NCAA All-American selections.
In his role as both an assistant coach and associate head coach with the Steel, Garman worked with the goaltenders, including current Seattle Kraken prospect Victor Ostman and 2023-24 NCAA East Second Team All-American Ian Shane (Cornell).
The former netminder spent three seasons at Cornell where he finished his career with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage as a junior – ranking second nationally among NCAA Division I netminders for the 2010-11 season. He concluded his career with the Big Red with a .925 save percentage and just 44 goals against in three years.
Following his collegiate career, Garman spent three years playing professionally, both in North America and Europe, before returning to the United States and founding GoaliebyGarman, LLC where he coaches and consults professional, collegiate, junior, and youth hockey players alike on developing their skills in the crease.
At the conclusion of this past season with the Steel, Garman was selected as an assistant coach for the US Under-18 Men’s National Team at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship where he helped lead the team to the bronze medal behind an overtime win in Frisco, Tex.
