Alex Gacek enters his fifth season at the helm of the Nichols College men’s ice hockey program in 2026-27, having been named the 23rd head coach in program history in September 2022.
Most recently in 2025, Gacek guided the Bison to an 11-15-1 overall record and a 7-12-1 mark in Conference of New England (CNE) play. Nichols finished fifth in the conference standings and secured a postseason berth for the third consecutive season. Offensively, the Bison’s power play ranked third in the CNE with a .196 success rate, continuing its year-over-year improvement. The program also collected six CNE weekly awards, while sophomore defenseman Luca Ricci earned First Team All-Conference honors and junior forward CJ Zezima was named to the Third Team.
In 2024, Gacek led Nichols to a fifth-place conference finish and a second consecutive postseason appearance. The Bison earned CNE Rookie of the Year honors from Ryan Austin and ranked fourth in the conference in both power play percentage (15.6%) and penalty kill (84.8%).
Across his first two seasons (2022-24), Gacek guided Nichols to consistent postseason qualification, multiple tournament titles, and several signature wins over nationally ranked opponents, including victories over No. 15 Curry College and No. 12 University of New England, while developing a program that competed regularly throughout the Conference of New England standings.
Gacek came to Nichols after serving as associate head coach at Wentworth Institute of Technology, where he helped guide the Leopards to their first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship appearance in 2019-20. He previously spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach at Saint Anselm College, helping the Hawks capture the Northeast-10 regular-season title and reach the conference championship game.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Gacek co-founded the North Shore Chill Hockey program in 2013, where he continues to serve as head coach and director of operations.
As a player, Gacek competed professionally in the ECHL with the Atlanta Gladiators from 2016-18, recording 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 44 games and earning an invitation to Boston Bruins rookie camp in 2017, in addition to stints with the South Carolina Stingrays and Orlando Solar Bears. Prior to his professional career, he was a four-year member of the Miami University (OH) men’s hockey program, appearing in 149 games and contributing 46 points (16 goals, 30 assists), while helping the RedHawks reach the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2013 and 2015.
Gacek earned his bachelor’s degree in sport leadership and management from Miami University in 2016, with a minor in entrepreneurship, and completed his Master of Business Administration at Southern New Hampshire University in 2022.
