Mike Zannella completed his fifth year as the Assistant Men's Ice Hockey Coach and Head Men's Golf Coach at Elmira College during the 2021-22 academic year.
In 2021-22, Zannella led the golf team to a fifth place finish in the Empire 8 Conference Championship, while guiding sophomore Nicholas Domitrovic '24 to an Empire 8 Third Team all-conference selection.
He joined the Soaring Eagles after a one-year coaching stint with New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) affiliate Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. During his tenure with the Thoroughbreds, Zannella helped Skidmore double its win total from a year ago and qualify for the NEHC Tournament as the fifth seed. He helped three student-athletes garner NEHC All-Conference honors, including a first-team selection.
Zannella has also spent time working for USA Hockey as a New York State Regional Evaluator for the Northern Region. His primary responsibilities were evaluating and selecting prospects to try out for Team New York and the northern zone.
Prior to his time with USA Hockey and Skidmore, Zannella spent two years playing professional hockey in both the Federal Hockey League (FHL) and the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). He played for the FHL’s Danbury Whalers, Brewster Bulldogs and Watertown Wolves, the latter of which he helped win a regular season and playoff title. He played in 82 career games for the three FHL affiliates, totaling 62 points on 24 goals and 38 assists. Zannella also saw action in 19 games in the SPHL for the Fayetteville FireAntz and the Huntsville Havoc, putting him one appearance shy of reaching the century mark for professional games played.
Zannella is a 2014 graduate of Buffalo State College, which competes out of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC), and was a four-year member of the men’s ice hockey team. A proven leader on the ice, he served as a two-year captain and a one-year alternate captain during his collegiate career, guiding the Bengals to three winning seasons and a pair of SUNYAC semifinal appearances. Zannella was an All-SUNYAC Second-Team honoree, a SUNYAC All-Tournament Team selection and a three-time SUNYAC All-Academic Team recipient. Despite missing 20-plus games during his collegiate career, Zannella graduated 10th in the program history among point leaders.
A native of Ithaca, New York, Zannella remained active in his hometown after his graduating from Buffalo State in 2014 by serving as an Operations Assistant for the Cornell University Athletics Camps and Clinics. He supervised 5,000 campers ages 6-19 and helped train, manage, and oversee the action of 30 resident counselors.
