Paul Russell '17, a Former Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team member and current assistant coach at Trinity College, was featured in an article published by NHL.com on Monday afternoon for a blog entitled "The Color of Hockey."

Russell was an important piece for the Cadets in his four-year career, suiting up for the maroon and gold for 107 games in that time, when he was consistently one of the team's top scorers, winning conference championships in three of those seasons. None of his goals came at a more important time than his final one, which came at 6:19 of the third period in the 2017 National Championship Game against the Bantams, helping Norwich secure its fourth, and most recent, National Championship.

According to the article, "Russell is among the small number of Black men in the NCAA hockey coaching ranks this season that includes head coach Matt Pinchevsky at Division III University of Southern Maine and assistant coach Leon Hayward at the University of St. Thomas, a Division I school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tennessee State University hired Duante Abercrombie on April 18, 2024, to help establish and coach what would be the first NCAA hockey program at a historically Black college."

The article was written by NHL.com staff writer William Doulgas, who started 'The Color of Hockey' blog in 2012.

Full article: https://www.nhl.com/news/color-of-hockey-paul-russell-impactful-as-trinity-assistant-coach