Associate Head Coach Keith Fisher

KEITH FISHER AHC

Associate Head Coach • 10th Season • St. Cloud State ’00

• 23 years of coaching experience in college and junior hockey • Promoted to Associate Head Coach in July 2018 • Helped in recruiting all eight players to sign NHL deals, including four in 2020 • Guided Penn State to its first B1G Tournament Championship in 2017 • Helped the Nittany Lions reach back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2017 and 2018 • Spent six seasons at Princeton, helping guide the Tigers to pair of NCAA Tournaments (2008, 2009) • Coached five NHL players at Princeton • Coached Princeton’s only two ECAC Players of the Year as well as two Hobey Baker Award Finalists • Coached five years with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers • Native of Zim, Minnesota

MEET COACH FISHER

Keith Fisher enters his fourth season as associate head coach and 10th overall with the Nittany Lions in 2021-22 . Fisher has 23 years of coaching experience in college and junior hockey and was elevated to associate head coach in July 2018 .

AT PENN STATE

Fisher’s recruiting and coaching acumen has been vital to the rise of Penn State hockey, with back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths in 2017 and 2018 and a pair of Big Ten Championships (2017 & 2020) . Fisher also played an instrumental role in recruiting Penn State’s first two graduate transfers with Ludvig Larsson (2018-19) and Tim Doherty (2020-21) . This past season, while navigating Covid-19 protocols and restrictions as well as an extended 34-day pause, Fisher helped guide a young Nittany Lion team to its sixth-straight Big Ten Tournament semifinal appearance. Following a rocky start to 2020-21, Penn State rattled off nine wins in a 12-game stretch from December to January and was one of the hottest teams in the nation before the 34-day Covid shutdown . Following the season junior Aarne Talvitie became the 10th Nittany Lion to sign an NHL deal when he agreed to his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils and senior captain Alex Limoges inked a deal with the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League . Fisher helped lead the Nittany Lions to their first-ever Big Ten regular-season championship in 2019-20 with program highs in conference wins (12) and points (41) . Penn State earned the top overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament and a firstround bye and advanced to its sixth Big Ten semifinal in seven years prior to the postseason being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Following season’s end, the Nittany Lions saw a pair of players earn All-America honors for the first time as Cole Hults and Nate Sucese were recognized by CCM/AHCA on the second team west . Hults also became the first-ever Nittany Lion to be named Big Ten Player of the Year . In 2018-19, Fisher once again helped guide the most prolific offense in the country as the team led the nation in scoring with a single-season record 4 .54 goals per game and set single-season records for goals (177), assists (301) and points (478), each of which were also tops in the nation . Penn State reached its second Big Ten Championship game in the past three seasons while posting their second most victories in a season finishing 22-15-2. During the year sophomore Alex Limoges set the single-season point and goal records with 50 and 23, respectively, tying for the national lead in points, marking the first time in program history a Nittany Lion has done so . Penn State reached the Big Ten semifinals for the fourth time in its brief five-year history in the conference following the 201718 season . The run to the postseason was highlighted by four-straight victories against college hockey power Minnesota to end the season . Fisher also witnessed Andrew Sturtz shatter the Penn State all-time goals record on his way to becoming the fourth Nittany Lion to ink an NHL contract following the season . Fisher also helped guide Penn State to back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 201516 & 2016-17 and the programs first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship in 2017 . With a team composed of Fisher’s and fellow assistant Matt Lindsay’s recruits, the Lions improved their win total in each season from 2013-14 through 2016-17 while advancing to the Big Ten semifinals twice before capturing the crown in 2017 . During the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, Penn State has had record-breaking offensive productions setting new standards each season . In 2016-17 the Nittany Lions broke numerous offensive records, set just the year prior, including most goals (160), assists (265), points (425), shots (1,719), goals/gm (4 .10) and shots/gm (44 .1) to

go along with a program-best 25 victories . In total Penn State broke or tied 65 program records in 2016-17 . In 2016-17, freshman Denis Smirnov registered the best single season in program history as he shattered the previous points record with 47 (19 goals, 26 assists) to lead all freshmen across the country . Smirnov was later drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche as part of the most successful NHL Draft for Penn State who had four players taken, the second most for an NCAA institution in 2017 . The second-best individual single-season performance for a Nittany Lion at the time came in 2014-15 as Casey Bailey tallied 22 goals and 40 points to lead the Big Ten in scoring . Bailey parlayed his successful junior season into a two-year NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is now a member of the Ottawa Senators organization . During the 2013-14 campaign, Fisher helped guide the Nittany Lions during the Big Ten Conference’s first season. Penn State, which faced seven NCAA tournament teams and three Frozen Four participants, highlighted its season with a 2-1 double-overtime victory against Michigan in the Big Ten Quarterfinals.

The Nittany Lions posted a 13-14-0 record during their inaugural NCAA Division I season . Fisher helped guide Penn State to several marquee victories in 2012-13, including wins against three future Big Ten opponents (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin) .

AT PRINCETON

Fisher spent 2005-11 on the staff at Princeton . With the Tigers, he helped lead the team to a pair of NCAA tournament berths (2008, 2009) and the 2008 ECAC and Ivy League Championships . The 2009 Princeton Tigers also set the school-record for wins in a season with 22, a record which still stands to this day . The Minnesota native headed up the Princeton recruiting efforts which saw three All-Americans, two Hobey Baker Award finalists, two ECAC Player of the Year recipients (the only two in the history of the program), one ECAC Rookie of the Year, one ECAC Defenseman of the Year and one ECAC Goaltender of the year . Fisher’s teams also combined for 48 Academic All-ECAC players, five NHL players, four first-team All-ECAC players and three first-team All-Ivy players.

BEFORE COLLEGE COACHING

Fisher spent five years with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers’ coaching staff, helping the team to the Clark Cup championship in 2001 and Anderson Cup regular-season championships in both 2002 and 2005 . In Omaha, he served as the team’s recruiting coordinator and academic advisor, in addition to other responsibilities of on-ice coaching, video breakdown and game analysis . NHL first-round draft picks Keith Ballard and Nick Petrecki, 11 NHL players, including Matt Carle and Paul Stastny, and USHL Goaltender of the Year and USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year Jeff Lerg came through Omaha during Fisher’s time there . He also helped develop 54 NCAA Division I scholarship players and 12 NHL draft picks and served as associate coach for Team USHL at the USHL Prospects/All-Star game during his final season. Fisher also served two seasons with St . Cloud State University’s hockey program as an undergraduate assistant coach . During his time with the Huskies, Fisher helped develop five players for the NHL and, in 2000, they advanced to just the second NCAA tournament in program history .

PERSONAL LIFE

A graduate of St . Cloud State University, Fisher has a bachelor’s degree in communications . Prior to coaching, Fisher played two seasons at Hibbing Community College and participated in the NJCAA national tournament .