Northeastern University Athletics

Northeastern alumnus and six-time Beanpot champion Jim Madigan was named Northeastern's 11th Director of Athletics and Recreation on June 17, 2021.

Prior to leading the athletics department, Madigan was named Northeastern men's hockey’s 10th head coach in program history on July 26, 2011, and during his tenure, he helped lead Northeastern to back-to-back-to-back Beanpot championships, two Hockey East titles, three NCAA appearances, the first Hobey Baker Award winner and Mike Richter Award winner in program history, and seen 20 of his players drafted by NHL teams. 

Madigan finished his coaching career with a 174-132-39 (.561) record and owns the best winning pct. in NU history. He also played a key role in establishing the first endowed head coaching fund in university history with the creation of the Fernie Flaman Endowed Men's Hockey Coach Fund in 2017.
 
Madigan brings more than 30 years of college and professional athletics experience to his post on Huntington Avenue. He played for the Huskies from 1981 to 1985 and was an assistant coach at the university from 1986 to 1993. He served as a professional scout for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1993 to 2011, winning a Stanley Cup in 2009.

In 2020-21, Northeastern took care of business on the way to its eighth straight winning season under Madigan. Captain Zach Solow and assistant captain Jordan Harris were selected Hockey East All-Stars. The Huskies led Hockey East and were third in the nation on the power play at 26.9%. They were also second in the country and Hockey East in shooting percentage at 11.9%. Following the season, sophomore Michael Kesselring signed with the Edmonton Oilers and was sent directly to their AHL affiliate.

The 2019-20 season saw the Huskies win their program best third straight Beanpot Championship and first Belpot Championship. Madigan helped lead the Huskies to a virus shortened 18 win season, which includes being ranked all year. Under his guidance, Tyler Madden had 19 goals and 18 assists in 27 games on the way to being a CCM/ACHA All-American, plus Hockey East First-Team All-Star and Ryan Shea capped off his terrific career being named a Hockey East Second-Team All-Star. The 2020 graduating class was the second winningest in program history with 86. Seven players from the 2020 Beanpot Championship signed professional contracts including Ryan Shea with the Dallas Stars of the NHL, Matt Filipe with the Boston Bruins of the NHL, Tyler Madden with the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, Biagio Lerario with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, Brendan van Riemsdyk with the Reading Royals of the ECHL, Craig Pantano with the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL and Kesselring with the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL.

Coming off an historic 2017-18 campaign, Madigan’s Huskies reloaded in 2018-19 with one of the most successful seasons in program history. Northeastern won a team-record 27 games en route to its second straight Beanpot title, second Hockey East championship in the last four years and returned to the national tournament for the third time in the last four seasons. Mike Richter Award winner Cayden Primeau anchored the Huskies throughout the season, setting program records for wins (25) and save percentage (.933) en route to CCM/ACHA All-American honors along with defenseman Jeremy Davies.
 
The 2017-18 Huskies captured their first Beanpot title in 30 years and returned to the NCAA tournament. Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Gaudette led the nation in scoring with 60 points (30 goals, 30 assists), earning CCM/ACHA First Team All-American, Hockey East Player of the Year, Walter Brown Award and Beanpot MVP honors, among many others. Dylan Sikura (54 points) and Davies (35 points) also earned First Team All-American honors, leading the Huskies to a 23-10-5 record, good for the third most victories in team history and a school record 14 wins at Matthews Arena.
 
The Huskies stole the hearts of Northeastern fans around the globe and es­tablished itself as the best team in Boston when the Huskies captured the elusive Beanpot championship for the first time since 1988. With tournament MVP Gaudette supplying the offense and Eberly Award winner Cayden Primeau providing a steady presence in goal, Northeastern used the Beanpot win as a springboard to seven consecutive victories down the stretch to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and shine the national spotlight on the program for the second time in the last three seasons.
 
The 2016-17 season saw Northeastern go 18-15-5, marking the first time since 1943 that Northeastern has had four straight seasons with a record of .500 or above. Senior Zach Aston-Reese had one of the most impressive individual seasons in team history with 63 points in 38 games, the most for a Husky in more than 30 years en route to Hockey East Player of the Year, CCM/ACHA First Team All-American and Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalist honors. He finished the year either tied for or owning the nation's lead in five categories. Dylan Sikura (57 points) and Adam Gaudette (52 points) also finished in the top-ten in scoring nationally, with Gaudette leading the NCAA and breaking the school record for power play goals in a season (16).
 
The 2015-16 season was an unprecedented campaign in which the team began the year 1-11-2 before a trip to Belfast turned the season around as NU finished the season 21-3-3, including a 13-game winning streak that was the longest in program history and a 14-game unbeaten streak (13-0-1) that was also the longest in team history, culminating in the program's first Hockey East Championship since 1988. During the stretch of success, the Huskies went 10-0-1 in conference games, which was the longest unbeaten streak in league play since Northeastern joined Hockey East at the start of the 1984-85 season, and catapulted the Huskies from 12th place to sixth place in the league standings. Northeastern's 19 wins from January to the end of the year were the most in the nation and tied for the most in team history (19 wins in 1981-82).
 
The Huskies finished the 2015-16 season with 22 victories, the third most in a single-season in team history, and Madigan was named the Clark Hodder Award winner as New England's Division I Coach of the Year by the New England Hockey Writers.
 
Madigan and the Huskies went 16-16-4 overall in 2014-15, including a seven-game winning streak that was tied for the second longest in team history at the time. The Huskies advanced to the Beanpot championship for the fourth time since Madigan became head coach, and hosted a playoff series at Matthews Arena for the first time since 2009. 
 
With one of the youngest rosters in college hockey consisting of 19 underclassmen, including 12 freshmen, Madigan guided the 2013-14 Huskies to one of their best seasons in program history. NU was 19-14-4, which was tied for the sixth most wins in team history at the time as well as tied for the fourth largest turnaround in the NCAA. Madigan’s squad reached the Beanpot championship game for the third time in the last four years and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Northeastern finished the 2013-14 campaign ranked 19th in the USCHO.com poll, and was ranked as high as ninth on two occasions, NU’s highest ranking since the end of the 2008-09 season. 
 
In his second season at the helm of the Huskies, Madigan’s team experienced success in waves, most notably ending 25 years of history at the Beanpot Tournament. In the first round of the 2013 Beanpot on Feb. 4, Madigan’s Huskies defeated Boston University, 3-2, for the first time since NU last raised the trophy on Feb. 8, 1988. Starting off the 2012-13 campaign after a season-opening win over Merrimack, Madigan’s club knocked off defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Boston College, 3-1, curbing BC’s 19-game winning streak from the season prior.
 
In his first season as head coach, Madigan led the Huskies to their seventh-longest unbeaten streak in program history. Northeastern amassed a 7-0-1 mark from Nov. 18 to Dec. 31, 2011. At the time, it was the program’s longest unbeaten string since the 2007-08 season. Madigan tied for the third most wins in school history (13) as a first-year coach. Three of those victories occurred on the road against the No. 2 team in the country (Notre Dame and Minnesota).
 
As a professional hockey scout, Madigan demonstrated great skill in identifying and evaluating talent in a thorough and insightful manner. He served as a scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2006 to 2011, helping that franchise build a team that advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in consecutive seasons (2008 and 2009) and that captured the Stanley Cup in 2009.
 
He played a key role in identifying two Huskies who excelled in the Penguins organization—Brad Thiessen and Joe Vitale. In 2012-13, Vitale spent time on the Pens’ NHL roster and Thiessen was named the AHL’s most outstanding goaltender. Prior to his tenure with the Penguins, Madigan served as a scout for the New York Islanders for 13 years. During his time in hockey, Madigan has worked alongside some of the great innovators of the game, from Northeastern’s own Ferny Flaman (NU head coach, 1970-89) to notable NHL executives Ray Shero (former general manager (GM), Pittsburgh), Don Maloney (GM, Phoenix), Chuck Fletcher (GM, Minnesota), Randy Sexton (GM, Florida), Mike Milbury (former GM, New York Islanders), Gordie Clark (director of player personnel, New York Rangers) and Jay Heinbuck (NU alumnus and co-director of amateur scouting, Pittsburgh).
 
Northeastern fans also will remember Madigan’s tenure as an assistant coach for the Huskies from 1986 to 1993. During that seven-year stint, he recruited and coached four All-Americans and 15 All-Hockey East selections. In addition to recruiting, Madigan was involved in all aspects of running a successful Division I program. During his time on the NU bench, the Huskies won 100 games and in 1988 captured the program’s last Beanpot title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Prior to returning to his alma mater, Madigan coached at the University of Vermont for one season (1985-86).
 
As a player at Northeastern, Madigan was a four-year letterwinner under Ferny Flaman (1981–85), leading the Huskies to a 67-59-5 record. During his freshman campaign, NU won 25 games, establishing a single-season wins record that remains tied for best all-time in program history. That same season, he helped lead the Huskies to the NCAA Frozen Four. Building on that success, Madigan was a key contributor to two Huskies’ Beanpot championships in 1984 and 1985.
 
In 1982, he was voted NU Rookie of the Year. In his senior campaign he was named assistant captain and, at season’s end, was presented with the program’s Unsung Hero Award. Madigan skated in 119 career games, recording 78 points (34-44-78).
 
In 1998, Madigan was awarded the Friends of NU Hockey Fernie C. Flaman Award. The honor is presented to a benefactor of Northeastern hockey who has demonstrated the commitment and dedication of Coach Flaman to making NU hockey a success.
 
Madigan’s appointment as head coach continues his three-decades-long tenure at Northeastern. His dedicated service to the university includes roles as men’s ice hockey assistant coach (1986-93), assistant director of physical plant services (1993-99), director of athletic development (1999-2004) and associate dean and director of development in the College of Business Administration (2004-11). While with the business school, he led a development effort that generated an average of $5.7 million in gifts over seven years, including $13 million in 2010-11. Over the course of his career, Madigan has shown an unparalleled ability to promote Northeastern to a broad and diverse constituency—including prospective students, alumni and other supporters.
 
Madigan graduated from Northeastern in 1986 with a degree in business administration. He and his wife, Kim, an NU alumna, have two daughters, Kelly and Kate, who graduated from Northeastern in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Kate is the New Jersey Devils Director of Pro Scouting in the NHL.