Sabre Coaches

*All Information is subject to change.

Dan Granato 

A native of Naperville, Dan grew up playing hockey for the Sabres and the Huskies. He was an IL All-State High School hockey player at Naperville Central and won back-to-back Midget State titles and a national championship runner-up at the 1991 National Midget Tournament. After graduating, Dan moved on and played 2 seasons of Junior A hockey for the Rochester Mustangs of the USHL. Following his Junior A stint, Dan was a four-year letter winner at Division III University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. While at Eau Claire, Dan was twice named to the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic team and was awarded the prestigious UWEC Super Six award for excellence on the ice and in the classroom. For the past 10 years Dan has been the head coach and hockey director for Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. In his 10 years behind the bench at NVHC, he has led the Wildcats to over 300 wins. This includes 2 IL West regular season titles & 2 IL West Cup Championships. Dan was twice named the IL West Coach of the Year and won the AHAI High School Boys Coach of the Year award in 2015. Dan has been with the Sabres for 7 years.

Brandon Lewandowski 

Brandon Lewandowski grew up in the Naperville area playing for various AA and AAA clubs throughout the state, including a year with Naperville Central High School earning a spot on the Illinois Showcase Team, Metro West All-Star team, and recognition as an All-State MVP. He has been involved in coaching for over 15 years in both locally and nationally run programs. He has been instrumental in helping grow multiple Tier 2 organizations, serving in various roles such as Level Director, Program Director, and Director of Player Development. He has been a Head Coach for over 15 years having produced very successful results both in moving players on to the next level and winning many prestigious titles. He is now serving his fifth year as Director of Hockey for the Sabre Hockey Association.

Chris Chelios 

Coach Chelios has a long and illustrious career as a hockey player and coach. As a player, he played every level, house through AAA. After high school graduation, he chose the path that led him through the ranks of Junior Hockey, then as a NCAA D1 College player and Captain at the University of Wisconsin - Superior. Chris then found himself playing in the semi-professional leagues across Europe and the United States until he turned to coaching. Beginning at the Sabre mite program he worked his way up to where you find him today as the Midget Hockey Director and head coach for the 18U CSDHL team. Chris has led the club to multiple State Championships and National Appearances. During his professional tenure he has also coached high school hockey at Naperville Central and at the collegiate level for the Robert Morris Women's ACHA Hockey team.

Jordan Diamond 

Jordan grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicagoland, playing youth travel hockey with Northbrook as a goalie. Jordan's coaching career began with the Skokie Flyers, both Head Coaching and running Goalie Clinics. In his over 20 years of coaching experience, Jordan has worked with every level of youth hockey, from Bronze to Central States, Mites to High School. Jordan has been an integral part of rebuilding Sabre Girls Hockey, bringing home multiple championships, including a 10U Girls State Championship in his first as the Girls Hockey Director in the 2023-2024 season.

Mike Lively 

Mike grew up playing hockey in the Chicagoland area for various AA and AAA programs. He pursued his playing career all the way up through college where he played for Ohio University in the ACHA. His team had an ACHA Nationals appearance and Mike was a 3x academic All-American as well as being named to the TSCHL All Conference Team. After his time in the net, Mike took up coaching immediately and began working for As Good as Gould goalie camps. He has been coaching with the Sabres since 2018 as an assistant coach and the full-time goalie coach for our Midget program. Mike will be entering his 3rd year as the Sabres’ Goalie Director.

Christian Esposito 

Coach Esposito is native to the Chicagoland area where he grew up playing various levels of travel hockey. Coach Esposito went on to play college hockey at St Mary’s University of Minnesota. In his time at St Mary’s Coach Esposito served as Captain of his team. He is also credited for starting the ACHA hockey program at St Mary’s and serving as the club’s president while being a full-time student athlete. He was one of four founding members of the NCHL (Northern Collegiate Hockey League) which sits as one of the nation’s premiere ACHA D2 college hockey conferences today. After college Coach Esposito jumped right into coaching gaining experience at the Mite, Squirt, Peewee, and Bantam levels. He spent 5 years in a variety of roles, including Director of Hockey Operations with Northern Illinois University and has additionally spent time as the Hockey Director and Head Varsity Coach at Marmion High School. Coach Esposito joins the Sabres family as our U15 Head Coach and will help serve in a Bantam Player Advisor role. He is extremely excited and eager to bring his experience and contribution to our club. 

Kyle Kotrba

Kristian Casella 

Kristian grew up in the Chicagoland area playing most of his youth hockey with the Sabres and Bruins. He went on to play a few years of Junior Hockey with the Dells Ducks. After his playing days, Kristian entered the trades and started his own business, and has been coaching hockey for the past 8 years at the Peewee, Bantam, and Midget levels with various clubs and programs. He has been head coaching for the Sabres for 4 years, where he has brought home 2 state championships and a 2024 USA Hockey National Championship appearance. He is also currently a Chicagoland scout for the Chicago Cougars Junior Program in the USPHL.

Robbie Kennedy

Gary Spratt

Ryan Murtaugh

Kyle Byrnes 

Kyle grew up in Southeastern Michigan and started ice hockey before his 6th birthday. He has many hockey experiences to draw from stemming from his local house program, playing tier II, on traveling tournament teams, tier I and ACHA College Hockey. Kyle and his 3 boys have been with the program and for 4 years, where Kyle has worn multiple hats as a Head Coach, Assistant Coach and Level Director for teams of all ages and levels.

Brian Hennessy

Peyton Rose Norman

Jim Caldwell