DANBURY HAT TRICKS NAME BILLY McCREARY HEAD COACH

DANBURY, CT – The Danbury Hat Tricks of the Federal Prospects Hockey League announced that general manager Billy McCreary was promoted to President of Hockey Operations and will also be their head coach next season.

In his expanded role, McCreary will oversee each of the three hockey teams in the organization: the Hat Tricks in the FPHL and junior teams in the North American Hockey League and North American Tier III Hockey League. He will retain his duties as Hat Tricks general manager.

“It’s certainly a new challenge within the game for me and I’m excited for the opportunity to move the organization forward,” McCreary said. “We’re developing a program, from the junior level to the professional level, that is second to none. It’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly, that I’m very passionate about and excited to take on.”

McCreary, who coached the Hat Tricks during their inaugural season in 2019-20, replaces Dave MacIsaac as head coach.

MacIsaac led the Hat Tricks to a 36-22-3 record (105 points) and third-place finish in the FPHL in 2021-22. Danbury was swept in the best-of-3 semifinals by the Columbus River Dragons in the Commissioner’s Cup Playoffs after eliminating the Binghamton Black Bears in the quarterfinals.

“It was an absolute pleasure to work with ‘Mac’ last year,” McCreary said. “He’s moving on to some future endeavors that we wish him luck in, and we know he’s going to have a lot of success. I really want to thank him for the time and effort he put into the Danbury Hat Tricks brand.”

McCreary joined the Hat Tricks organization in April 2019 as Hockey Director, head coach and general manager for Danbury’s FPHL franchise. He led the Hat Tricks to a 31-12-3 record (94 points) and the Eastern Division championship in 2019-20. The remainder of that regular season and playoffs were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic and the Hat Tricks did not play in 2020-21 because of the pandemic.

The 40-year-old was named the FPHL Coach of the Year in 2019-20. He was a recipient of the Founder’s Award for service to the FPHL in 2021-22.

McCreary was head coach and general manager of the Junior Hat Tricks in the NAHL the past two seasons. Matt Voity, who worked under McCreary with the Danbury NAHL team, will take over as its head coach and GM. Tyler Noseworthy will remain head coach of the Danbury team in the NA3HL.

A native of Ontario, Canada, McCreary comes from a well-known hockey family. His grandfather Bill McCreary Sr., great uncle Keith McCreary, father Bill McCreary Jr. and relatives Ron and Bob Attwell played in the National Hockey League. He is also related to Bill McCreary, a Hall of Fame inductee as an on-ice official in the NHL, as well as his son Mike McCreary, who officiates minor league hockey.

McCreary played all or parts of 10 minor league seasons as a defenseman. He helped the Huntsville Havoc win the SPHL title in 2010 and was a member of the Trenton Titans when they won the ECHL championship in 2012.