Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Athletics

Shawn Kurulak is in his second season as an assistant coach for the men’s ice hockey program.

Prior to joining Rensselaer, Kurulak spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Army. Among his responsibilities with the Black Knights were recruiting, player development, especially with the defensemen, and coordinating video instruction. He was an integral reason head coach Brian Riley was named the Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year in 2005-06.

Before his stint at Army, Kurulak led Fargo-Moorhead of the North American Hockey League to a 33-21 record and a second-place finish in the West Division in 2003-04, the team’s first season in the Junior "A" hockey league. As the head coach, he was chiefly responsible for establishing the team’s infrastructure for team operations and recruiting and developing players.

Kurulak also served for two seasons as an assistant at Bemidji State University, where he was the team’s recruiting coordinator. He developed and implemented game strategies as well as assisted with video analysis and strength and conditioning.

A native of Calgary, Alb., Kurulak graduated from Denver in 1999 and spent one season as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater, where he was an assistant with Seth Appert, while also serving an internship with the Colorado Avalanche as their assistant video coach. He has also been an associate head coach at the Universal Players Tournament in Tampere, Finland.

A four-year letterwinner on the blueline for the Pioneers, Kurulak wore the alternate captain’s "A" for three seasons. A three-time WCHA All-Academic selection, he helped the team to the league championship as a senior. In 131 career games, he had 41 points (7 goals, 34 assists) and 268 penalty minutes. He also represented the WCHA on an all-star team that traveled to Switzerland for an international tournament in 1998.