Sheridan Hawks Junior Hockey Team Prepare For 2026-27 Season With New Coach

It may still be summertime, but it’s already time to start thinking about hockey in Sheridan.

Practice started a few days ago for the Sheridan Hawks Junior Team, and the regular season starts on Friday, September 11th at Rapid City.

Former Coach J.J. Santagata is now in Springfield, Illinois, so there is a new leader on the bench this year as Todd McIlrath takes over.

He played 3 seasons at Bowling Green State University and played professionally in the All-American Hockey League, and later with the Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL.

McIlrath says it was a new opportunity, and he hopes to help continue the recent success of both the team and with player development.

“This is personally my favorite level of hockey to work with. Starting in the NA3, affiliated with USA Hockey and an environment where the players are coming here to focus on hockey. Very specific community here, where all of our hockey fans are passionate and our players are under a microscope and they are building on getting better every day. That was the culture that Coach Santagata had built here before and that was what we were interested in keeping in motion.”

The Hawks are scheduled to play an inter-squad game on Friday, September 4th, at the Whitney Rink in the M&M Center.

Doors open at 7pm and the puck drops at 7:30.