St. Jude is extremely proud to announce that Craig Ferguson, one of the most accomplished youth hockey coaches in Illinois history, will be returning to the St. Jude coaching staff for the 2014-15 season. Coach Ferguson is a 1979 graduate of Mt. Carmel high school and served as the head hockey coach at his alma mater from 1994-2000. While coaching at Mt. Carmel, his teams won four straight Kennedy Cup Championships (awarded to the Chicago Catholic High School Hockey League champions) as well as a second-place finish in state. Coach Ferguson coached at St. Jude from 2001 to 2005 before returning to the high school ranks at St. Rita in 2005.  At St. Rita, Coach Ferguson led the Mustangs to five consecutive Kennedy Cup Championships, 5 consecutive state final four appearances, and won two state championships in 2010 and 2012. Over the course of his amazing high school coaching career, Coach Ferguson’s teams won 9 Kennedy Cups, 2  state titles, 1 state runner-up, and over 500 victories.  He coached with the Illinois Showcase Team for four years and was the Chicago Blackhawks alumni Coach of the Year in 2011. 

Gino’s amazing hockey career started locally at Center Ice of DuPage where he played his youth hockey for the Flames. After developing his basic skills, he moved on to play AAA hockey with Team Illinois and captained his team all the way to a national title game against a Shattuck-St. Mary’s team that was captained by Sidney Crosby. After completing a remarkable AAA career, Gino was drafted by the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League and posted 30 points in his rookie year. He was a scholastic player of the year in the OHL and also served as the captain of his team. Gino was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and spent his pro career playing in Philadelphia’s minor system, where he played for current NHL. coaches, Craig Berube and Joe Mullen. Along the way, he gained valuable insight into coaching, teaching, and leadership from these outstanding coaches. While an injury ended Gino’s playing career far too early, it gave him a great head start in establishing his coaching and scouting career. In addition to coaching every level of youth hockey, Gino has coached skill camps for more than a decade and has conducted numerous in-season private lessons. He has also served as a Midwest scout for the Plymouth Whalers, a regional scout for the Springfield Jr. Blues, and a regional scout for the Chicago Steel. St. Jude is extremely excited to add Coach Gino to its coaching staff for the 2014-15 season.

If you have any questions about our Central States teams please contact:

Paul Manning

St Jude Knights Hockey Director

playhockey@stjudehockey.org