During his introductory press conference with the Maine Black Bears, Alex Gettens said it had long been a dream of his to be the leader of a Division I women’s hockey program.
This weekend, he’ll have his first regular-season taste of living that dream.
Gettens was announced as the newest head coach of the Black Bears on July 20. He is the eighth person to hold that position in program history. The 2026-27 season will be his first as a full-time head coach at the Division I level. He’s also no stranger to Maine itself — Gettens was an assistant for the Black Bears back in 2017-18.
“There are moments, even if I’m just here working a little bit later at night, it just feels so cool,” Gettens told The Ice Garden earlier this month. “We’re so fortunate to have so many amazing things here at Maine, and a lot of those things have come on recently too. Like just the attitude of ‘let’s make this the very best that it can be,’ and, ‘let’s take care of it,’ has been such a great experience so far.”
Gettens is no stranger to Hockey East. For six years, he served as both an assistant and associate head coach with the Vermont Catamounts. During his time in Burlington, he was integral to success — both for the program and for the individual athletes. Those seasons were all spent under long-time coach Jim Plumer, whom Gettens referred to Plumer as “an amazing mentor.”
“Coach Jim has been an amazing support system for me, just as a friend. He’s always checking in and asking how I’m doing,” Gettens said. “He was hugely impactful in my growth as a coach and remains to be today. I feel like I could call him up at any time and ask for advice, regardless of what the circumstances are.”
Gettens most recently spent two seasons in the ECAC with Colgate as an assistant under head coach Stefan Decosse.
“Making that move allowed me to really broaden my horizons and introduced me to a lot of new ways of thinking and introduced me to some incredible people,” Gettens said. “Coach Stef Decosse, he was exactly what I needed at the right time and he’s such a brilliant coach. … To learn from him, and get to work with [Breanne Wilson-Bennett] and [Trevor Coykendall], it was awesome and it was a great environment for me.
“This opportunity in Maine has been a great chance for me to kind of combine some of those two schools of thought. And schools of thought from others that have been impactful in this journey, too.”
The return to Hockey East for Gettens coincided directly with the conference undergoing a variety of changes behind the bench. All told, three programs hired new head coaches this summer. Eight of the 10 programs saw some change in personnel at one point over the last 12 months. But even with all that shuffling, the conference network remains tight-knit.
“Obviously, we have a lot of new coaching changes this year. I think whether it’s assistant coaches who played in this conference who are coming back or certainly [Merrimack’s] Courtney Kennedy who spent so much time in hockey, there’s a really great respect for one another in this conference,” Gettens said. “So many people who have dedicated immense time and effort into making this conference the best that it can be for a long period of time. It’s just a pleasure to be back with that group.”
Originally from Concord, New Hampshire, Gettens has long been involved in New England hockey. From his playing days, to being a part of the coaching staff at St. Paul’s prep school in the early 2010’s, to his time at Vermont. He knows what the program and the school mean to the region as a whole.
“[Maine] is a place that I think draws you in,” Gettens said. “Certainly the environment, physical environment, but the people here. … I want to come see everybody every day, and I think our players feel the same way. We’re just getting going, but it really has lived up to every expectation that I could have imagined so far.”
“I think Maine Hockey, men’s or women’s, just has such a reverberating effect through folks around the New England area,” he continued. “It’s part of the fabric of growing up in New England, if you’re a hockey fan or a hockey player. Obviously, there’s such a rich hockey history in Boston. But Maine hockey has really been on the radar for a long time and it’s a really unique gem in that landscape.”
Gettens is set to take over a program that hasn’t had the easiest go of it in recent memory. Maine has not finished in the top-five in Hockey East play since 2021-22. Last year, the Black Bears finished at 8-12-4 in conference. Their 30 points ranked them seventh out of 10 teams. UConn then eliminated Maine from the postseason in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
Over the last few seasons, Maine has seen a dip in both its offensive and defensive production. To combat this, the Black Bears have been implementing a change in overall style of play before the team hits the ice.
“We’ve been introducing a lot of new systems and concepts,” Gettens said. “We’re not reinventing the wheel by any means. But just different from what this group was used to.”
Gettens went on to note that the team has been discussing taking more risks on the ice, “playing a little bit more wide open and playing a fast-paced, creative game” while really “being on the attack.”
“As they’re starting to see how their system play is taking shape, I think the belief in themselves is growing everyday. And that’s been really, really fun to watch,” he added. “They’re no longer putting a limit on what they’re capable of. They’re just like, ‘we’re going to be the best we can every day and that’s going to be pretty darn good. And by next week we’re going to be a little bit better, and a little bit better.’”
While the structures and systems are changing, Gettens and his staff aren’t jumping the horse by setting limits or hard expectations on their team.
“I think we’re capable of a lot. But I don’t think I’m in any position, or any of us as players or staff are in any position, to really put a number or a limit on what this team can do,” Gettens said. “It’s just really focusing on us. Focusing on how we want to approach every day, every game. How we approach our teammates and members of this team when we come to the rink. When we’re trying to create the best environment for everything that we do, then when the lights are on in competition, we’re gonna like what we put out there.”
The Black Bears will open their regular season on Friday against another New England opponent in Quinnipiac. The Bobcats come into the matchup at the Alfond ranked sixth in the USCHO national poll, and fifth in the USA Hockey poll. They are also the first of three-straight opponents for Maine that are receiving votes on the national stage. It won’t get any easier once the team gets into conference play at the end of October, either. In conference, the Black Bears were picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches poll. However, the team is not focused on outside noise and expectations.
“There’s so much that we can continue to do within our room to grow. We don’t need to judge ourselves based on what others may think of us,” Gettens said. “All we need is the belief and the understanding of who we are inside our locker room. We’re the ones who know each other best every day. And we’re the ones who know how to make each other continue to get better.”
Maine’s first contest against Quinnipiac is scheduled for 6 PM EST on Friday, Sept. 25, with the second of the weekend games scheduled for Saturday at 3 PM EST. Both games will be available to watch on ESPN+ in the United States, and on HockeyEast.tv for those watching internationally. For more NCAA coverage, please be sure to check out all TIG has available to read now.
