Lady Thrashers Head Coach
Dr. David Bak
Coach Dave
Coach Dave grew up playing ice hockey in Canton, Michigan with aspirations of playing in the NHL. He joined a house league at the age of six and practiced almost daily. After two games playing forward, his coaches moved him to defense and that’s been his sweet spot ever since. As he got older he began playing travel hockey, and then he became the second freshman ever to make the High School Varsity squad.
Coach Dave finished his Sophomore year with an Honorable Mention Award and then was voted team captain at the start of his Junior year. He was awarded First Team All-Conference for Michigan High School Ice Hockey and he went on to lead his team to a Division Championship. During his Senior year he spent time between the Ice Dogs & Little Caesar’s Midget Major AAA programs and the Michigan Ice Dogs Jr. B hockey Club.
Coach Dave benefitted from chiropractic care throughout his early hockey career, from which he attributes much of his competitive edge. As a result of his athletic accomplishments and his decision to pursue a career in chiropractic, Dave attended Life University under a hockey scholarship. At the time of his graduation Dave was tied for fifth for all-time scoring leaders.
After college Coach Dave was invited to the Toledo Walleye and Florida Everblades ECHL training camps, he became Team Chiropractor and Assistant Coach for Life University’s hockey team and he began helping coach his wife’s ice hockey team: the Atlanta Lady Thrashers. These days he keeps his skills sharp by playing in an invite-only league, in the Atlanta Premiere Hockey League and in the AAHL’s 35+ Elite League.
Lady Thrashers Assistant Coach
Diana Chang Blom
Coach Diana
TBD
Lady Thrashers Guest Coach
Dr. Chanelle “Nellie” Poulin
Coach Nellie
Coach Nellie started playing hockey at the age of 10 in Maine after begging her parents to play for over a year. Through her youth and high school years, she played girls travel hockey with the Maine Selects, The Maine Moose and the Maine Stars. Before transferring to prep school, she played with the boys varsity high school team at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, ME. As a sophomore in high school, Nellie transferred to St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA with the dream of one day playing college hockey.
As her hockey career progressed, she was recruited to play both ice hockey and field hockey in college. Her passion shifted while at St. Mark’s and she opted to play Division I Field Hockey at Providence College in Providence, RI, while earning her Bachelors degree in Biology. Each season during Nellie’s time at PC, her team advanced to the Big East Tournament and was consistently ranked in the top 20 in the US. She was also named Third Team All-American as a junior, Second Team All-American as a senior, and was named Providence College’s Female Athlete of the Year for both her junior and senior year.
After college, Nellie spent a season as an assistant coach for the Colby College field hockey team in Waterville, Maine. In 2011, she enrolled in Life University and moved to Marietta, GA to become a chiropractor. Since moving to Georgia, Nellie has played hockey recreationally for the Lady Thrashers, the Atlanta Flames, and the Atlanta Thrashers. She brings a unique perspective to coaching hockey as she is a multi-sport athlete, trained at an elite level. Although she opted to play field hockey in college, she maintains a strong understanding, love and respect for the sport of hockey.
Jr. Thrashers Goalie Coach
Brittany Bugalski
Brittany began her collegiate career at Northeastern University with a standout freshman season, becoming the first freshman goaltender in program history to win 20+ games in a single season. Her performance that year earned her spots on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team and the Hockey East Second Team All-Star roster. As a senior, she was honored to serve as team captain, leading the Huskies to a Hockey East Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance. But more importantly, leaving behind a new team culture that set the foundation for years to come. By the end of her career, she ranked third in school history for career wins by a goaltender.
On the international stage, Brittany was fortunate to represent Team USA, winning a gold medal at the 2015 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship in Buffalo, NY. She also participated in three USA Hockey National Festivals and four National Player Development camps. While at Northeastern, she served as a member of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Under-22 Select Team for the Under-22 Series vs. Canada.
Brittany grew up in South Florida, where she played boys hockey with the Florida Jr. Panthers and Florida Alliance through eighth grade. These programs provided her with a strong foundation in the game and helped fuel her passion for hockey.
Recognizing the need for greater exposure to college programs, Brittany made the decision to attend prep school at The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT. There, she balanced academics and athletics for four years while competing for elite club teams, including the Connecticut Polar Bears and Assabet Valley. She was named captain her senior year and was also recognized as an All-USA First Team All-Star.
Brittany is passionate about sharing the lessons and experiences she’s gained through hockey, and she enjoys helping young players develop their skills and love for the game.
Former Lady Thrashers Head Coach
Dr. Samantha Menton
Coach Sam
Coach Sam started playing hockey at the age of 9 in Chicago, Illinois. She played girls travel hockey with Team Illinois and Chicago Mission. After high school, Sam played hockey at Plattsburgh State University while earning her Bachelors degree in Nutrition. During her time at Plattsburgh State University the team advanced to the Frozen Four every year. Her junior year the team won the National Championship. During her summers, Sam worked for USA Hockey at their National Development camps. After college Sam returned home to Chicago and was the head coach for Team Illinois’ U14 girls team and an assistant coach for Lake Forest College. Sam continued to work for USA Hockey after college as a strength and conditioning coach for the National Development Camps. She was offered an opportunity from USA hockey to help develop the first residency program in Finland that was designed to be the home for their U-18 National team in Finland. After ten months, Sam returned home from Finland and found her true calling in Chiropractic care. She decided to move from Chicago to Marietta, Georgia to attend Life University, where she met coaches Nellie and Dave. While earning her doctoral degree at Life University, Sam was the only girl playing on the schools Division II club team, where Dave was her teammate. Coach Sam began helping out at Lady Thrashers half way through her chiropractic program, in 2015. Sam is currently the head coach and is helping to continue to help grow the program, season after season.
Coaching Experience:
- USA Hockey Team Leader Girls State, Regional, and National Development Camp (2004-2008)
- Head coach Team Illinois U14 Girls (2010)
- Assistant Coach Lake Forest College Womens team (2009-2010)
- USA Hockey Girls U18 Residency Program in Finland (2010-2011)
- USA Hockey Girls National Development Camp U18 Strength and Conditioning Coach (2009-2012 and 2015-2019)
- Lady Thrashers Head Coach (2015-Present)
- USA Hockey Southeast Girls National Tryouts Evaluator (2016-2019)
- Jr. Thrashers/Atlanta Thrashers Coach 10/12U, 14/16U, 16/19U (2018-Present)
Former Jr. Thrashers Coach
Kristin Cardell
Growing up in Texas, there weren’t many options to try hockey when Kristin was young, so she began at the age of 25, right here in Georgia, with the Lady Thrashers. Her family is from Canada, so naturally, she quickly fell in love with playing the sport.
Coach Kristin grew up playing softball, for 13 years, but transitioned to rugby when she went to college. She continued playing rugby through grad school at Life University and picked up another sport called Camogie (it’s Irish). After grad school, coach Kristin met coaches Sam and Nellie who both took her to her first sticktime at the Cooler! Since then, Kristin has been passionate about being a student of the game and continuing to spread her passion for playing and learning to the girl’s and women of the greater Atlanta area.
Coach Kristin and Coach Sam saw a big void that needed to be filled in the youth hockey department in Atlanta. There was no all girls team in the area, yet there were 30-40 girls all playing co-ed or traveling every weekend to Nashville/Raleigh/Pittsburg/Dallas etc. Coach Kristin, alongside Coach Sam, decided to try and start an all girls program so families would have the option to play on an all girls team and not have to travel out of state to do so. They started the all girls program in 2018 and quickly found they needed to enlist the help of Coach Nellie to continue to be successful.
Since 2018, Kristin has also been a founding member of the Southern Girls Hockey League (SGHL). An all girl’s hockey league that compete monthly in league play with teams from all over the southeast. We have grown the league to include teams from Knoxville, Nashville, Winston-Salem, Greenville/Charleston, Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Clearwater, Ft. Myers, and Jacksonville.
Kristin is passionate about creating and providing opportunities for girls in the south, building strong confident female leaders through team sports.
Atlanta Lady Thrashers 