Calvin Burkhart

Chicago native and Montana-raised, Cal’s hockey journey began on the frozen lakes of Whitefish. His first exposure to hockey beyond house league was playing AAA in Canada, and after moving back to the Midwest he rose through the AAA ranks with the Chicago Chill and Madison Capitols before a transformative senior season at Benet Academy. Under the guidance of the Red Wings then-new coaches Jon Grzbek and Andrew Schlie, Cal earned Illinois West Goalie of the Year honors and a nomination for All-State. But more importantly, he rediscovered the value of being a teammate and community as a core tenet of the hockey experience. 

Cal played three years of Jr. A hockey, earning MnJHL Goalie of the Year honors before moving to the NCAA D3 level at Hamline and Lawrence University. He finished his playing career at New York University, where he helped backstop the Violets to an ACHA D2 National Championship in 2017 and a promotion to ACHA D1 in his senior season. 

His first goalie coaching jobs were under Coach McKay with the Chicago Hawks and Benet’s goalies, and Cal started his post-collegiate coaching journey as the goalie coach for the Sandburg Eagles at Coach McKay’s recommendation. 

Since then, he has built a reputation for program turnarounds, leading Fenwick’s JV team to their first CCHL championship in a decade in his first season as a head coach and spearheading the successful launch of Purdue Northwest’s ACHA D2 program in year 2. Most recently, Cal served as the Hockey Director for the D230 Saints, where he focused on building a high-end development community and oversaw its transition as a combination of the Sandburg and Cobras programs. 

A disciple of Mitch Korn (Nashville Predators Director of Goaltending), Coach Cal brings a professional, detail-oriented approach to his coaching practice. He believes that a championship process is the only way to achieve championship results. Cal lives in Naperville with his wife Adrianne and stepson Ethan.