NEW ULM — New Ulm Steel General Manager and coach Zach Stepan announced that he has filled the vacant full-time assistant head coaching position.

“We have hired Curtis Doell as our full-time assistant head coach and he will officially start July 1,” Stepan said. “He (Doell) has to close the books at Mankato West schools and he was the head boys’ hockey coach at West for the past nine seasons.”

As head coach of the Scarlets, Doell has led West to five section finals and one state tournament appearance.

He was named Section 1A Coach of the Year three times while at West and has also coached the High Performance 16-year olds for Section 1A/1AA for three seasons.

Doell brings an impressive hockey resume to the Steel. He played Midget AAA hockey for the Saskatoon, Canada, Blazers and moved up to play Junior hockey with the Melfort Mustangs, where he earned Defensemen of the Year honors. He earned a hockey scholarship to the University of Minnesota-Duluth and made the All-WCHA Rookie team. He signed with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League after his sophomore year. His playing career was cut short by multiple concussions.

“He is going to be able to help me out a lot,” Stepan said. “One, he has been coaching a lot longer than I have so I will be able to learn from him. He played defense, so he is definitely going to be able to help our defensemen.”

Stepan said that even though Doell does not officially start until July 1, he has slowly started to get acclimated to the Steel.

Stepan said that the hiring of an assistant full-time head coach is a huge weight off of his shoulders.

“We have been doing a lot of work with Chippewa now that their season is over,” he said. “Our collective front offices are going to be able to help each other out quite a bit. I am excited about the things that are happening here.”

Stepan said that Eric Gramentz is the Sponsorship Coordinator and Assistant General Manager, with Rachel Meyer as the Social Media Coordinator.

“She will also help us get involved in the local festivals here.”

And the Steel are going to have a New Ulm Steel Golf Tournament on Monday, August 23, at the New Ulm Country Club.

“It will be a Five Man Best-Ball Tournament,” Stepan said. “We are trying to have as many prizes as we possibly can.”

Stepan said that the Steel will also have a new logo for the upcoming season and it will be revealed soon.