MEET COACH FISHER
Keith Fisher enters his seventh season as associate head coach and 13th overall with the Nittany Lions in 2024-25. Fisher has over 25 years of coaching experience in college and junior hockey and was elevated to associate head coach in July 2018.
AT PENN STATE
Fisher’s recruiting and coaching acumen has been vital to the rise of Penn State hockey, with three NCAA Tournament berths in 2017, 2018 and 2023 and a pair of Big Ten Championships (2017 & 2020).
The 2023-24 Nittany Lions secured multiple Top-15 victories including a win on the road against No. 12 Michigan in November that secured win No. 200 for the program. Fisher along with head coach Guy Gadowsky have been around for each win since the program’s elevation to Division I. Penn State also secured its first-ever sweep over Ohio State marking just the third such instance in which Penn State has won all four games in a season against a conference opponent. On January 6, 2024, Penn State completed the largest comeback in program history using five unanswered goals to erase a 6-2 deficit midway through the game and defeat Army West Point, 7-6.
Fisher saw freshman Aiden Fink land on the B1G All-Freshman team as the only unanimous selection becoming the first Penn State representative in eight seasons. Fink was also an All-Big Ten honorable mention and a Hobey Baker nominee as he led the team with 34 points, the third most by a Nittany Lion freshman all-time while his 19 assists and 15 goals were good for second and fifth, respectively.
Fisher also saw junior Dylan Lugris earn the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award as college hockey’s finest citizen. Lugris became the second HHA recipient to be coached by Fisher joining Princeton’s Eric Leroux, the 2006 Hockey Humanitarian. Lugris is also now just the second Nittany Lion to receive a national award joining PJ Musico, the 2015 Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award winner.
In the classroom Penn State bolstered the highest grade point average for a men’s team in Happy Valley during the fall semester with a 3.50 GPA and the Nittany Lions had a Big Ten best nine distinguished scholars recognized in the spring.
The Nittany Lions once again led the country in attendance capacity at 110.7 percent while achieving their three highest attended games in program history.
In 2022-23, Fisher helped guide the Nittany Lions back to the NCAA Tournament for a third time as Penn State advanced to the Regional Final for the second time in program history following an 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech, the largest shutout in NCAA Tournament history. The Nittany Lions finished the year 22-16-1 registering the second-most wins in a single-season in program history.
In 2021-22, Fisher helped guide Penn State back to the B1G semifinals for the seventh-straight season as the Nittany Lions became the first road team in league history to win a best-of-three quarterfinal series since the three-weekend postseason format was adopted prior to the 2017-28 season.
Led by goaltender Liam Souliere, Penn State improved drastically on the defensive side of the puck lowering its goals-against average by nearly a half goal per game from the 2021-22 campaign. Souliere had one of the best seasons in program history between the pipes as his 2.43 goals-against average set a new Penn State single-season record while his 19 wins are the second-most all time and his .917 save percentage is the third best mark.
Penn State climbed to as high as No. 5 during the 2022-23 season and became the first team in NCAA history to defeat separate No. 1 ranked teams in back-to-back weeks when they defeated No. 1 Michigan and No. 1 Minnesota on consecutive weekends in November. The Nittany Lions finished the year with a No. 8 final ranking in both national polls to tie their highest finish all-time.
Fisher saw a pair of freshmen, Ryan Kirwan and Ben Schoen, put up strong numbers each ranking inside the top-10 all-time for single-season points as a rookie at Penn State.
Throughout the 2021-22 season, Penn State had marquee wins against No. 6 North Dakota in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Nittany Lions defeated the Fighting Hawks, 6-4, in front of a sold-out crowd at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee during the 2021 US Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The Nittany Lions also defeated No. 7 Minnesota on the road for just the sixth time in program history.
Fisher also saw former Nittany Lion Brandon Biro ‘20 make his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres back in February becoming the third Nittany Lion to reach the NHL.
In 2020-21, while navigating Covid-19 protocols and restrictions as well as an extended 34-day pause, Fisher helped guide a young Nittany Lion team to its sixth-straight Big Ten Tournament semifinal appearance.
Following a rocky start to 2020-21, Penn State rattled off nine wins in a 12-game stretch from December to January and was one of the hottest teams in the nation before the 34-day Covid shutdown.
Following the season junior Aarne Talvitie became the 10th Nittany Lion to sign an NHL deal when he agreed to his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils and senior captain Alex Limoges inked a deal with the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League.
Fisher helped lead the Nittany Lions to their first-ever Big Ten regular-season championship in 2019-20 with program highs in conference wins (12) and points (41). Penn State earned the top overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament and a first-round bye and advanced to its sixth Big Ten semifinal in seven years prior to the postseason being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following season’s end, the Nittany Lions saw a pair of players earn All-America honors for the first time as Cole Hults and Nate Sucese were recognized by CCM/AHCA on the second team west. Hults also became the first-ever Nittany Lion to be named Big Ten Player of the Year.
In 2018-19, Fisher once again helped guide the most prolific offense in the country as the team led the nation in scoring with a single-season record 4.54 goals per game and set single-season records for goals (177), assists (301) and points (478), each of which were also tops in the nation.
Penn State reached its second Big Ten Championship game in the past three seasons while posting their second most victories in a season finishing 22-15-2. During the year sophomore Alex Limoges set the single-season point and goal records with 50 and 23, respectively, tying for the national lead in points, marking the first time in program history a Nittany Lion has done so.
Penn State reached the Big Ten semifinals for the fourth time in its brief five-year history in the conference following the 2017-18 season. The run to the postseason was highlighted by four-straight victories against college hockey power Minnesota to end the season. Fisher also witnessed Andrew Sturtz shatter the Penn State all-time goals record on his way to becoming the fourth Nittany Lion to ink an NHL contract following the season.
Fisher also helped guide Penn State to back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 2015-16 & 2016-17 and the programs first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship in 2017.
With a team composed of Fisher’s and fellow assistant Matt Lindsay’s recruits, the Lions improved their win total in each season from 2013-14 through 2016-17 while advancing to the Big Ten semifinals twice before capturing the crown in 2017.
During the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, Penn State has had record-breaking offensive productions setting new standards each season. In 2016-17 the Nittany Lions broke numerous offensive records, set just the year prior, including most goals (160), assists (265), points (425), shots (1,719), goals/gm (4.10) and shots/gm (44.1) to go along with a program-best 25 victories. In total Penn State broke or tied 65 program records in 2016-17.
In 2016-17, freshman Denis Smirnov registered the best single season in program history as he shattered the previous points record with 47 (19 goals, 26 assists) to lead all freshmen across the country. Smirnov was later drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche as part of the most successful NHL Draft for Penn State who had four players taken, the second most for an NCAA institution in 2017.
The second-best individual single-season performance for a Nittany Lion at the time came in 2014-15 as Casey Bailey tallied 22 goals and 40 points to lead the Big Ten in scoring. Bailey parlayed his successful junior season into a two-year NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is now a member of the Ottawa Senators organization.
During the 2013-14 campaign, Fisher helped guide the Nittany Lions during the Big Ten Conference’s first season. Penn State, which faced seven NCAA tournament teams and three Frozen Four participants, highlighted its season with a 2-1 double-overtime victory against Michigan in the Big Ten Quarterfinals.
The Nittany Lions posted a 13-14-0 record during their inaugural NCAA Division I season. Fisher helped guide Penn State to several marquee victories in 2012-13, including wins against three future Big Ten opponents (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin).
AT PRINCETON
Fisher spent 2005-11 on the staff at Princeton. With the Tigers, he helped lead the team to a pair of NCAA tournament berths (2008, 2009) and the 2008 ECAC and Ivy League Championships. The 2009 Princeton Tigers also set the school-record for wins in a season with 22, a record which still stands to this day.
The Minnesota native headed up the Princeton recruiting efforts which saw three All-Americans, two Hobey Baker Award finalists, two ECAC Player of the Year recipients (the only two in the history of the program), one ECAC Rookie of the Year, one ECAC Defenseman of the Year and one ECAC Goaltender of the year.
Fisher’s teams also combined for 48 Academic All-ECAC players, five NHL players, four first-team All-ECAC players and three first-team All-Ivy players.
BEFORE COLLEGE COACHING
Fisher spent five years with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers’ coaching staff, helping the team to the Clark Cup championship in 2001 and Anderson Cup regular-season championships in both 2002 and 2005.
In Omaha, he served as the team’s recruiting coordinator and academic advisor, in addition to other responsibilities of on-ice coaching, video breakdown and game analysis.
NHL first-round draft picks Keith Ballard and Nick Petrecki, 11 NHL players, including Matt Carle and Paul Stastny, and USHL Goaltender of the Year and USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year Jeff Lerg came through Omaha during Fisher’s time there. He also helped develop 54 NCAA Division I scholarship players and 12 NHL draft picks and served as associate coach for Team USHL at the USHL Prospects/All-Star game during his final season.
Fisher also served two seasons with St. Cloud State University’s hockey program as an undergraduate assistant coach. During his time with the Huskies, Fisher helped develop five players for the NHL and, in 2000, they advanced to just the second NCAA tournament in program history.
PERSONAL LIFE
A graduate of St. Cloud State University, Fisher has a bachelor’s degree in communications. Prior to coaching, Fisher played two seasons at Hibbing Community College and participated in the NJCAA national tournament.
Fisher and his wife, Kristi, reside in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, with their two daughters, Anna and Emily.
Keith Fisher