The 2025-26 season will be the 10th for Richard McKenna as head coach of the Yellowjacket men's hockey program. McKenna was named to the position May 11, 2016, becoming the sixth head coach to lead the Yellowjackets since the program was reinstated in 1965.
In McKenna's first eight seasons at UWS, he has had 21 players earn All-WIAC honors and helped 27 sign professional contracts, including seven following the 2021-22 season alone and seven more after the 2022-23 season. He has also coached several current NHL players and draft picks from his time in the USHL and NCAA Division I.
McKenna led the 'Jackets to his best season to-date behind the bench, collecting a record of 19-5-3 and the 2025 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season championship. The 19 wins served as the best mark since the 2008-09 season, which was boosted by a 15-game unbeaten streak. The Yellowjackets were recognized nationally throughout the season, ranking as high as seventh in the DIII Hockey News poll and 10th in the USCHO poll before finishing the campaign ranked Nos. 11/12, respectively. UW-Superior claimed the 59th Annual Codfish Bowl Tournament championship after defeating Fitchburg State 2-0 and tournament-host UMass Boston 5-2 before running through the majority of the WIAC opponents. Additionally, Superior's win against the Falcons served as McKenna's 100th win behind the bench.
The 2023-24 season saw McKenna's Yellowjackets go 11-15-1 overall. During the Subway Superior Showdown championship game McKenna guided his squad to an overtime victory against No. 2 ranked St. Scholastica, which was their first loss of the campaign. Additionally, this clinched the first tournament win in the tournament's six-year history.
For his work in the 2022-23 season, McKenna was named the WIAC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after leading the Yellowjackets to a third place finish with a 15-12-2 overall record. Additionally, he was named a finalist for the Edward Jeremiah Award, given annually to the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Coach of the Year from the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). He was one of 12 NCAA Division III men's hockey coaches up for the award.
McKenna led the 'Jackets to the 2021 WIAC Championship with 7-3 overall record and 5-3 mark in the league. Superior won the title, its first since taking the 2011 crown, with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory at UW-Stevens Point March 12.
McKenna came to UW-Superior following a season as the head coach and general manager of the New Jersey Titans of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). He led the Titans to a record of 34-22-4 and a second-place finish in the NAHL's East Division in 2015-16.
McKenna began his coaching career as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Castleton State in Vermont in 2008-09 where he helped the Spartans to a 15-win season and a berth in the ECAC East playoffs. From there, McKenna spent two seasons (2009-11) as an assistant coach at Division III Wesleyan in Middletown, Conn., before moving to the Division I ranks at UConn. While there, McKenna helped guide the Huskies to the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals in 2011-12 and then the semifinals in 2012-13.
He moved into the junior game as the assistant coach and assistant general manager of the Muskegon (Mich.) Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League (USHL). There McKenna worked under head coach and former NHL player Todd Krygier for two seasons, helping the Lumberjacks reach the Clark Cup finals in 2014-15 where they ultimately lost to the Sioux Falls Stampede.
McKenna played his college hockey at Castleton State, graduating in 2007.
A native of Greenwood Lake, N.Y., McKenna and his wife Carina reside in Cloquet, Minn. They have three sons -- Declan, Wade and Barrett.
| McKenna at UW-Superior |
| Year |
W |
L |
T |
Pct. |
| 2016-17 |
8 |
19 |
2 |
.310 |
| 2017-18 |
9 |
15 |
3 |
.333 |
| 2018-19 |
10 |
14 |
3 |
.426 |
| 2019-20 |
16 |
10 |
3 |
.603 |
| 2020-21 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
.700 |
| 2021-22 |
15 |
12 |
2 |
.552 |
| 2022-23 |
15 |
12 |
2 |
.552 |
| 2023-24 |
11 |
15 |
1 |
.552 |
| 2024-25 |
19 |
5 |
3 |
.759 |
| Total |
110 |
105 |
19 |
.510 |
