Daniel Roy enters his tenth season as both head coach of men’s ice hockey and director of hockey operations at Grand Canyon University after leading the team to historic heights in 2024-25. The culmination of nine years of building the GCU Ice Hockey program from the ground up when he signed on in 2016 came to fruition last April when he not only led the D1 squad to its first-ever berth at the ACHA D1 National Championships, but also to its first nationals victory.
Since signing on in '16, Roy has led the program to exponential growth every year. Roy spearheaded the Lopes making the jump to the ACHA's Division I level in 2019-20, expanding the program to all three levels (DI, DII and DIII) a year later. In 2018-19, the Lopes’ Men’s Hockey team ranked seventh out of 55 teams in the West, and qualified for regionals for the second consecutive season. Roy has also won the ACHA DII Western Region Coach of the Year award, taking the plaque home in 2018.
Roy has an impressive background in hockey with more than 25 years of playing experience and over 15 years of coaching experience. His college playing career began in his hometown at Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) in northern California in 2005. The team folded the following season, but Roy and other teammates rebuilt the hockey program at SRJC, where he played again during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. Roy then transferred to Arizona State University (ASU) in 2012, where he played goalie for ASU’s ACHA DII team.
After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Communication from ASU in 2014, he was offered an assistant coach position with ASU’s ACHA DII team. In his first season with ASU, the team qualified for their first ACHA DII Western Regional tournament and reached the ACHA DII National Tournament a year later.
Roy was also the head coach of UC Davis’s ice hockey program in 2009-10, and has coached various youth programs in northern California as well as here in Arizona. He is currently a coach with the Arizona High School Hockey Association (AHSHA) Premier Team and coach for Team Arizona, an elite high school hockey team which represents Arizona at the USA Hockey’s America’s Showcase.
Roy and his wife, Emily, will not only celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary in 2025, but also 20 years as a couple. They dote on their daughter, three-year-old Kendree.
