Glass & Out

In episode #175 of the Glass and Out podcast, we speak with Tomas Pacina, who up until the day before we recorded this conversation, had been the Head Coach of the Czechia National Women’s program for two seasons. Pacina has had an incredibly unique and diverse career that has touched just about every level of hockey. He moved to Calgary, Alberta, in the mid 90s and began coaching midget hockey, while working at a local hockey academy. This led to the opportunity become a Skills Coach for Canada’s National Men's Team, which at the time was under the guidance of current Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney. From there, he joined the New York Rangers as a Skills Coach, becoming one of the first of his position to be hired by an NHL team. He remained with the Rangers until 2004, and later worked with the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens in a similar capacity. From 2011 until 2020, Pacina was a skills coach for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, working under the leadership of Mike Johnston for majority of his t