Ice Hockey
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- desmatt@umich.edu
The 2025-26 season culminated in another Frozen Four after winning the Big Ten Tournament Championship. The No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines were ranked No. 1 in the nation for 15 weeks during the regular season including an 11-week streak. That 11-week run was the program's longest atop the polls since the 1996-97 team was ranked first from mid-November through the season's end. During the season,the Wolverines to five road sweeps, the most in a single season in program history. The winningest team in the NCAA this season, the squad had 31 victories - a 13-win improvement from last season. The Wolverines were picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten and began the season ranked No. 12. Michigan finished the season with the best power-play in the country and the nation's best scoring offense as threee players finished with more than a point-per-game led by Hobey Baker finalist and Big Ten Player of the Year T.J. Hughes.
The Wolverines reached the B1G Tournament Championship game and the Frozen Four in 2023-24, his first season. Defenseman Seamus Casey was named first-team All-American after finishing third in the nation among defenseman. He averaged 1.13 points per game, finishing with 45 points in 38 games while tying Tom Polonic and Luke Hughes with the most assists by a sophomore defenseman in program history with 38.Â
Deschamps has spent the last three seasons with the Chicago Steel of the USHL, first as assistant coach and then associate head coach. The Steel won the Anderson Cup, the regular-season championship, during the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season. In 2020-21, Chicago won its second straight Anderson Cup, as well as the Clark Cup as playoff champion. During his time with the Steel, Deschamps coached two USHL Players of the Year, two USHL Forwards of the Year and 15 all-USHL selections. They include current and former Michigan players: Brendan Brisson, Adam Fantilli, Luca Fantilli, Owen Power, Mackie Samoskevich, and incoming player Nick Moldenhauer. In total, he has coached 30 players who have been drafted in the NHL Draft.
A 2005 graduate of the University of Maine, Deschamps played four years for the Black Bears, appearing in 111 games on defense and serving as alternate captain as a senior. He assisted on the triple-overtime goal in the 2004 Hockey East Championship and helped Maine to four straight NCAA tournament appearances, including two Frozen Four spots.
He played professionally for five seasons, split between the American Hockey League and the East Coast Hockey League before taking his first coaching job in Salzburg, Austria with the EC Red Bull Salzburg (RBS) Hockey Club. He was head coach of the RBS U18 team and served the club in director and development coordinator roles from 2014-2016. He was hired as assistant coach at St. Lawrence University in 2016 and served in that role for three seasons.
