The Green Bay Gamblers have named Mason Baptista as the team’s new assistant coach. Baptista replaces Jimmy Spratt who was recently hired as an assistant coach at Northern Michigan University. Baptista’s focus will be skill development and special teams.
Prior to being hired by the Gamblers, Baptista was an assistant coach in the ECHL with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, an affiliate of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. The North York, Ontario Canada native joined the Swamp Rabbits ahead of the 2022-23 season after a stint as the Video and Skills Coach for the Chinese Women’s National Team which competed at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
As a player, Baptista played six seasons professionally in the ECHL and Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Throughout his ECHL career, Baptista appeared in 297 career games and posted 187 points (79g, 108a) between five different teams.
Collegiately, Baptista starred at local St. Norbert College, winning a pair of NCAA Division III national championships in 2012 and 2014 with the Green Knights. In his four years with the Green Knights, Baptista collected 104 points (29 goals & 75 assists) in 117 games. Baptista was a teammate of Gamblers Associate Head Coach Pat McCadden at St. Norbert.
“We are thrilled to add Mason to our organization,” said Gamblers Head Coach/General Manager Mike Leone. “He has local ties, understands the community and organization. He’s a worker, detailed and has great experience from playing pro hockey and coaching at that level. He is a great person for our players to be around and learn from.”
The 2023-2024 campaign marks the 30th year of Gamblers hockey in the United States Hockey League. Stay tuned to the Gamblers social media platforms for the latest team news.
