Personnel
Mark Frankenfeld
Commissioner and President
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Mark Frankenfeld has served as the Commissioner and President of the North American Hockey League since 2007. As commissioner, his responsibilities include overseeing the day-to-day operations and all business aspects of the league, including but not limited to expansion, marketing initiatives, rules & regulations and player development.
During Frankenfeld's tenure, the NAHL has stabilized into one of only two non-tuition-based premier developmental junior leagues in the country. During that span the league has not only grown but expanded into markets that were once considered off limits for junior hockey. One of the biggest trends that has occurred under Frankenfeld's watch is NAHL teams emerging in former minor league hockey markets and becoming successful and stable.
Frankenfeld has laid the foundation for continued success, expanding the footprint of the league to 35 teams across the country, allowing the league to continue to grow and truly become America's only 'National League' when it comes to junior hockey.
Frankenfeld, a member of USA Hockey's Junior Council, is also the driving force behind the NAHL Showcase, the creation of the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament and the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL), which is made up of Midget Major and Minor teams that compete at the Tier I and Tier II youth level. Fifteen years ago, Frankenfeld played a vital role of the acquisition of the Central States Hockey League, which was redeveloped in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL).
All take advantage of the unique vertical exposure model set forth by Frankenfeld, in which players are showcased in a series of unique league-wide events designed to bring everyone together under one roof several times a season for enhanced exposure of players at all levels to junior and college scouts.
Prior to assuming his role as commissioner, the Wright State University graduate served as the league's director of hockey operations.
Behind the bench in the NAHL, Frankenfeld was the head coach of the Dayton Gems during the 2003-04 season and spent four seasons as assistant coach and assistant general manager for the Texas Tornado from 1999-03. He was also an assistant coach with the Cleveland Jr. Barons for one season. Prior to working in the NAHL, Frankenfeld gained valuable experience in the collegiate ranks, spending four years as an assistant coach with Miami University (NCHC) and one as an assistant with Buffalo State University (SUNYAC). Frankenfeld has also coached at the high school and Midget AAA levels, as well as at USA Hockey Select Festivals, giving him more than 20 years of coaching experience.
Shannon Smith
Vice President, Marketing and Finance
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Shannon Smith has been with the North American Hockey League since 2014. Smith currently oversees corporate sales, marketing and media, league event and meeting planning and execution, merchandising and the day-to-day financial operations for the NAHL, NA3HL and NAPHL.
Prior to joining the NAHL, Smith spent four years with the NAHL's Texas Tornado serving as the team's Director of Business Operations from 2009-13.
Prior to working for the Tornado, she spent twelve years with Skyview Satellite Networks where she served at the Director of Contract Services, managing commercial inventory in twenty-five programming products, including MLB, MRN, NBA, NFL and NHL radio broadcasts as well as two State News Radio Networks.
Smith graduated Cum Laude from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies.
Vinnie Perricelli
Director, Streaming and Broadcasting
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Vinnie Perricelli has been with the NAHL since 2017. He has been instrumental in the development and launch of NATV and manages and oversees the operation of the streaming platform. Perricelli serves as executive producer for all league event broadcasts including the NAHL Showcase, the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, The NA3HL Fraser Cup, The NAHL Robertson Cup and the NAHL Draft Show. Additionally, Perricelli creates, leads and supports additional video projects across all three leagues.
Previously, Perricelli worked for the North Iowa Bulls of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) as their Digital Media Manager. In this role, Perricelli would create the team's digital content while managing the team's website and social media channels. He also served as the team's play-by-play broadcaster for select home games.
He graduated from Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications in May 2014. Beginning his sophomore year, Perricelli managed the school's radio station and was the play-by-play voice for Waldorf's ACHA hockey team. He also played baseball for the Warriors during his time at the school.
Tyler Giwerowski
Director, Hockey Operations
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Tyler Giwerowski has been with the NAHL since June of 2022. Selected as the second recipient of the Kim Cannon Internship, Giwerowski has managed hockey operations for the NAHL and NA3HL since October of 2022.
Originally from Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Giwerowski is a 2022 graduate of Rider University located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey with a degree of Business in Sports Management and The Organization of Psychology. During his time at Rider, Giwerowski was employed as a Hockey Instructor with the Madison Square Garden Company within the Junior Rangers Program and served as an intern during the Summer of 2020 as a Student associate in the Fan Development department for the New York Rangers. In addition, Giwerowski was a member of the ACHA Division II Club Ice Hockey Team at Rider where he was the Public Relations Officer, Team Captain, and the Team President. He was also an Intern for the Metropolitan Riveters within the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) where he worked in Game Day Operations.
Dennis Vickers
Director, Player Personnel
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Dennis Vickers joined the NAHL as the Director of Player Personnel on June 13, 2022, and oversees all player personnel and scouting initiatives for the NAHL and NA3HL, in addition to being the Director of the NAPHL. After his playing career ended at Saint Mary's University in Minnesota, Vickers attended Miami (OH) University. At Miami University, Vickers served as a Graduate Assistant where he coached the ACHA team and worked closely with the team and staff of the NCAA Division I program. After going to back-to-back ACHA National Tournaments and completing his master's degree in Sport Behavior and Performance (Sport Psychology), he moved to Nashville to take over as Director of Hockey Operations for the Nashville Predators Youth Organization. Vickers is a USA Hockey Level IV coach and has coached every level from youth hockey to college. He has also worked a variety of USA Hockey National Select Camps and worked with USA Hockey's Youth Development staff.
Keith Kaval
Director, Officiating
Keith Kaval joined the NAHL the as Director of Officiating in the Summer of 2018. He was previously an on-ice official in the American Hockey League (AHL) for the last 12 seasons and worked over 700 games during that time span, including Calder Cup Playoffs.
Kaval currently serves as an officiating coach for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Kaval had a very distinctive international career representing USA Hockey for the IIHF, where Keith worked six A pool championships earning four medal game assignments, including the 2011 World Junior Championship gold medal game in Buffalo, New York, and the 2014 World senior championships gold medal game in Minsk, Belarus. Kaval also has the distinction of being the first and only American hired to referee full time in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) based in Russia.
Kaval also worked the 2010 Kelly Cup Final in the ECHL. Kaval has consistently worked with USA Hockey during the summer in a development role, coaching officials of various levels. He is quite familiar with the Officiating Development Program, as he graduated to professional hockey after the 2005 season.
Kaval began his junior hockey officiating career in the NAHL in 1999 and finished his journey working the 2004 Robertson Cup Championship final in Frisco, Texas. Kaval played youth and prep school hockey before solely focusing on his officiating career. Kaval's officiating stops included the NAHL, NA3HL, USHL, OHA, WHL, OHL, CHL, UHL, ECHL, Denmark, Hockey East, Atlantic Hockey, and the AHL.
Rob Martell
Director, NA3HL Player Safety
Rob Martell was hired as the Director of Player Safety for the NA3HL on October 2, 2019.
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Martell moved to the United States in the early 1990's while working for the NHL in their Referee Trainee program beginning in 1987, which included the WHL, OHL, QMJHL, CCHA, ECHL, IHL and AHL. Hired full-time by the NHL in 1992, he continued to work in AHL and IHL working his first NHL game in Ottawa in 1996. Martell worked over 900 professional games, including two Turner Cup finals (1994 & 1996) and the IHL All-Star Game in Houston, Texas in 1996.
Martell then graduated to the NHL in 1999-00 and worked 1,004 career NHL games including the 2008 NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta and NHL Premier Series games in Helsinki, Finland and Belfast, Ireland in 2010.
Following his retirement from the NHL in 2016, he joined the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program as an Officiating Coach covering SPHL, USHL, NAHL and NA3HL. Martell also has his USA Hockey Level 4 coaching certification.
Craig Barnett
Director, NCAA Compliance and Education
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Craig Barnett provides NCAA Education and Compliance resources for the NAHL, NA3HL, and NAPHL. Barnett's experience and relationships in the college hockey world provides a unique perspective to coaches and players in the NAHL family of leagues looking to gain opportunities at the next level.
Barnett played college hockey at Plattsburgh (NY) State University in which he was a member of the 1987 NCAA Championship team. He was also named to their all-decade team (1985-1994) and was the university's Student-Athlete of the year in 1989.
Barnett then played professionally in the New York Ranger organization for two years before entering the coaching ranks. Barnett started the hockey program at the University of Findlay (OH) in 1995 and took that program from club status to the NCAA I level as a charter member of the CHA (College Hockey America).
In 2002, Barnett became the Hockey Director and Assistant Athletic Director at Lake Forest Academy, a prestigious boarding school on the north shore of Chicago. Barnett then became the Director of Athletics at Becker College in Worcester, MA where he was instrumental in starting their NCAA III hockey, football and lacrosse programs. Two years later, Barnett landed the Director of Athletics position at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA where he was responsible for 24 NCAA II varsity sports as well as their 2 NCAA I hockey programs.
In 2011, Barnett was named the Commissioner of the American Lacrosse Conference, a league who had won seven of the past nine NCAA I Championships before being absorbed by the Big Ten conference in 2014. This past year, Barnett became the Commissioner of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, a NCAA I/II league whose conference member Loyola University has won the past 2 NCAA Championships.
Craig Barnett was named Executive Director of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) in 2018 and continues to serve in that role today.
Tiffany Levesque
Manager, Administration
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Tiffany Levesque has been with the NAHL since the 2022-23 season. Levesque serves as the event manager and administrative lead for the NAHL Combines and NAPHL. She is instrumental in the planning and execution of all events across the three leagues.
Prior to joining the NAHL, Tiffany spent four seasons with the Maine Nordiques (NAHL) in conjunction with their home rink, The Colisee, as Director of Operations, located in Lewiston, ME. Tiffany started as an intern for the Nordiques in their inaugural season (2019-2020), working in game day operations and production. She was hired full time in October 2020. Tiffany's role entailed, but not limited to, handling daily operations for the rink, game day operations for NAHL and Academy teams, broadcast production, representative for the Nordiques youth program, billet coordinator, scheduling, and marketing.
Tiffany graduated from the University of Hartford with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.
Christian Larson
Manager, Digital Media
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Christian Larson has been with the NAHL since 2022-23 Season. Larson is the lead video editor, producing all weekly video features and collaborating on all league long form videos. Larson shoots video and still photography across all three leagues and oversees League graphic design. Larson has been instrumental in the evolution of the League social media channels and is tracks alumni and team media performance.
Previously, Christian served the role as Gameday Content Intern for the NAHL, with duties that include writing stories of player advancement, filming live coverage of NAHL events, and posting on social media.
Prior to the NAHL, Christian worked for Wave Sports + Entertainment as a content manager, creating and posting digital media content to social media channels.
Originally from Fargo, North Dakota, he graduated from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications in the fall of 2021.
Kendall Hanley
Director, Officiating
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Kendall Hanley was named the full-time Manager of Officiating of the NAHL and Director of Officiating for the NAPHL in March 2022. Hanley has spearheaded in the development of the NAHL Next Shift initiative and the NAHL Officiating Exposure Camps.
Hanley currently serves as an officiating coach for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Hanley's career began in 2007 during which she has officiated games at the local, district, national, professional, and international level. Her national experience spans NCAA DI and DIII (WCHA. MIAC, WIAC), Junior leagues (USHL, NAHL, NA3HL) and men's and women's professional hockey leagues (AHL, CWHL, PHF, PWHPA). On the international side, Hanley has officiated numerous tournaments around the world for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), including the 2019 U18 Women's World Championship in Slovakia (Bronze Medal Game), the 2021 Women's World Championship in Canada (Bronze Medal Game), and most recently the Women's Ice Hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China where she was selected to work the Gold Medal Game.
Hanley has broken down numerous barriers for women in the officiating world. She was the first woman to work at the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship, in addition to two NAHL Top Prospects Tournaments (2021, 2019). She was one of the first four female officials to work at an NHL Prospect Tournament (2019, Traverse City, Michigan), and was additionally selected to work the 2021 NHL Prospect Tournament in Tampa Bay. In December, she became the first female to officiate a professional hockey game in Wisconsin, as part of the AHL's first class of ten female officials. She was the first woman to earn the 2021 Ben Allison Award, given annually to an official in the USA Hockey Officiating Developmental Program, and in 2023, was the recipient of the annual USA Hockey Jamie Huntly-Park Award.
A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Hanley found her passion for officiating after completing her four-year NCAA playing career for the Elmira College Soaring Eagles and Oswego State Lakers. She currently resides in Minnesota.
Ava Cruchon
Manager, Media and Design
Ava Cruchon joined the NAHL in October of 2024.
Prior to joining the NAHL, Cruchon worked for the Tulsa Drillers (Double-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) as their Video Production Assistant for two seasons. In this role, she was featured on the in-house video and radio broadcasts for live updates and post-game interviews, while managing and creating the sponsored in-stadium video board graphics.
Ava is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and graduated from Oklahoma City University with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications: Multimedia Journalism & Broadcast Production.
Brittany Hart
Coordinator, Digital Media and Communications
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Brittany Hart joined the NAHL staff during the 2023-2024 season. Hart is the lead on the NA3HL and NAPHL media efforts and serves as the host of the NA3HL 3Show and the NAPHL T1ER Tonight video features.
Prior to the NAHL, Hart spent 3 seasons with Lovell Hockey, a youth umbrella containing six organizations operating within Massachusetts. Brittany served as the Social Media Coordinator for all six organizations with her primary duties being graphic design, photography, website upkeep and content creation.
Hart began working in the hockey industry back in 2017 as an intern with the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). Her role evolved from social media and game day operation to the league's sole rink side reporter and content creator.
Brittany graduated from Bridgewater State University in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in strategic communications.
Dave Dunkleberger
Coordinator, Hockey Administration
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David Dunkleberger joined the NAHL staff to start the 2024-25 season and supports the Director of Hockey Operations.
Prior to joining the NAHL staff, Dunkleberger spent ten seasons with the Johnstown Tomahawks (NAHL). He started in Johnstown as the team's equipment manager to begin the 2013-2014 season and became the team's assistant coach during the 2020-2021 season.
During his time in Johnstown, Dunkleberger has worked several NAHL special events including six Robertson Cup events, nine Top Prospect Tournament events, and the 2019 Sirius World Junior Cup held in Sochi, Russia. His career in hockey has also led him to working events such as the 2015 NHL Kraft Hockeyville game, USA Hockey's 40-man Training Camp, Warren Strelow Goaltending Camp, and the 2018 All-American Game.
Dunkleberger was a four-year starting goaltender for the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management.
Ian McCambridge
Coordinator, Officiating
Ian McCambridge joined the NAHL in 2023 and works to support the NAHL, NA3HL and NAPHL officiating programs.
McCambridge's officiating career saw him skate Division One Collegiate Hockey (Big Ten, CCHA), professional hockey (AHL, ECHL, SPHL), a world championship with the International Ice Hockey Federation, three NHL Rookie Tournaments, and the United States Hockey League where he was selected to work the 2015 Clark Cup Finals.
McCambridge got his start officiating twenty-two years ago. The Indiana native has served as an on-ice official within the North American Hockey League beginning in 2007 as both a referee and a linesman. His time in the NAHL saw him work three Robertson Cup Finals and two Top Prospects Tournaments.
McCambridge has a passion for officiating as he still runs local referee seminars, assigns youth hockey referees, and helps mentor the next generation of officials on the local level.
