Ben Barr enters his sixth season as the head coach of the University of Maine men's ice hockey program in 2026-27. In his first five seasons behind the Black Bears bench, Barr has guided Maine's return to national prominence, leading the program to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the program's first Hockey East Tournament championship in 20 years and back-to-back All-Americans.
At Maine
During the 2025-26 season, Barr led Maine to a 20-15-1 overall record and the team earned a bye into the to the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals for the third consecutive season. Defenseman Brandon Holt earned First Team All-America honors, becoming the first Maine defenseman to be named a First Team All-American since David Cullen in 1999. Holt also garnered All-Hockey East First Team recognition and was named Hockey East's Best Defensive Defenseman while Owen Fowler was named Hockey East Best Defensive Forward. Additionally, the team earned the program’s highest-ever spring term GPA (3.75).
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The 2024-25 season saw Barr lead the 24-8-6 Black Bears to the program's first Hockey East Tournament title in 20 years. Following a double-overtime victory over Northeastern in the semifinals, Maine defeated UConn in the championship game to claim the program's sixth Hockey East Tournament crown and secure its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance. Goaltender Albin Boija earned Second Team All-America honors after helping backstop Maine's championship run.
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Barr guided Maine to a 23-12-2 record in 2023-24 and a return to both the Hockey East championship weekend and the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011-12. The Black Bears earned a national ranking for the first time in more than three years and remained ranked for 21 consecutive weeks, the program's longest stretch in nearly two decades. Maine also climbed into the national top 10 for the first time since 2012 and reached the top five for the first time since 2010. After a 7-22-4 record in his first season in 2021-22, Barr's program has posted four consecutive years of improvement and sustained success, compiling an 82-51-14 record over the last four seasons while reestablishing Maine among the nation's elite programs.
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Off the ice, Barr's teams have excelled in the classroom while also producing national award winners. The 2025-26 squad recorded the highest spring term GPA in program history with a 3.75, while the 2023-24 team established a program-record fall GPA of 3.71. During Barr's tenure, Maine student-athletes have consistently earned Hockey East All-Academic Team recognition and AHCA Academic All-America Scholar honors. Maine led Hockey East with six Hockey East All-Academic All-Star Team selections in 2021-22 and tied for the conference lead with four honorees in 2022-23.
Before Maine
Barr arrived at UMaine with 15 years of assistant coaching experience in Division-I programs and a tradition of success at each of his stints at five different institutions. Most recently, Barr spent five years at UMass as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator where he helped guide the Minutemen to a 94-75-10 record, including a 72-26-6 mark over his last three seasons. His time at UMass included a Hockey East regular season and tournament title, three NCAA appearances, back-to-back NCAA title game appearances, and the 2021 National Championship.
Barr began his coaching career at his alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he spent the 2004-05 and 2007-08 seasons as a volunteer assistant coach. Barr joined Union College in September of 2008 as a full-time assistant. In his three seasons at Union, Barr played a key role in developing Union into a national champion. In his final year on staff, the Dutchman captured their first-ever ECAC Regular Season Championship and earned their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in school history. At the time, working under head coach Nate Leaman, Barr and the Union staff were named the 2011 Spencer Penrose NCAA Staff of the Year.
After three years at Union, Barr was hired as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Providence College. In his first year on staff, the Friars reached the Hockey East semifinals for the first time in 11 years. In his final year on staff, Providence advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal round in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001. Following his departure, with players both recruited and developed by Barr, the Friars went on to win the 2015 NCAA National Championship.
In June of 2014, Barr accepted a role as the associate head coach at Western Michigan University where he would stay for two seasons. At Western Michigan, Barr again served as recruiting coordinator and assisted head coach Andy Murray in developing a championship culture. The team transformed into a top-10 program and reached the NCAA Tournament the year after Barr's departure.
The Faribault, Minn. native began his role at UMass in April of 2016 where he went on to serve five seasons as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. In his first season at UMass, the team finished the year at 5-29-2. Just two seasons later, the program registered a 31-10 overall mark, a Hockey East regular season championship, and finished as the NCAA runners-up. Two years later, the Minutemen achieved greatness as they were crowned the Hockey East and NCAA Champions.
In his five seasons behind the bench at UMass, Barr led the charge in his recruiting coordinator role in recruiting the top producing freshman class in all of NCAA hockey in 2017-18. Under the leadership of Greg Carvel, Barr earned his second Spencer Penrose National Coaching Staff of the Year award. Barr played a key role in bringing several firsts to UMass as the Minutemen earned their first Hockey East regular season title in school history in 2019, their first Hockey East Tournament title in 2021, and the school's first-ever National Championship in April of 2021.
Barr attended Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School in Faribault, Minn. where he served as Captain of the Shattuck-St. Mary's Midget hockey team in 1999. A Williams Cup recipient, Barr was named Shattuck-St. Mary's Best All-Around Athlete in 2000. Prior to his playing career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Barr competed as a member of the 1999 USA National Championship team.
Barr earned a four-year athletic scholarship at RPI where he went on to achieve four letters for the men's ice hockey team from 2000-04. He served as the team's captain during the 2003-04 season, leading the program to a 22 win season. Barr earned the Rensselaer Coach's award in 2003 and 2004 and was named the team's Most Valuable Player for the 2002-03 campaign. Barr graduated from RPI in May of 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Management and Technology with a Marketing concentration.
Personal
Barr and his wife, Tara, are the proud parents of a son, Brooks, and twins, Isla and Griffin.
