club contacts

Frank played his youth hockey for the Mon Valley Thunder in the 1990's.

He went on to play 4 years of Division II football at Mercyhurst University. Frank has severed as the organizations Vice President as well as head & assistant coaches for multiple teams within the Thunder's coed & girls programs.  Frank is a level 4 certified USA hockey coach. Frank is also a head coach for the Monessen Youth Baseball Association.

Craig started his minor hockey career with the Mon Valley Thunder in the club’s inaugural 1986-87 season.  After several years as one of the area’s top players, he went on to play in the Michigan National League as a member of the Pittsburgh Hornets. After his playing career, Albert coached his former high school team for three seasons starting in 2014 when he led the Baldwin Highlanders to an Open Cup Championship in his first season and a Penguin Cup AA semifinal appearance 2 years later before coming over to Mon Valley. Craig has been our organization’s power skating coach and director of coaching/player development since 2020.  In 2022, Black Bear Sports Group and cfsbank Event Center hired Coach Albert as hockey director at their facility where he now coaches and instructs some of the area’s top players.

Coach Joe started his playing career with the Mon Valley thunder mites after starting to skate at age 3. He went on to play AAA for the Pittsburgh Hornets, as well as the Amateur Penguins and the Pittsburgh Predators. He led Serra Catholic Eagles to 4 division titles, 2 Penguin Cup Championships, and 1 State championship. After that he went on to play at St. Vincent College for 4 years, where he was one of the team’s top scorers. He started his coaching career with the Serra Eagles during college and later coached the Mon Valley Thunder Midget team. He has been a head coach in the organization since 2017 and has been our Skills and Player Development coach since 2020.

John started his hockey career as a mite with the Mon Valley Thunder before going on to play AAA for the Pittsburgh Hornets. He played his junior hockey for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers and then went on to play D1 college hockey at St. Lawrence University. Zeiler was drafted 132nd overall in 2002 by Wayne Gretzky and the Arizona Coyotes. He went on to see three seasons of NHL action as a member of the LA Kings before heading to Germany for several years to finish his pro career for the Augsburger Panther. After several years behind a Tier 1 AAA bench with the Pittsburgh Vengeance, John is now the head coach of Thomas Jefferson’s Varsity Hockey team and an ADM coach for the Thunder.

Kenny is a Plum Borough native who grew up playing his youth hockey in the Pittsburgh area. He played junior hockey in both the USHL and NAHL enroute to beginning his Division I NCAA career at the University of Minnesota Duluth. During his time as a Bulldog, Reiter earned the starting role and led the Bulldogs to their first NCAA National Championship victory in 2011. After college, Kenny moved on to play professionally in the New York Islanders organization with stints between both the AHL and ECHL, where he was named “Goaltender of the month” in January 2013. Goaltending Coach since 2020, Reiter brings a wealth of experience and passion for developing goalies.