Former Leyden Hockey Forward Adrian Kuzbik Now The Eagles Head Coach

Adrian Kuzbik heads into his fifth season coaching, all with the co-op Leyden High School Hockey Club, and his first as the team’s head coach. He started with Leyden after graduating from Illinois State University.

Kuzbik, 26, lives in Des Plaines and is an associate cyber underwriter at Tokio Marine HCC.

“My application (for the head coaching job) was the respect I earned from the Leyden players, parents and board throughout my time as an assistant coach,” Kuzbik said. “I’m excited to implement some new ideas that I’ve been cooking up to promote competition while the team grows its bond together.

“Some of my most memorable years were spent wearing a Leyden hockey jersey. When I knew the club was in a transition, I had no doubt I wanted to be a part of it to revitalize the club and bring it back to being a competitive club in combined hockey.”

Kuzbik played youth hockey for the Franklin Park Panthers before jumping to the Leyden Hockey Club. He mostly played wing and center at times. Plus, he ran the Leyden defense for power plays.

He was the Leyden alternate captain as a sophomore and helped lead the Eagles to the elite eight in state as a senior.

On a Kuzbik-coached team, “the student-athletes know they’ll be heard,” he said.

“Coaching has evolved so much throughout my time being around the sport, and I prioritize having a connection with all of our athletes,” he said. “That kind of effort translates to synergy. Combine that with competition, which is our biggest theme for all practices, you have a physically tough, mentally close, and ambitious Adrian-coached team.  

“Our eyes are set on raising banners this year.

“This year marks our first season in over a decade that we’ll have a varsity and junior varsity program. It is clear that, as an organization, our players are close and everyone is looking to lead regardless of the program they’re assigned to after evaluations. We look forward to growing from this opportunity to maintain our size while also increasing our talent at the varsity level. I’m stoked to see our freshman and sophomores grow, and our upperclassmen step out of their shells.”

Lukas Andrikonis, a senior at Elmwood Park High School, will be one of the team’s stars this season. “He has an elite skating ability and high hockey IQ that makes him the most exciting player on the ice, regardless who we’re up against,” Kuzbik said.

Jack McGrath, a junior at Niles West, brings natural explosiveness in his stride and shot. Kuzbik said he is “excited to see what (McGrath) will do this season.”

Nicholas Schwartz, a senior at Niles West, and Andrew Zviefelhofer, a senior at East Leyden, will be leading the team’s defense. “They’re both great hockey minds, move the puck well, and have already established themselves as strong leaders,” Kuzbik said.

Kuzbik said the team’s goal this season is to win the Varsity Gold playoffs in the IHSHL North-Central Division – and play for the state championship.

“After coaching in the North-Central for the past four years and becoming educated on combined high school hockey in Illinois, it’s evident that we are a part of the most competitive high school league outside of the Scholastic Hockey League,” Kuzbik said. “We know that each year will bring increased competition and it’s an exciting challenge to face as a coach.”

Kuzbik’s coaching run includes winning a tournament in St. Louis this past January. “In the championship game, we were facing a travel team from California that had beat us earlier in the weekend,” he said. “Our goalie, Thomas Kozlowski (Niles West), was standing on his head and we scored two goals in the last minute and a half to tie the game, 3-3, sending it to overtime. We managed to win a key faceoff in the offensive zone and Andrew Zvielhofer ripped one from the point to secure the championship. I was proud to see our boys claw back and not give up.”

Kuzbik said his coaching run was influenced by former Leyden head coach Pat Terretta, who gave him his first coaching gig in 2023.

In 2024, Kuzbik was an assistant to Tony Cruz, who was Kuzbik’s Leyden coach from 2014 to 2018. “Tony is one of the smartest hockey players I have met and his ability to educate players on all skill levels is something I tried to pick up from him as much as possible,” Kuzbik said. “He has moved on to focus his time and attention on coaching and running the Puerto Rico National Hockey Team, which is a project we try to support when we can.”

Leyden’s varsity assistant coaches this season are Leyden Hockey alumni: Mike Sliwinski (class of 2019), who also played AAA, junior hockey with the Chicago Cougars, and ACHA D1 at Illinois State University; and Adam Johnson (2021), bringing AAA, NAHL and NCAA Division I experience at Lindenwood. “Mike has previously coached with the Chicago Blues Hockey Club, and Adam splits his time coaching at Glenbrook North and running RJ Skills, his own goalie clinic,” Kuzbik said.

Adam Trzaska (2019) will be the Leyden JV head coach, after playing ACHA D2 at ISU and coaching in the Timberwolves Hockey Club. Danny Determann brings a history of junior hockey with the Chicago Cougars and having coached a majority of current freshman and sophomores during their youth hockey. 

All four coaches were a part of the Leyden Hockey team that made the Final Four in 2019, “and we’ve all got our eyes set on bringing the program back to that level,” Kuzbik said.

Kuzbik added: “I attended Illinois State University and had education over hockey due to financial reasons. Although I wasn’t on the team, I became very close with their Division 2 team as I played with and against many of the players. I volunteered as team manager my freshman year and did the PA for any of their games at Grossinger Motors Arena throughout college. I chose to get involved through Alpha Kappa Psi, a co-ed professional business fraternity, and Business Week which taught me important networking skills, time management and being an empathetic leader which I passed down to all our seniors as they prepare for college. I received the honor of being the Jack North Leadership Scholarship recipient which gave me the unique experience of delivering the valedictorian speech at the college of business graduation. Although I didn’t play college hockey, my leadership experience has helped me to establish myself as a respected coach at the Leyden Hockey Club.”