U22 Coaching Announcements for 2024-25 Season
Whitney Kennedy Head Coach
Contact: [email protected]
(416) 838-2107
Whitney is in her 10th year coaching with the Aeros, initially with our former Bantam AA affiliate, before joining the Junior staff as an Associate Coach 5 years ago. Last season, Whitney was Associate Head Coach with Rick Traugott. Prior to coaching with the Aeros, she was also a hockey instructor at Canlan Oakville hockey camps for many years.
Whitney is a 3 year U22AA player and two-year alumna of the Junior Aeros, where she was Assistant Captain and Centre. With the Junior Aeros, her team won a League Championship in 2006-07. In her senior season with the Aeros, she scored 25 goals. Following that, she went on to win an ECAC regular season title and Ivy League Championship playing at then nationally-ranked Harvard, while earning All-Academic honours. She graduated from Harvard with an Honours degree in both History and Science (Mind Brain Behaviour certificate), and Global Health & Health Policy, and is currently a Director of Commercial Advisory & Strategy for Infrastructure Ontario.
Neil Doctorow - Co-Coach
Neil played Rugby in university at the University of Western Ontario and York University, earning a Specialized Honours degree in Kinesiology followed by a Bachelor of Education. After played semi-pro Rugby, Neil began coaching high school girls hockey at Unionville Secondary School in 2002. His passion for athlete development led him to establish PEAC, Canada’ s first sports school in Eastern Canada, which has produced NHL stars including Connor McDavid, Travis Konecny, and Lawson Crouse, as well as Aeros alumnae including Breanne Grant and Camryn Tait--who also worked with Neil’s hockey school (Central Hockey Academy).
Neil has made significant contributions internationally, coaching tournaments in China, Russia, and Czechia and running camps for former IIHF Spanish President Frank Gonzalez. Additionally, Neil established the first academic-athletic program with the Red Bull Academy in Salzburg, Austria, collaborating with former Quebec Nordiques coach Pierre Page, and Hall of Famer Brian Savage. Most recently, two of the players Neil worked with have made their mark in the NHL: Kevin He, who was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, and Ty Nelson, drafted by the Seattle Kraken.
Neil has extensive AAA and AA coaching experience in the GTHL and served as General Manager for the Chinese National U18 and U21 teams. He worked under
former NHL coach Mike Keenan and led the hiring and managing of Boston Bruins coach Steve Kasper. Neil spends 5 days a week on the ice, working with a diverse group of male and female players weekly, like former Toronto PWHL player Maude Poulin-Labelle.
As an Educational Consultant who also holds a High Performance 1 Coaching certification, Neil applies his diverse knowledge to training both girls and boys. Welcome to the Aeros Neil!
Miriam Paas - Associate Coach
Miriam grew up playing hockey in Toronto before going on to play 4 years of varsity hockey at NCAA D3 Bethel University in Minnesota. She was named Captain of the team in her senior year. After graduating in 2009, Miriam worked at Trinity College School for two years where she served as an Assistant Coach to Rick Traugott for their girls’ varsity hockey team.
Following her time at TCS, she became an Assistant Coach to the Queen’s women’s hockey team for 7 seasons, working with the Defence. During her time with the Gaels, the team clinched a playoff berth each season and captured an OUA championship in the 2012-13 season.
This is Miriam's second season working as an Associate Coach with the Toronto Aeros U22 team, working with the Defence. Welcome back Miriam!
Claire Dalton - Associate Coach
Claire is a 3 year Aero alumna of our U18 and U22 programs, who is coaching for a second season coaching with both our teams until the PWHL season begins. Claire first won Provincial Silver with our U18s, then League Silver in 2017 and League Gold in 2018 as an Assistant Captain. With Team Ontario Red, she won the National Championship in 2017, and was a member of Team Canada U18 in 2017-18. She graduated from Yale in Economics in 2023, achieving 4 year All-Academic honours. Claire was elected Team Captain as a Senior, receiving Yale’s prestigious Molly Meyer Humanitarian Award. She shattered Yale’s career assists record (89) set 35 years ago, earned 2nd team All-Ivy honours, 3rd team All-ECAC honours twice, All-ECAC Tournament honours and 2 Team MVP awards. As a Senior, she led the team in GWG including an OT winner to secure Yale’s first ever Ivy League title. Claire is #2 in career points for Yale with 133 points in 130 games.