As an organization we recognize the time and commitment that players and families put into AAA hockey, and we are always looking for ways to improve their experiences. For the 2025-2026 season STA is focusing on improving our player development. The improvement we have made is to put a dedicated skills development coach in place for all of our teams. A coach that will have regular skills training sessions for each team from the Jr. Admirals to U18, and will be head coach for our U16 program, providing great passion in helping players to get to the next level.
Please join us in Welcoming back to the Organization, Marcus Quinlin to better serve our players and families with hockey skills and hockey knowledge.
Marcus, originally from Niagara Falls, comes back to Southern Tier AAA after working full time for the Ottawa Senators as a Head Hockey Instructor for the Ottawa Senators Hockey Programs. In this role, Marcus taught hockey skills to many players of all ages and calibres from the Ottawa-Gatineau region including: powerskating, shooting clinics, puck control clinics, checking clinics, defencemen clinics, and the Little Sens Selects program that is composed of top players from U6-U9. Marcus also helped lead weekly skills sessions for every AAA team (U12-U18) with Ottawa Myers Automotive AAA and Eastern Ontario Wild AAA. From these teams, 11 players were drafted in the 2024 U16 OHL draft and seven players were drafted in the 2024 U18 OHL draft.
Marcus is also a Hockey Canada skills coach and has led Hockey Canada skills sessions and evaluations for Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO). Marcus is a big proponent on working on skills that translate to game situations and correcting major skill and habit deficiencies across minor hockey such as: angling, checking, pre-scanning for the next play, puck protection, quick release shooting, under-handling pucks, receiving passes on the backhand, stick details when defending, and winning battles to 50/50 loose pucks. Marcus will bring his vast experience in teaching these hockey skills to STA as he will be the Skills Coach for all STA teams in the upcoming 2025/26 season.
From a coaching standpoint, Marcus has been an Associate Coach for U14 and U15 Ottawa Myers Automotive AAA. Prior to Ottawa, Marcus was the Head Coach with the 2006 age group for Southern Tier AAA for four years coaching U14, U15, U16, and U18. Multiple players from those STA teams are currently playing high level hockey in the OHL, OJHL (Jr A), AJHL (Jr A), GOJHL (Jr B), and Prep School in the USA. From a playing background, Marcus grew up playing AAA hockey for Niagara Falls and was drafted to the Windsor Spitfires in 2007. He then played Jr A and Jr B in the OJHL and GOJHL. After Jr hockey, Marcus went on to play four seasons in USports (formerly CIS) for the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). At RMC, Marcus was a three-time Academic All-Canadian Athlete and graduated from RMC in 2017 with B.A in Joint Honours Economics and Business Administration.
Marcus served for 12 years in the Canadian Armed Forces including roles as a Logistics Office in the Royal Canadian Navy. These Experiences developed his leadership skills, problem solving skills, and the ability to adapt to changing conditions. These are all keys to success in a role as a coach. Marcus is a driven and dedicated hockey coach with a proven history of helping players get to the next level. Marcus is also keen on teaching his players high-performance habits to help prepare them for Junior hockey as well as teaching them life skills to become better people.