How to become an NHL equipment manager

The NHL equipment managers whose careers are on record started in jobs that paid little or nothing: stick boy, locker room attendant, college student manager, or a skate sharpener in a hockey shop. From there they worked a junior or college room, moved to the ECHL or AHL, and got to the NHL as an assistant, sometimes by promotion from a club’s own farm team. None of the career stories below mention a degree or licence the job required.

Where NHL equipment managers started

Rick Bronwell, who was the Flyers’ head equipment manager in 2023, started at 13 as an unpaid stick boy for the IHL’s Kansas City Blades, according to a 2017 Minnesota Wild profile. His father asked the equipment manager if there was room, and there was no budget for the job. Bronwell later drove the Blades’ equipment truck for six years, ran the ECHL Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies’ room for a season, worked in a pro shop, spent five years as head equipment manager of the AHL’s Houston Aeros, and joined the San Jose Sharks in 2007.

Cameron Parker came up through college hockey. The Cabinet Press reported in 2021 that he was a student equipment manager at Southern New Hampshire University for three years, then spent three seasons as an assistant at Holy Cross. His first pro job was with the AHL’s Springfield club in 2015. He then ran the equipment room for the Capitals’ ECHL affiliate in Charleston before Washington hired him as an assistant.

Others started in junior hockey. Senators head equipment manager John Forget began with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, then worked in the AHL in Hamilton and Utica, and got his first NHL job with the Canucks before Ottawa hired him. Jason Berger, hired by the Islanders as head equipment manager in 2025, ran the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds’ room for four seasons and worked in the ECHL and AHL before eight years as a Tampa Bay Lightning assistant, The Hockey News reported.

The wait can be long. Devils head equipment manager Scoppetto spent about 11 years as an assistant in Phoenix, Nashville and Detroit before running a room of his own. Canadiens head equipment manager Patrick Langlois started as an AHL assistant in Sherbrooke in 1987 and became the Canadiens’ head man in 2022-23.

How to get the first job

In most of these stories the first job was unpaid, part-time or a student role. John Peters, who joined the Flyers in 2022, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Bronwell advised him at 17 to skip college and take unpaid work in the room. Peters volunteered with Arizona State’s club team before the Sharks hired him.

Some junior clubs advertise these roles. In September 2024 the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack advertised a 2024-25 equipment management internship. The intern would set up the referee and visitor rooms and the benches, fill water bottles, help the home and visiting rooms on game nights, and clean up at the end. The Attack offered to sign off volunteer hours and did not mention pay.

Stick boy jobs can turn into full-time work. The Grand Rapids Griffins promoted Charlie Kaser to assistant equipment manager in 2018 after eight years as a game-day stick boy. Brayden Deweese, now an assistant with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, started at a rental shop and then sharpened skates and fixed gear at a sporting goods store in Anchorage, Alaska’s News Source reported. He volunteered with the University of Alaska Anchorage program, then spent three years as the only equipment staffer for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede before the Eagles hired him in 2024.

Others came through college programs. Minnesota Frost assistant equipment manager Blake Kruse spent three seasons as a student assistant at Minnesota State before the PWHL club hired him in 2024. Andy Rannells of the Flyers was an assistant equipment manager at Minnesota Duluth while he studied history.

If you are starting out, check the AHL, ECHL, OHL and USHL pages here for clubs that are hiring, and look at your local junior team’s own site for game-night help.

What the job involves

Sticks alone are a big job. The Carolina Hurricanes plan on one new stick per player per game, which the club put at more than 1,600 sticks a year. A Senators assistant estimated 1,500 to 1,800 a season. Many Hurricanes players need new skates every three to four weeks, and the staff load the truck the same way every trip from a checklist.

During a game the staff hand over replacement sticks, sharpen skates and swap out gloves, according to a New Jersey Devils feature. After a Devils road game the crew packs 23 hockey bags, 16 hard cases holding tape, tools, sewing kits, jerseys and laundry, two skate sharpeners, and more than 70 sticks before the players get there. A travel day can run 19 hours, and setup in the next city sometimes finishes at 2 or 4 a.m.

AHL road trips work differently. The Hurricanes noted that AHL teams have no equipment trunks, so gear goes in a truck or under the bus. Staff also carry gear for players called up, and three games in three days is common.

A college posting shows what an entry job looks like. Northeastern University posted a part-time, temporary assistant athletic equipment manager job in October 2026 at $25 an hour. The job is with the athletics department as a whole. The duties are laundry, handing out and collecting uniforms, inventory counts, basic fitting and repair, game-day setup, and loading and driving equipment. The requirements are a high school diploma, a valid driver’s licence, and availability for evenings, weekends and holidays.

Training and certification

None of the NHL staff profiles or job notices used for this guide ask for a certificate.

Some training does exist. Blademaster, a maker of skate sharpening machines, runs hands-on training at its Skate Lab in Chatham, Ontario, aimed at pro shop owners, equipment managers and technicians. Its page gives no price or schedule.

The Athletic Equipment Managers Association certifies equipment managers across college and school sports. Under rules in effect since July 1, 2025, you have to be a member and already working as an equipment manager to sit the exam. One route is a four-year degree plus 2,000 hours of current experience. Another is a high school diploma plus five years of paid full-time work. The certification renews every three years with continuing education credits.

In pro hockey the professional body is the Society for Professional Hockey Equipment Managers (SPHEM). It split from the trainers’ group, now the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society, in 1996. The Hockey Hall of Fame says the two societies have over 800 members from more than 100 pro, NCAA and CHL teams. They give scholarships to equipment management students and run symposiums for minor league staff. SPHEM members include equipment managers from all 32 NHL clubs, plus the PWHL, AHL, CHL and NCAA.

What equipment managers earn

We found no NHL club or league that publishes pay for its equipment staff, so the figures below are for entry-level work.

Government data covers the entry level only. Job Bank Canada files athletic equipment custodian under NOC 65211, operators and attendants in amusement, recreation and sport. For 2023-2024 it lists Canadian hourly wages of $15.00 at the low end, $17.50 at the median and $27.00 at the high end. The Northeastern posting’s $25 an hour is a US college figure for a part-time role.

Volunteer and game-night roles at the start are often unpaid, as the Owen Sound internship and Bronwell’s first job show. Ask for the pay before you accept.

Where to look now

When Mathieu Darche became Islanders general manager, he hired Berger from the Lightning, his former club, The Hockey News reported. Every career in this guide moved up from an assistant, intern or volunteer role in the AHL, ECHL, junior or college game, so those are the jobs to apply for first.

Live roles appear in our equipment jobs list, and NHL club openings are on the NHL page. If you run a team and need equipment help, you can post the job free.