HASTINGS, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm hockey club is turning to an NHL journeyman coach to lead the team for the upcoming hockey season. 

On Tuesday, the Storm announced the hiring of John Torchetti as the club's 11th head coach in franchise history.

In addition to his head coach responsibilities, Torchetti will also fulfill the role of Director and President of Hockey Operations.

"Glad to be joining one of the top developmental teams in the USHL and keep building players for college and the NHL moving forward". Torchetti said, "I would like to thank Dave Vennetti, Andrew Bloomer, and Mark Jalcovik for this opportunity."

Torchetti has amassed over 40-years in professional hockey, as a player or coach.

After playing eight seasons across three leagues (AAHL, AHL, & ECHL), John retired as a player after the 1990-91 ECHL season.

Torchetti's coaching career started as an assistant coach for the Greensboro Monarchs of the ECHL during the 1993-94 season.

His first coaching post in the NHL began during the 1999-00 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning where he served as an assistant coach for 2-seasons before being named GM/Head Coach of the AHL's San Antonio Rampage for the 2002-03 season.

Torchetti comes to Kearney after spending the past 25 years in the National Hockey League as either a head coach, interim head coach, or assistant coach for eight different NHL teams.

The Boston native was most recently with the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant coach, and he was also part of the Chicago Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup Champion team.

He also spent time coaching the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, and Detroit Red Wings.

"I would like to welcome John Torchetti to the Tri-City Storm. He is an outstanding communicator, and it became clear that John is the right person to help us maintain a winning program that our fans are accustomed to and have come to expect." Tri-City Storm President of Business Operations Mark Jalcovik said, "Through the head coaching search, we had the opportunity to meet with several impressive candidates, and I thank them for their hard work and preparation in this process."

Torchetti takes over the vacant Tri-City coaching position left by Marco Treviño, who accepted an assistant coach position with Robert Morris College earlier this month.

The Storm were a first-round exit in the 2025 USHL playoffs and concluded the season with a 29-31-3-1 record.