Pittsburgh, PA – The Pittsburgh Stars AAA Hockey Club have announced their coaching staff for the 2025-2026 season.

At the Midget 18U and 16U levels, the Stars will return their nationally recognized veteran coaching staff.

Dave Kosick will return behind the bench as Head Coach of the Stars 18U AAA Midget Major team. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, the '25-'26 season will be Kosick's 42nd year behind the bench.

He has guided the Stars into three USA Hockey National Championships, multiple Dixon Cup (NAT1HL) Championship appearances and wins and T1HF regular season and post season championships, and accumulated a coaching record (W-L-T-OTL) unrivaled in both the Mid-Am District and USA Hockey.

Likewise, Yuri Krivokhija will return behind the bench as head coach of the Stars 16U AAA Midget Minor team.

A former draft choice of the NHL's Montreal Canadians, and a long-time professional hockey player on both the International, Professional and World Junior and National team stage, Krivokhija will be returning to the Stars as a head coach for his 19th season.

He has previously guided the U16 Stars to a pair of appearances at the USA Hockey National Championships during his coaching tenure.

Similarly, Chris "Sluggo" Stern will be returning as assistant coach for both the 18U AAA Midget Major and the 16U AAA Midget Minor squads.

Stern, who has served as head coach of the Star’s U15 AAA squad for the past three seasons, had previously served as Director of Player Advancement for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite program. And this past season, Stern was also named an assistant coach of the Great Britian Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey team.

He has enjoyed success as a coach at every age group of youth hockey, both boys and girls, including winning a USA Hockey Tier 1 National Championship as well as guiding multiple teams to the USA Hockey National Championships, where he also guided teams to a National Championship runner-up finish and three third-place finishes.

Players under Stern's tutelage have gone on to attain success in all levels of hockey ... including NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III, Junior A Hockey and the NHL. He has also served as a scout over the years, working in both the USHL and NAHL Junior A leagues, and he has also served as a coach and evaluator for USA Hockey player development camps and as a presenter at USA Hockey coaching clinics.

Kosick and Krivokhija will also team again to provide assistant coach coverage to both the U18 Midget Major and U16 Midget Minor teams. They, along with Stern, provide a veteran coaching core for the Star’s Midget teams unrivaled in USA Hockey.

Miles Liberati will make the move to U15 AAA Midget Minor head coach for the Stars. Last season, he served as head coach of the Star’s U14 AAA Bantam Major team.

Liberati, a graduate of the Star’s program, would play hockey at the Hill Academy before jumping to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He would also spend time with the North Bay Battalion and Kitchner Rangers in the OHL.

Liberati was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He would spend four seasons in East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), including stints with the Reading Royals, Allen Americans, Indy Fuel, South Carolina Stingrays and Tulsa Oilers before retiring from professional hockey.

Veteran coach Dan Liberati will serve as assistant coach for the U15 Midget Minor Pittsburgh Stars. He served as assistant coach of the U14 Bantam Stars for the ’24-’25 campaign.

At the Bantam levels (U14 and U13), the Stars will welcome returning coach CJ Stellabotte as head coach.

Stellabotte, who will oversee both the Bantam Major and Bantam Minor Pittsburgh Stars squads, played Junior Hockey for New York Apple Core, Boston Jr Shamrocks, and the Bridgewater Bandits.

He has served as Head Coach of the Pee Wee Stars for several seasons. Additionally, he has overseen the Star’s Non-National Bound age levels, served as a skills director for the Star’s program and helped oversee and coordinate the Star’s Junior and Collegiate Placement efforts.

Joining Stellabotte behind the bench at both Bantam levels this season will be Christian Gorscak.

Gorscak is a graduate of the Stars program who went on to star at the Junior A level, with the Johnstown Tomahawks, where he captured the North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) MVP award for the 2019-20 season. Post Junior Hockey, he would play four seasons of NCAA Division I Hockey at Niagara University.

Administratively, Christine George will return as President of the North Hills Amateur Hockey Association (NHAHA), the organizational name under which the Star’s operate.  She will also continue to serve as Billet Coordinator for the Star’s AAA program.

Kosick, founder, owner and general manager of the Star’s program, will return as General Manager, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the program.

Krivokhija, will return as the Star’s Director of Skill and Training Development, overseeing those activities across the breadth of the Stars AAA program.

Nick Mish, assistant coach of the NAHL Johnstown Tomahawks, will return as the Star’s Goaltending Instructor.

And Stellabotte will continue to serve as the Star’s Junior / Collegiate Development Coordinator, assisting in player movement from the Midget levels to both Junior and Collegiate opportunities.

Additional skills instructors and coaches will be added and identified as the season approaches.

The Pittsburgh Stars AAA Hockey program is the oldest Tier I AAA program in the Mid-American District and one of the oldest in the USA Hockey umbrella.  The Star’s program has provided opportunities for elite level players for the past 40 seasons to compete around the U.S. and around the world ... and will be celebrating their 41st year of operation during the 2025-26 season.

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