By Bill Alden
John Mores knows what it takes to develop ice hockey players.
Over the last two decades, Mores has coached a number of girls’ club and school teams, including such club programs as the New Jersey Rockets and the N.J. Colonials along with a stint as an assistant coach for the Morristown-Beard girls’ program. In addition, Mores has been a fixture on the college scene, having guided club teams at Rutgers, West Point, and Villanova.
Mores is immersed in the art of coaching. “I am a student of the game, there is one or two sites that I belong to,” said Mores, a retired exercise physiologist who initially got into coaching because it dovetailed with his profession. “All they have is college and pro coaches giving lectures. They have everything from how to skate videos to power plays. You name it, they lecture on it. I am on it almost daily because I love to learn.”
So when Mores learned that the Hun School was starting a girls’ hockey program this winter and needed a coach, he jumped at the opportunity.
“I really enjoy working with the girls, it is a lot of fun,” said Mores. “I saw that there was a opening so I said let me check it out. They offered me a job and one of the reasons I took it is that they are very serious about having a competitive team.”
The first thing on Mores’ to-do list was assembling a roster.
“Getting players, that is probably the biggest thing,” said Mores, noting that the program ultimately attracted 13 players. “The problem we had was that there was no experienced goalie. We lucked out that the one student, Zoe Kydonieus, who played goalie for the girls’ lacrosse team volunteered. She did as well as she could. She had never played goal on ice before.”
On a daily basis, Mores had to figure out how to train a squad that included skilled players along with newcomers to the sport.
“The challenging approach for any coach is when you have a mixture of experienced club players and then you have girls that want to come on and try hockey and learn the game,” explained Mores, noting that there were five club players on the squad. “In practice you have a mixed bag of skill levels so it is difficult.”
The addition of assistant coach Dominque Cormier, a former Princeton University women’s hockey standout defender, made a big difference for the squad.
“She was such a great help and fun to work with; she is so knowledgable,” said Mores of Cormier, who tallied five goals and 28 assists in 114 games during her Tiger career. “For a little bit of time in practice, I would take the less experienced girls and work on the basics, like skating and passing. I would let Dominque take some of the more experienced girls. She did a great job. It was such a coup getting her because she is such a role model for the girls. You couldn’t get a better role model than someone who played at Princeton.”
The players took to that coaching with aplomb. “They responded very well, they worked hard,” said Mores of the program which is based at Ice Land Skating Center. “What we wanted to emphasize besides skill levels and learning the game is that you always have to have at least one fun drill or fun game that they like to play. A big emphasis now in USA hockey has been cross ice small games. They are increasing their skills when they don’t even know it because they are having so much fun.”
The Raiders had fun from the start as they made the program’s debut on December 12 with a 9-5 loss to Academy of New Church (Pa.).
“They were even more excited when we gave them the jerseys,” said Mores. “We left them in the locker room, they didn’t know and then they walked in and were so excited to get the jerseys.”
Hun went on to go 1-6, ending the campaign on a high note with a 9-4 win over the Lawrenceville girls’ JV team on February 4.
“That was our only win, they were so excited,” said Mores. “It was good to play a team that had a lot of beginners like we did. It was a lot more competitive. In the other games that we had, we were more focused on how they played the game and the skill level. It was nice to win.”
At the offensive end, eighth-grader Addison Hutmaker (11 goals), freshman Kennadi Kroski (8 goals) and junior Vilja Vienola showed plenty of game.
“Addison is a small girl but she really has a nose for the goal, she has great moves and fakes goalies out,” said Mores, noting that Hutmaker plays for the Princeton Tiger Lilies club program. “She can play the game. Kennadi has a lot of skill. Vilja is from Finland and is very skilled.”
On defense, Vienola, Kroski, and freshman Neilia Moore led the way along with goalies, junior Kydonieus and freshman Allie Kamnitis.
“We put our most experienced players, Vilja, Kennadi and Neilia on defense,” said Mores. “Zoe definitely improved at goalie but halfway through the season she got hit in the helmet and had a concussion. She was out so Allie took over and she did really well. She is a real good athlete so she took to it.”
Looking ahead, Mores believes the program has laid the groundwork for future success.
“I would say the skill level of the less experienced players really improved,” said Mores, noting that the school is planning to build a separate locker room for the girls’ team at Ice Land. “The bottom line is getting players. With the five club players that we had and the less experienced girls who have improved tremendously, there is a foundation.”
February 25, 2026
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