FUEL RE-SIGN HEAD COACH DUNCAN DALMAO TO TWO-YEAR DEAL

FISHERS- The Indy Fuel announced today that Head Coach Duncan Dalmao has signed a two-year contract extension. Dalmao is the winningest coach in Fuel history and the first to bring the Fuel to the Kelly Cup Playoffs three years in a row. 

“We are thrilled to bring Duncan back for two more years,” said Fuel chairman Jim Hallett. “Duncan has been an integral piece of this team for over three years now and we could not imagine building on our success with anyone else leading the charge behind the bench. We appreciate Duncan’s dedication and his vision to work towards building a highly competitive team.”

Duncan Dalmao became the Fuel’s interim head coach at the end of the 2021-22 season and signed on officially as head coach prior to the 2022-23 season. 

Under Dalmao, the Fuel had their franchise best season with a record 43 wins and a playoff berth in the 2022-23 season. In addition to those stats, the Fuel reached a franchise record for goals scored with 244 and a franchise record of 23 road wins.

In 2023-24, the Fuel returned to the playoffs with their highest seeding in franchise history. They won their first home playoff game under Dalmao, and set a franchise attendance record. 

Most recently, during the 2024-25 season, The Fuel moved to the Fishers Event Center and Dalmao led the team to the playoffs once more. On November 29, Dalmao became the winningest coach in Fuel history with his 100th win with the franchise. He finished the season with 125 total. 

On April 12, he also broke the franchise record for most games coached, with 231. He finished the season with 232 regular season games coached total. With fifteen home sellouts, Indy also set a new attendance record once more. 

Dalmao on his extension with the Indy Fuel:

“I’m really looking forward to being behind the bench in Indy, and even more so being a part of the community that we’ve built. It’s been an honour and a privilege to be able to represent this organization as it’s Head Coach and GM, as I believe it’s one of the premier organizations and markets in the ECHL, with a fan base that is second to none. We will continue to build on the success we’ve had here recently, but also strive for more as we look forward to this upcoming season!”

Prior to his time with the Fuel, the native of Toronto, Ontario served as assistant coach of the Brampton Beast for two seasons. Dalmao served as the associate coach of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16 team before that.

Dalmao played 11 professional seasons between North America and Europe before his coaching career began. After playing three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, Dalmao played in 391 ECHL games tallying 49 goals and 152 assists with the Birmingham Bulls, Pee Dee Pride Roanoke Express, and Greenville Grrrowl while earning the 2001 ECHL Defenseman of the Year award. 

ABOUT THE INDY FUEL:

The Indy Fuel are the proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks and the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs. The Fuel will return to Fishers Event Center in October 2025 for their 12th season. Information and tickets can be found HERE.

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--INDYFUELHOCKEY.COM--