In July of 2013, Jaime Totten was introduced as the first head coach of the William Smith ice hockey. A former All-American at Northeastern University, she spent the previous 13 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut.
In the program's inaugural season, 2014-15, Totten guided the Herons to three wins. William Smith's first varsity win came on Nov. 22, a 3-2 overtime victory over Neumann. The Herons closed out their inaugural season with a 4-0 win over Cortland.
Totten guided William Smith to eight wins during the 2015-16 season. The Herons finished the year with an 8-15-2 overall record. William Smith closed out January with a program best four game win streak that included a series sweep of Division I Sacred Heart.
In the 2016-17 season, Totten guided William Smith to a 7-12-6 overall record and 4-9-5 record in the ECAC West. The Herons opened the year with a series sweep of Salve Regina. William Smith concluded the 2016-17 season with a 3-1 win over then No. 10/8 Oswego, their first win over a nationally ranked opponent, and a 1-1 tie against the Lakers the next day. The Herons set program marks for save percentage (.936), goals against average (2.26), and ties (6).
The 2017-18 season saw Totten lead the Herons to their best record in program history (16-6-4). William Smith started the season with a nine game unbeaten streak and were one of the final three unbeaten teams in Division III. The Herons fast start saw them receive votes in the D3hockey.com and USCHO.com polls for the first time. William Smith continued its strong play down the stretch, finishing second in the UCHC (11-2-3), earning the programs first postseason trip. At the end of the year, Totten was named the UCHC Coach of the Year.
In five seasons, Totten has mentored 43 All-Academic team selections, the ECAC West Defensive Player of the Year (2017), the UCHC Rookie of the Year (2019) and 14 all-conference selections.
Totten joined the UConn coaching staff in 2000, helping the Huskies transition from a club team to full varsity status. She served as the program’s recruiting coordinator and defense and special teams coach. The Huskies’ coaching staff needed just five seasons to put together the program’s first winning season, a 16-12-8 campaign that saw UConn climb as high as No. 8 in the national poll and finish third in the Hockey East conference. In 2006-07, Connecticut began a string of four consecutive winning seasons, including a 22-8-5 season in 2007-08. The Huskies finished second in the Hockey East that year. The 2009-10 team went 21-9-7 and climb all the way to No. 7 in the national rankings.
Off the ice, Totten helped mentor a team that was active in the Storrs community, participating in community service events like Flashlight Reading Night for local elementary school children, Skate with the Huskies, and fundraising events for the fight against breast cancer.
In addition to her work at UConn, Totten served as an assistant coach with the Hockey East All-Star Team that played Team USA prior to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. In 2008, she was an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s National Under-22 team for a three-game series against Canada. A year earlier, Totten worked with the USA Hockey U14 Select Camp in Rochester, N.Y. She coached the Select 16s and 17s in 2007 at the Junior National Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. Totten also has worked numerous USA Hockey camps over the past decade.
A 2000 graduate of Northeastern, Totten earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in cardiopulmonary science with a concentration in exercise physiology.
On the ice, Totten played in a Huskies’ record 141 games during her career, helping her team win three Beanpot titles and the 1996-97 ECAC Championship. As a sophomore, Totten earned all-conference honors, helping Northeastern to a then school record 27 wins. She served as a team captain as a junior and a senior, garnering All-America honors each year in addition to the 1998-99 ECAC Sarah Devens Award for leadership and commitment on and off the ice. Totten is currently 19th on Northeastern’s career assists list.
