ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Solar Bears, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning, announced today that Adam Dauda (DOW-duh) has joined the Solar Bears as an Assistant Coach for the 2025-26 season.
Dauda, 30, heads to The City Beautiful after one season as Assistant Coach of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits during the 2024-25 season. Previous to his ECHL experience, Dauda was Head Coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels ACHA hockey team, leading them to an 18-7-1 record, ranking them #14 in the entire ACHA, the best ranking in program history.
Before his experience with North Carolina, Dauda was Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for two seasons (2021-23) with Manhattan College (NCAA Division III).
As a player, the Bratislava, Slovakia native played parts of three professional seasons in the ECHL, Slovak Extraliga, FPHL, and the AIHL. In 62 ECHL games with Newfoundland, Kalamazoo, and Jacksonville, Dauda tallied 30 points on 14 goals and 16 assists. In his one season in the Australian League, Dauda tallied over a point per game and lead the Sydney Bears to the AIHL Championship.
Prior to his professional playing career, Dauda played four seasons of College Hockey at Colgate University (2016-2019). He recorded 51 points (22g-29) in 116 games and led the nation in face-off win percentage during the 2016-17 season. Academically, Dauda majored in Economics and graduated from Colgate in the summer of 2019.