Coaching Staff

Tim played youth hockey for the Glenview Stars and Glenbrook South High School. Tim was a star hockey player at Glenbrook South High School, where he was Team Captain, MVP, All- Conference, All-Area and All-State his senior year. Tim was selected to the prestigious Chicago High School Showcase Team as both a junior and senior. Tim was also a member of the Football and Baseball teams at GBS. In baseball, he was a three-year starter on the Glenbrook South Varsity baseball team and was Team Captain, MVP, All-Conference and All-Area. In football, Tim was a two-year Varsity starter, Team Captain, MVP and All-Conference selection. After graduating in 2005, Tim played collegiately in the ACHA for DePaul University and professionally for teams in the AAHA and FHL.

Tim brings 15 years of coaching experience beginning in 2010 with the Glenview Stars and as an assistant with Glenbrook South. At the Stars (2010-2017), Tim coached teams from U8 Girls to Bantam Central States. In 2012 Tim was named the Director of Player Development and Skills for the Stars. In 2013 Tim was named head coach of the Glenbrook Girls hockey team. After that season, Tim joined the Loyola Gold coaching staff in 2014 as an assistant coach. In his final two years at Loyola he was named a Co-Head Coach. 

In 2017 Tim was named Hockey Director and Head Varsity coach of Saint Viator High School. Tim is entering his 8^thseason as Hockey Director for the Lions.  During his time at Saint Viator the Lions have won multiple league championships, multiple final 4 and state final appearances at both the Varsity and JV levels. In 2019 the JV team won the State Championship and in 2022 the Varsity team was the state runner up.  In 2018 Tim was named AHAI coach of the year, in 2024 Tim was named SHL coach of the year.  Under Tim’s leadership the program has grown from 31 players and two teams to over 70 players and three teams.

For the 2024-2025 season, Tim was instrumental as a founding member of the Great Lakes Prep Hockey League or GLPHL in which the Lions Varsity 1/Prep team participates in.  The hopes are that with the Lions as a founding member the league becomes one of the premier prep hockey leagues in the United States and Canada.

In addition to his hockey director role at Saint Viator, Tim is the Hockey Director for the Northwest Chargers.  The Chargers are one of the premier tier 2 programs in the state.  They have 21 teams, roughly 350 travel players and another 100 learn to skate and pre hockey players.  He is in his third season there and his fifth as a tier 2 youth hockey director.

Tim is also an off-ice coach and program director. He served as Director for The Ultimate Athlete where he worked with hockey, football, lacrosse and baseball players in explosiveness, speed and strength training. Tim resides in Libertyville Illinois with his wife, Brett, daughter Brooke (2) and son Reece (6 months).

John grew up in the Chicago area and attended Fenwick High School where he played three years of Varsity hockey. John went on to attend St. Norbert College as an NCAA Division III hockey player, and later received his Masters of Sports Administration from Northwestern University. John will be entering his 30th season as Head coach in 2024, with many successful experiences at the High School level including Fenwick, Fremd, and Deerfield winning 3 Divisional Championships. John also coaches youth hockey at the CSDHL levels including with the West Dundee Leafs in which the last 2 seasons his teams have won 2 state Championships, a Central States Championship and a Central States runner up.

He currently resides in Hoffman Estates with his wife Allison, and his three children Ava, Joey, and Vinny.

Chris Benz grew up in Glenview, playing hockey for the Glenview Stars and the Chicago Mission. Chris joined his high school at Glenbrook South for his Sophomore season (04-07). During his high school career, Chris was a captain, 3-time all-metro player, 2-time all-state player, 2-time showcase player, state champion, and top 5 all-time leader in points at Glenbrook South. Post high school career, Chris played for Indiana University. During his ACHA career at Indiana (08-11), Chris played for a national championship, selected to the World University Games team in Turkey, only IU player selected to a D1 all-star selection, team captain, and all-time top 10 points leader in Indiana history. After college, Chris played for the Chicago Express (East Coast Hockey League), Pennsylvania Blues (Federal Hockey League), Dayton Demolition (Federal Hockey League).   

Chris started his coaching career in 2012 and has been a Varsity assistant coach at Saint Viator since 2017.  Chris has coached Bantams, Peewees, Squirts, and skills coach with Delaney and Ultimate Athlete.

Alongside hockey, Chris also played football and lacrosse in high school. He was an all-conference player in both sports as well as a captain. Chris is currently an employee at Stylecraft|Gamma+ where he is a regional sales manager. 

Steve has coached for nearly 30 years at almost every level of amateur hockey. Steve’s coaching career started with the Glenview house league and moved to coaching squirt, bantam and midget teams at the A, AA and CSDHL levels of play. Steve was the head coach of the Buffalo Grove High School Boys’ Varsity team for 7 years and had 4 Final Four finishes. Steve also coached the DePaul University Men’s collegiate team. In addition to his vast coaching experience, Steve has attained a rare Level 5 Masters coaching certification from USA Hockey and attended Roger Nielsen’s coaching camps in Windsor, Ontario.

Jason De Maria will be joining the Saint Viator Hockey Club coaching staff as the Varsity 2 head coach starting this fall. Jason brings with him 18 seasons of hockey coaching experience, is a USA Hockey Level 4 coach and has experience coaching at every age group from U8 to U18 AA, along with Tier 3 Junior A and at the Collegiate level. 

Growing up in Illinois, Jason played youth hockey for the Glen Ellyn Flames AA Organization and Wheaton Warrenville South High School before attending Western Michigan University where he majored in Exercise Science with a minor in Advanced Theories of Coaching. In 2016, Jason last attended a professional training camp with the ECHL Toledo Walleye, Detroit Red Wings farm system. 

Over the last 22 years, Jason has worked as a sports performance coach and is the owner of JD Strength Performance which is an elite sports performance training company. He currently resides in Wauconda, IL with his wife Ericka and two daughters Teghan (16) and Arizona (6).

Sean grew up and played his youth hockey in the Chicago area, playing for both the Flames and Chargers organizations as well as being a four year Varsity player for the District 214 Combined High School team. He won State Championships with both the Flames and Chargers, as well as a National Championship with the Chargers that same Midget season. He went on to play two seasons of Junior hockey in the Central States Hockey League (now NA3HL) and was an affiliated player with the Springfield Jr Blues (NAHL). From there he had college stints with St. Norbert College and St. Mary's University of Minnesota before transitioning into a hockey operations career in scouting. He spent time as a scout in the NAHL, OHL, USHL, and two scouting services doing NHL and OHL scouting before transitioning into the player development space in 2018 with Prodigy Hockey, one of the premier player development groups in North America. Over the course of working within the player development world he found his true passion within the game of hockey; helping players get better. Fast-forward to 2022 and Sean ventured into the player development space with his own company, SP Hockey Development, working with players from Mite to Pro and everything in between.

Sean also spent 15 years as an on-ice official working as a Level 4 Referee and Linesman, and had the honor of working as a Linesman in the 2007 Blackhawk Cup Red Varsity game played at the United Center. 

Sean resides in the northwest suburbs with his wife and three boys. 

Jason grew up in the metro-Boston area where he played 3 years of hockey at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Jason also played with a Massachusetts high school select team that traveled to Europe to play in several tournaments. After prep school, he attended and played collegiately at Lake Forest College, where he graduated with a double major in finance and studio art. Jason has coached all levels between mite and midget and has led teams at Team Illinois, Evanston, Winnetka, and the Northwest Chargers. This past season, Jason was the head coach for the Pee Wee Major Central States Team. 

Jason resides in Palatine with his wife, Sarah, and his two sons, Max and Finn. Sarah is an assistant principal at an elementary school in Mt. Prospect and is highly involved in the community. Max has competed in several Special Olympic state events and has won several gold medals in soccer, basketball, and track. Finn plays travel soccer for the Palatine Celtic Premier Team and also plays hockey on the Chargers Pee Wee Major Central States Team. Jason looks forward to continuing his coaching career at St. Viator and becoming involved in the school community.

Peppi Laboy, Jr. was born and raised in Chicago and started skating at the age of 8. He played various sports growing up, such as hockey and football during the winter and baseball and swimming in the summer. McFetridge Sports Center was where Peppi started playing, and he went on to play hockey at Niles West.

Peppi has been coaching for many years and has focused on hockey since 2015. He has coached Mites through Midget players and is proud to be coaching Saint Viator and Northwest Chargers.  Peppi has been coaching at Saint Viator since 2021. In addition, he is the Future Chargers Director, offering Learn to Skate, Pre-Hockey, In-House Mite League, and Little Blackhawks programming for kids aged 3-8 who are just starting with the game of hockey.

Peppi's primary goal as a coach is to promote skill development, personal growth, and enjoyment throughout his practices. To achieve these goals, he has conducted private skating sessions and small group training.  Partnering with Wayne Brown and Diamond Hockey, which is suitable for children of all ages and skill levels. He has found no greater satisfaction than seeing his players develop and love the game even more.

Apart from hockey, Peppi spends his time as a Youth Minister. This role has allowed him to express his love for God and demonstrate what genuine love and compassion for others look like. He has even been able to combine his passions for God and hockey by being a Chaplain for Hockey Ministries International (HMI), Youth Bible hockey camps, and similar programs.

Peppi's life revolves around three main passions, namely God, his family, and hockey.

Tony is the new Goalie Coach for the Saint Viator Hockey Club. He has a wide array of experiences that extends from NCAA and pro hockey as a player to youth hockey and working in the National Hockey League. Martino who attended NHL camp with the Quebec Nordiques (present day Colorado Avalanche) was a 5 time All Star and Goalie of the Year in his 10 seasons of pro hockey in North America and Europe. After retiring as a player, Martino went on to coach at all levels of professional and junior hockey. Martino was the Quebec/Eastern Scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) and is currently the U.S. Scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL and Assistant Coach / Goalie Coach for the nationally ranked Lake Forest College Men’s Hockey Team. Previously, he was with the London Knights of the OHL from 2010-2016. He was a part of the staff that won a Memorial Cup in 2016.