Bob Deraney enters his 12th season as head coach of the women's ice hockey program at Providence College. In his 11 seasons at Providence, Deraney has kept the Friars in the national spotlight with regular season and post season championships. The 2009-10 season saw Deraney lead the Friars to their third regular season Hockey East championship with an 11-5-5 record in conference play and a 15-11-9 overall mark. Deraney led the Friars to several milestones as PC earned its 600th victory as a program, joining UNH as the only schools in NCAA Division 1 with over 600 wins. The Friars also became the first Hockey East team to defeat UNH in Durham, N.H. since the league's inception in 2002-03. Deraney also reached a personal milestone as he earned his 200th victory at the helm of PC. At the annual Hockey East awards banquet, Deraney was honored as Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. The Friars hosted the Hockey East Tournament but fell in the first round to Connecticut, 3-2. Providence was ranked for much of the season and finished the year ranked No. 10 in the national polls.

In 2008-09, Deraney led PC to a 17-16-3 record. The Friars reached the Hockey East Tournament for the seventh-consecutive season and defeated Connecticut, 3-0, at Schneider Arena in the first-ever Hockey East quarterfinal game. PC traveled to Durham, N.H., but fell to eventual champion UNH, 3-1, in the semifinals. Providence joined New Hampshire as the only two programs to reach the post season in all seven years of Hockey East play.

The Friars finished the 2007-08 season with a 16-16-4 record and advanced to post-season play for the 25th straight season. Deraney helped the Friars upset No. 10 Connecticut on their way to making their fifth Hockey East title game appearance in the last six seasons.

In 2004-05, Deraney led the Friars to their 10th tournament title and their fourth in a row, including the ECAC Eastern title in 2002. En route to capturing the 2005 Hockey East Tournament crown, the Friars defeated Boston College and ninth-ranked Connecticut. The Friars earned an automatic bid and made their first NCAA appearance against No. 1 Minnesota. The Friars also posted their 14th 20-win season, the fifth in Deraney's seven-year tenure. The Friars finished with a 21-11-5 record.

During the 2003-04 season, Deraney led the Friars to their 500th victory after defeating Boston College, 5-2, on February 22, 2004. The Friars defeated UNH, 3-0, earning their third-straight Hockey East Championship as well as an ECAC Championship. The 2002-03 season saw the Friars finish with the best record in the program's history, 24-6-6, and as the Inaugural Hockey East Regular Season and Tournament Champions. In 2001-02, Deraney led the Friars to their seventh ECAC Tournament title and their first since 1995. The Friars defeated second-ranked Niagara and fifth-ranked Northeastern to capture the 2002 ECAC Eastern League crown. Providence also posted its 11th 20-win season finishing 20-13-4. In his first season, 1999-2000, Deraney led the Friars to their 10th 20-win season with a 20-10-3 mark. Deraney's first season saw many high points, including an eight-game unbeaten streak, a road victory over No. 1-ranked Harvard and a shutout win over eventual national champion, the University of Minnesota.

The Friars reached the ECAC playoffs for the 17th consecutive year. The squad traveled to Dartmouth for the ECAC quarterfinals, and after 85 minutes of scoreless play, the Friars' season came to an end, as they fell to the Big Green, 1-0, in double overtime. Deraney, who graduated from Boston University in 1987, has extensive experience in college hockey. As a goaltender he had an opportunity to play for some of head coach Jack Parker's greatest teams at Boston University. In 1984-85, Deraney was named Most Improved Player on the Terrier squad. During that season, he helped the team to a 24-14-4 record and a second-place finish in Hockey East. The following year, 1985-86, was the most successful during his time at BU. The Terriers captured the Beanpot and Hockey East titles with a 25-14-4 record, as they earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, making it to the fourth round. In 1989, Deraney served as an assistant/goalie coach at Northeastern University.

After one season at Northeastern, Deraney joined the staff at Dartmouth College. He spent three seasons at Dartmouth as the recruiting coordinator and working with the team's forwards, defensemen and goaltenders. During that period, the program experienced a significant turnaround, going from the 45th-ranked team in the country in 1990 to No. 29 in 1993. During his first season at Dartmouth, Deraney was an assistant under Ben Smith, the former head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team.

He went on to become the top assistant coach at UMass-Amherst from 1993-98. His responsibilities at UMass included working with the defense and goaltenders, recruiting and acting as the program's university liaison. Deraney was instrumental in helping rebuild the hockey program at UMass which was re-instituted in 1993.

In addition to his coaching duties at the collegiate level, Deraney has coached at various levels with USA Hockey. In 2008, he was on the coaching staff for the U-18 Women's National Team that won the gold medal at the inaugural IIHF World Women's U-18 Championships. He joined with juniors Ashley Cottrell and Kate Bacon to defeat Canada, 5-2. Deraney helped select the 1998 Men's USA Select Team, which competed at the IIHF Pool-A World Championship Qualification Tournament in Austria. Deraney also worked closely with the 1996 Men's U.S. World Junior National Team and has been involved with all levels of national player development since 1989 for both men and women.

Deraney, a native of West Roxbury, Mass., resides in Shrewsbury, Mass. with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Danielle and Alexa.

One of the most decorated players in program history, Karen Thatcher enters her second season as an assistant coach on Bob Deraney's staff.

The 2006 graduate competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where she helped Team USA claim the silver medal. Thatcher contributed six points (three goals, three assists) in Team USA's five games, including two-point efforts against Russia and Sweden. Her plus/minus of +8 was tied for fourth on the team.

Prior to the Olympics, she helped Team USA win back-to-back gold at the 2008 and 2009 IIHF World Championships. Thatcher also took part in four, Four Nation's Cups from 2006 to 2008.

Thatcher finished her Providence College career 10th on the Friars' all time scoring list with 167 points in 132 games. A transfer from Brown after her freshman year, she was part of Hockey East Tournament winning teams in 2004 and 2005. She also was named Hockey East Co-Player of the Year (2005), a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award (2005) and a Second Team All-American (2006). In addition, Thatcher earned All-Academic Honors and the Hockey East Sportsmanship Award in three-consecutive seasons.

Upon graduation, Thatcher played one season in the Canadian Women's Hockey League 2007-08 with Vaughn) and two seasons in the Western Women's Hockey League (2006-07 with British Columbia and 2008-09 with Minnesota) winning the League Championship in 2009. In 2010-11, she skated for the Boston Blades in their inaugural season with the Canadian Women's Hockey League.

One of the top goaltenders to ever play at Providence College, Bob Bellemore is entering his 19th season as an assistant coach with the women's hockey team. In addition to working with the goaltenders, he assists with scouting and other various duties. He is also involved with the USA hockey elite training camps that take place in Lake Placid, N.Y. Coach Bellemore helps lead the goaltending segement of the camp.

As a sophomore in 1964, he helped the Friars win their first ECAC title and earn their first berth in the NCAA Final Four. Bellemore also starred on the school's baseball team and served as the team's captain his senior year. In 1984, he was inducted into the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Bellemore began coaching as a part-time assistant for PC's men's hockey team. In 1972, he joined head coach Lou Lamoriello's staff as a full-time assistant - a position he held until 1986. In 1986-87, Bellemore held the title of Arena Director and was in charge of the day-to-day operations of Schneider Arena. Bellemore left Providence College in 1987 to serve as the goaltender coach for the New Jersey Devils. In 1991, he left New Jersey to pursue his master's degree at PC. Since earning his master's degree in special education, Bellemore has been employed as a special education instructor at South Kingston High School. He now serves as a guidance counselor at South Kingston High.

A native of Smithfield, R.I., Bellemore resides in Westerly, R.I., with his wife Marguerite. He has one son, Bruce, a 1991 graduate of PC, who played hockey for two seasons for the Friars. He also is the proud grandfather of nine. Bruce and his wife Eileen, who also graduated from Providence, have triplets, Brendan, Jolie and Laurel and the grandchildren from Marguerite's children include Zachary, Devon, Sofia, Christopher, Alec, Luke and Cole.