Kris Mayotte has introduced himself to his new team at Colorado College, and addressed the community at his formal introduction as coach Monday at El Pomar Sports Center. He spoke of reengaging the school with its hockey program.

By all accounts the first-time head college hockey coach — called “probably the top assistant in the country” by athletic director Lesley Irvine, recommended by many — made a good first impression.

He’s tasked with lifting a program that’s stuck at the bottom of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2011.

“He’s had enough experiences, been around enough head coaches, he’s done enough winning,” Providence coach Nate Leaman said.

“It’s his time, and he’ll do great with it.”

First impressions help, of course, but they aren’t the end-all, be-all. The former college goaltender’s first impression 18 years ago on incoming coach Leaman at Union College “wasn’t terrific.”

“He was a college kid, and it wasn’t a winning program,” Leaman said.

Mayotte was a sophomore when Leaman took over at Union. The goaltender wasn’t the new coach’s go-to guy right away, but Mayotte matured over the next three years.

“He definitely grew on me,” Leaman said. “One of the brightest guys I’ve been around, period.”

Mayotte went on to play professionally. He’d been coaching during the summer since his sophomore year of college, and within two years of his last ECHL start he became the volunteer goalie coach at Cornell.

When Leaman had an opening on his staff at Providence, Mayotte took it, and that year the Friars beat Boston University to win the program’s first national championship. Goaltender Jon Gillies, whom Mayotte worked with, was named the Frozen Four MVP.

“He was a home run,” Leaman said. “A lot of what our program needed. He just showed me he was good at everything.”

Years later, Leaman was confirming Mayotte’s suspicions — that the Colorado College opening made sense for him, the program was “on the verge of being special,” and he needed to go after it.

Mayotte thinks he applied the day the job was posted. Between the school’s vision and the soon-to-open Robson Arena, he was invested.

Irvine said the search group talked to former coaches, alumni and NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton, among others.

“Kris’ name bubbled up in so many places,” Irvine said.

The hiring announcement came quickly, just 2 1/2 weeks after Mike Haviland and the team parted ways after seven seasons.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I believe that everything is in place to get this program moving forward very quickly,” Mayotte said.

Mayotte said he’s had individual meetings with all but three current Tigers. He’s checking the churning transfer portal “five times a day, every day.” A meeting with staff is slated for Tuesday.

“I know that they’re great people and I know that they care deeply about Colorado College, and those are some of the people that we want here,” Mayotte said. “But we’ve got to make sure we have the right people here to make sure this program takes a step forward, and we can do that quickly.

“My goal here early on is to make sure we have the right people in place that want to be a part of something special.”

In his prepared statements Monday, Mayotte said outside of his parents, Leaman “is the most influential person in my life.” He followed Leaman into coaching and figured out which side of hockey he preferred.

“It’s coaching, and it’s not even close,” Mayotte said. “The impact you have on the people around you is so much greater and so much more fulfilling.

“That’s why I have such a belief in schools like this, and in coaches, because I lived the transformation.”