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Terwilliger hired at Eden Prairie

By Loren Nelson, 04/06/22, 4:00PM CDT

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New Eagles coach has abundance of ties to program; Ranheim takes over at SW Christian/Richfield


Mike Terwilliger, who accepted the head coaching position at Eden Prairie on Tuesday, guided Bloomington Jefferson for the last four seasons. Photo by Tim Kolehmainen, Breakdown Sports Media

Mike Terwilliger, an Edina graduate who coached Bloomington Jefferson for the past four seasons, landed one of the state’s most high-profile coaching positions Tuesday, agreeing to lead 2009, 2011 and 2021 state Class 2A champion Eden Prairie.

“I’m very humbled and excited and honored to give it a shot at (Eden Prairie), that’s for sure,” said Terwilliger, who for 15 years ran the Little Twigs Hockey School for “rookie” players out of the Eden Prairie Community Center and served as the Eagles’ junior varsity coach in the mid-1990s. “I have a lot of good memories in Eden Prairie.”

Terwilliger’s hire was part of a flurry of coaching moves this week that included the departures of Trent Eigner from five-time state Class 1A champion St. Thomas Academy, Glen Lang from four-time state Class 1A champion Breck and Will Scholz from 2018 state Class 1A champion Orono.

Also on Tuesday, Paul Ranheim, a former longtime assistant at Eden Prairie, was hired as the head coach at Southwest Christian/Richfield. As of Wednesday, five programs were still in the process of making coaching changes: Bloomington Jefferson, Breck, Orono, St. Louis Park and St. Thomas Academy.

More turnover is likely among the state’s 148 programs. There were 34 coaching changes entering last season, 19 leading up to the 2020-21 campaign and 24 before the 2019-20 season.

Terwilliger steps in at Eden Prairie for one of the state’s legendary coaches in Lee Smith, who compiled a 547-221-39 record in his 29 years. Smith led the Eagles to all three of their state titles and three runner-up finishes among 13 state tournament appearances.

Terwilliger, a junior defenseman on Edina’s 1988 state championship team, guided Bloomington Jefferson to a 40-54-2 record in his four years, including a 10-16-0 mark last season. A dynasty program with five state titles spanning the 1980s and ’90s, the Jaguars haven’t reached the state tournament since 2005.

“It’s bittersweet because I’m going to miss the kids at Jefferson … we had really good kids,” said Terwilliger, who lives about a mile from Eden Prairie High School and the adjacent Eden Prairie Community Center. His daughter Alice was an eighth grader on the Eden Prairie girls’ hockey junior varsity team last season.

Terwilliger said Tom Gerdes, a longtime Eden Prairie assistant coach, will stay with the program and be a part of his staff.

Ranheim, who also won a state championship playing at Edina (1984), played in more than 1,000 games in the NHL in 15 seasons. He served as an assistant under Smith at Eden Prairie for the past nine seasons. He’s the Stars’ third coach in as many years.

Coaching Changes entering 2022-23 Season

School 2021-22 Coach 2022-23 Coach Comment
Anoka Jerrid Reinholz Ted Mitshulis Mitshulis, an art teacher at Anoka High School for 20 years, was a longtime Tornadoes assistant coach and also served as junior varsity head coach. Reinholz guided the Tornadoes for six seasons, compiling a 44-98-9 record including last season's 9-17-0 mark..
Blaine Chris Carroll Trevor Frischmon Frischmon starred on Blaine's 2000 state championship team and led Colorado College to a berth in the Frozen Four in 2005. He made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2009-10 season, playing in three games. He spent five years as an assistant coach and one season as co-head coach at UW-Stout. Carroll guided the Bengals for eight seasons, compiling a 145-69-11 record. Blaine went 14-9-4 last season, losing to Grand Rapids 9-1 in a section semifinal.
Bloomington Jefferson Mike Terwilliger Matt Elsen Elsen has been coaching in the Jefferson program for the last decade, most recently as an assistant coach. He also served on the coaching staffs at Holy Angels and Hopkins. He was a standout player at Richfield High School and for the St. Paul Vulcans and UW-River Falls. Terwilliger, who resigned to take the head coaching position at Eden Prairie, guided the Jaguars to a 40-54-2 record in four years, including a 10-16-0 mark last season.
Breck Glen Lang David Maley Maley won a state championship as a senior with Edina in 1982, an NCAA Division I championship with Wisconsin in 1983 and a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986. He was an assistant coach at Holy Family last season. Lang served as the Mustangs' junior varsity coach under previous head coaches Wally Chapman and Les Larson as part of his 25-year involvement in the program. Lang posted 60-68-1 record in his five seasons as head coach, including a 9-17-0 mark in 2021-22.
Dodge County Nick Worden/John Morales Andrew Wilcox/Bryce Wilcox Bryce Wilcox was a defenseman and Andrew Wilcox a forward for Rochester Century. Both played at UW-Eau Claire and most recently have served as Wildcats assistant coaches. Worden coached the Wildcats for four seasons, compiling a 64-38-1 record. He guided Dodge County to semifinals of the state Class 1A tournament in 2021. Morales served as a co-head coach last season.
Duluth Marshall Jasen Wise Shawn Bartlette Bartlette, an East Grand Forks native, reached the state tournament twice with the Green Wave and was named to the all-tournament team as a sophomore in 1999. He played collegiately at St. Scholastica, where he was a three-time Academic All-NCHA selection. He previously served as an assistant coach at St. Scholastica and before that guided the high school program at Silver Bay and then North Shore from 2008-2014. Wise guided the Hilltoppers for two seasons, posting a 13-27-4 record.
Eden Prairie Lee Smith Mike Terwilliger Terwilliger, a junior defenseman on Edina's 1988 state championship team, played collegiately at St. Lawrence University. A former teacher at Eden Prairie's Cedar Ridge Elementary, Terwilliger is the Hockey Programs Manager for Minnesota Hockey. He was the head coach at Bloomington Jefferson for the last four seasons. Smith, one of the most successful coaches in state history, guided the Eagles to a 547-221-39 record and three state Class 2A championships in his 29 years. Eden Prairie went 15-12-0 last season, including a 4-2 loss to Prior Lake in the Section 2AA semifinals.
Faribault Dan Pumper Alex Schmitz/Clay Curwin Schmitz has coached at almost all youth levels and is the president of the Faribault Hockey Association. He formerly coached high school golf at East Ridge and is the Director of Golf at Minnesota State University. Curwin, the head golf professional at Faribault Golf Club, has been coaching in the Faribault Youth Hockey at multiple age levels and last season was a high school assistant coach. Pumper guided the Falcons for one season, compiling a 10-16-0 record, including a 7-1 loss to New Prague in the Section 1A quarterfinals.
Hopkins Erik Vetsch Dylan Talkovic Talkovic, who formerly served as Hopkins' head junior varsity coach, played for Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis., and attended the University of Minnesota. He was an assistant Bantam A coach in the Hopkins youth hockey system before moving up to the varsity level. Vetsch guided the Royals for two seasons, compiling a 13-30-0 record. He departs to take the head coaching position at Northern Lakes.
Lake of the Woods Don Krause Dallas Block Krause guided the Bears to a 28-29-4 record in his three seasons leading the program. It was his second stint as head coach. He guided the Bears in 2017-18 when they went 16-6-3.
Moose Lake Lee Costley Chris Gamst Gamst, a former goalie for the Rebels, was an assistant coach for the boys' program, serving under former head coaches Sherm Liimatainen and Josh Gamst, his cousin. He most recently served as the co-head coach of Moose Lake's girls' hockey program. Costley guided the Rebels for six seasons, during which they went 22-116-3. They were 2-20-1 last season.
Mound Westonka Jake Hinderman Mike Curti Curti, longtime coach of the Chicks with Sticks learn-to-play women's hockey program, is a 1977 graduate of Bloomington Kennedy, where he played as a goaltender. He's also coached in the Mound Westonka youth system. He has four boys who played youth hockey, and Charlie and Cooper are the most recent to go through the Whitehawks' high school program. Hinderman guided the White Hawks for five seasons, compiling a 65-53-7 record, including last season's 12-14-1 mark.
Northern Edge Jacob Mars Mark Hetland Hetland, a 1994 graduate of Anoka High School, was the Bantam A coach for Northern Edge last season. He's the head PGA professional at StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater. Mars oversaw the merger of North Branch and St. Francis last season as the head coach of the first-year Northern Edge program. He previously was the head coach at North Branch for one season.
Northern Lakes Craig Larson Erik Vetsch Vetsch coached in the Edina High School program for 14 years and also served as an assistant coach at Bloomington Kennedy. He was the head coach at Hopkins the past two seasons. Larson compiled a 113-117-6 record in his 10 seasons guiding the Lightning. In 2021 he led the program to its first state tournament appearance. Northern Lakes went 15-12-0 last season, reaching the Section 6A semifinals.
Orono Will Scholz Sean Fish Fish coached the Orono girls' hockey team for four seasons and led the Spartans to a third-place finish at the state Class 1A tournament this spring. He previously served as an assistant for the St. Michael-Albertville and Anoka boys' programs. Scholz guided the Spartans to the 2018 Class 1A state title in his first season at the helm. He compiled an 86-42-3 record in his five seasons. The Spartans reached the Section 2 semifinals last season, losing 2-1 in double overtime to Delano.
Princeton Todd Frederick Andy Fondrick Fondrick grew up in Detroit Lakes, where he got his first coaching gig as a 14-year-old Squirt B assistant. He went to school at Minnesota-Duluth and was a Bantam coach in the Duluth East system. He spent two years as an assistant coach for Dave Esse at Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, a year coaching in the Orono youth system and five years as a Bantam coach in the Armstrong/Cooper youth hockey program. He served an assistant coach at Princeton last season. Frederick was the Tigers' coach for 17 seasons in his two stints leading the program, compiling a 212-211-16 record. Princeton went 11-16-0 last season, losing 6-2 to Cambridge-Isanti in the quarterfinals of the Section 5A playoffs. He led to the Tigers to the state Class 1A tournament in 2002 and 2003.
Southwest Christian/Richfield Nick Heiberg Paul Ranheim Ranheim is a former Edina star who helped the Hornets win the 1984 state championship, scoring four goals to share the tourney lead. He played parts of 15 seasons in the NHL, totaling more than 1,000 games with Calgary, Hartford, Carolina, Philadelphia and Phoenix. Ranheim spent the last nine seasons as an assistant coach at Eden Prairie. Heiberg served as a co-associate head coach for the Stars in 2020-21 before taking over as head coach before last season. He led Southwest Christian/Richfield to an 11-14-2 record, including a 2-1 loss to Orono in the Section 2A quarterfinals.
St. Louis Park Ben Horsch Tyler Brodersen Brodersen, a three-sport athlete at St. Louis Park High School, scored a team-best 58 points as a senior for the boys' hockey team in the 2011-12 season. He played collegiately at St. Olaf College. He most recently coached the St. Louis Park Bantam AA team. Horsch, a former assistant at St. Paul Academy, was in his first season guiding the Orioles when he stepped down in late January. Matt Penner, an assistant coach under Horsch, took over as interim head coach to complete a 11-14-1 season that included a 6-0 loss to Wayzata in a Section 6AA quarterfinal.
St. Michael-Albertville Jerr Johnson Jake Hinderman Hinderman, the head coach at Mound Westonka the past five seasons, previously served as a head coach in the United States Premier Hockey League, a Tier III junior league. He was also an assistant in the Mound Westonka, Waconia and Holy Family high school programs. Johnson served as the Knights' head coach for 17 seasons. He had a 240-185-19 record and guided St. Michael-Albertville to the state Class 2A tournament in 2018.
St. Paul Highland Park Brandon Ferraro Paul Ryan Ryan, an assistant coach on Cretin-Derham Hall's state Class 2A tournament team last season, is a 1979 Cretin High School graduate. He was a three-year assistant coach for current Raiders head coach Matt Funk and also served as a Raiders assistant under longtime head coach Jim O'Neill. Ferraro, who took the head coaching job at Two Rivers, guided the Scots for two seasons, compiling a 14-25-1 record.
St. Thomas Academy Trent Eigner Mike Randolph Randolph, who coached at Duluth East for 32 years, served as an associate head coach and JV coach for the Cadets last season. His 671 career victories rank third all-time in the state, 36 behind retired record holder Lorne Grosse of Rochester Mayo. Eigner, who guided Lakeville North to the 2015 Class 2A title as part of an undefeated (31-0-0) season, took over the St. Thomas Academy program entering the 2019-20 season. He led the Cadets to the state tournament in each of his first two seasons. Eigner went 45-28-6 in his three years at the helm, including a 13-13-1 mark last season.
Two Rivers George Awada Brandon Ferraro Ferraro, who coached St. Paul Highland Park for the last two seasons, starred as a high school player at Cretin-Derham Hall and was a senior forward on the Raiders' 1988 state tournament team. He was a member of UW-River Falls' national Division III championship squad in 1994. Awada, a Two Rivers graduate who led the Warriors to the 1993 state tourney and was named to the all-tournament team, guided the Warriors to an 11-15-1 record in his lone season as the head coach.
Winona Fran McDevitt Marty Raymond Raymond oversaw the short-lived return of the Winona Cotter varsity program last season, compiling a 1-11-0 record in its lone season before disbanding. He previously coached in multiple professional leagues and was the longtime coach of the ECHL's Bakersfield Condors. McDevitt guided the Winhawks for 21 seasons, compiling a 133-383-11 record. He stepped down to take a middle school teaching position in the Minnetonka school system.

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