Coaching Changes
Coaching Changes entering 2023-24 Season
| School | 2022-23 Coach | 2023-24 Coach | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bagley/Fosston | Alex Jesness | Jesness guided the Flyers to a 62-99-3 record in his seven seasons, including a 17-10-0 mark last season. He led Bagley/Fosston to three playoff victories in his tenure, more than in the program's previous 19 seasons combined. | |
| Bemidji | Pete Stahnke | Ben Kinne | Kinne starred at Cretin-Derham Hall (helping lead the Raiders to the 2006 state Class 2A title) and in college at Bemidji State from 2008-12, serving as team captain his senior season. He's served as an assistant coach at the Division III level at Saint Mary's University and was an assistant coach for the Cedar Rapids RoughRidgers of the USHL. Most recently he served as a Division I assistant coach at Air Force. Stahnke coached the Lumberjacks for four seasons, compiling a 30-61-5 mark. Bemidji went 11-13-1 last season, losing to Roseau in the Section 8AA quarterfinals. The Lumberjacks haven't had a winning season since 2016-17. |
| Bloomington Kennedy | Nick Hanrahan | Brandon Tveitbakk | Tveitbakk was a longtime coach for the Bloomington Girls Hockey Club. Hanrahan coached Kennedy for seven seasons, posting a 35-135-5 mark. The Eagles went 3-23-0 last season, losing to Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 7-5 in the first round of the Section 2A playoffs. |
| Brainerd | Howie Borden | Jerr Johnson | Johnson, a 1992 Brainerd High School graduate, is the first Warriors alum to lead the program. He was an assistant in Brainerd's boys' and girls' high school programs last season, as well as coaching a Pee Wee B team in the Brainerd youth system. He previously served as the head coach at St. Michael-Albertville for 17 seasons, compiling a 240-185-19 record and leading the Knights to the state Class 2A tournament in 2018. Borden compiled a 17-32-5 record in his two seasons as head coach. |
| Forest Lake | Jon Loo | Jay Ekman | Ekman, an Andover High School graduate, coached Andover's Bantam AA team for seven years. He's also served as a scout for the Chippewa Steel in the North American Hockey League. He previously scouted for the Chicago Cougars, Northeast Generals and St. Cloud Norsemen. Loo coached the Rangers for nine seasons, compiling a 95-119-15 record. Forest Lake went 8-17-1 last season, losing 4-1 to Grand Rapids in a Section 7AA quarterfinal. |
| Gentry Academy | Joe Cullen | Kyle Follmer | Follmer played high school hockey at St. Paul Como Park and in college at Northern Michigan. He played five seasons of minor league hockey and most recently served as an assistant coach for the New Mexico Ice Wolves junior team in the NAHL. Cullen guided the Stars for their first five seasons of their MSHSL varsity existence, compiling a 94-33-0 record and leading Gentry Academy to an 19-0-0 record and state Class 1A title in 2021. |
| Grand Rapids | Wade Chiodo | ||
| Mound Westonka | Mike Curti | Jeff DeGree | DeGree coached Minnehaha Academy to a 2-23-0 record in 2020-21, the Redhawks' final season as a varsity program. He most recently served as an assistant coach at Hamline University. DeGree had two stints on the St. Olaf College coaching staff. He was also the head coach at Colorado State, where he led the Rams to their first ACHA Division I national tournament. In 2017, DeGree was Coach of the Year in the Western Collegiate Hockey League. He also served in various leadership roles with the Minneapolis (Storm) Youth Hockey Association. Curti, longtime coach of the Chicks with Sticks learn-to-play women's hockey program and a 1977 Bloomington Kennedy graduate, guided the White Hawks to a 4-22-0 record in his lone season. |
| Owatonna | David Fromm | Fromm, who passed away at age 54 in late August, was entering his third season leading the Huskies. The Minneapolis native posted a 21-28-2 record in his two years with the program. They went 11-13-2 last season, losing 3-0 to Lakeville North in a Section 1AA quarterfinal. | |
| Park of Cottage Grove | Jay Moser | Jeff Corkish | Corkish, a Saskatchewan native who played his college hockey at Concordia in Moorhead, coached the Hastings' girls hockey team for 17 years, his run ending with the 2015-16 season. He was inducted into the Minnesota Girls Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018. Moser, a Park High School alumni and former standout player for the Wolfpack, guided the program for 16 seasons, compiling a 133-263-22 record. Park went 16-9-1 last season, its first winning season since 2011-12, losing 4-3 to Eastview in the Section 3AA quarterfinals. |
| South St. Paul | Pete Schultz | Zach Palmquist | Palmquist, the son of ultra successful South St. Paul girls' hockey coach Dave Palmquist, was a standout high school hockey player for the Packers. He went on to star for Minnesota State and played four years of minor league hockey in the AHL and two years of pro hockey in Sweden. He most recently served as an assistant coach for the Holy Angels' boys' program. Schultz posted a 26-68-5 record in four seasons at the helm. The Packers went 4-21-1 last season, losing 5-0 to Chisago Lakes in a Section 4A quarterfinal. |
| Wadena-Deer Creek | Scott Woods | Robby Grendahl | Grendahl served as a longtime assistant at Wadena-Deer Creek under both Woods and legendary former University of Minnesota goaltender Brad Shelstad. Grendahl's father, Bob, was one of the driving forces behind staring the Wadena-Deer Creek program in 1988-89. Woods guided the Wolverines for 12 seasons in two stints, posting a 168-125-15 record. Wadena-Deer Creek went 15-10-2 last season, losing 7-2 to Alexandria in a Section 6A semifinal - the first time the Wolverines advanced past a section quarterfinal since 2005. |
| White Bear Lake | Tim Sager | Chris Anderson | Anderson was a standout defenseman at White Bear Lake. graduating in 2001. He played college hockey at St. Cloud State. Anderson has been an assistant coach for the Bears for 15 seasons, working mostly with the team's defensemen and penalty killers for much of that time. Sager led the Bears for 21 seasons, posting a 383-169-21 record. He guided White Bear Lake to four state tournaments, the most recent in 2019. |
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