Eleven days after Mike Hastings left Minnesota State for the head coaching job at Wisconsin, the Mavericks have hired Luke Strand as the fifth head coach in program history.
Strand spent this past season as an assistant on the Ohio State coaching staff, with previous jobs as a head coach in the United States Hockey League, at Wisconsin where he was the associate head coach in 2015-16 and two years as an assistant on the Houston Aeros staff when Houston was the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.
“I am extremely happy to have Coach Strand on board and ready to lead our team to the next level,” said MSU-Mankato President Edward Inch. “His record of success, engagement with the community, and leadership is exemplary, and I look forward to all that he will bring to Mankato and our men’s ice hockey program.”
“It is an honor to be chosen as the next men’s hockey coach at Minnesota State University,” said Strand in a statement. “I am grateful to President Inch and Director of Athletics Kevin Buisman for this opportunity. The alumni who have paved the path before us have proven that this is a special place, and that is an important responsibility to uphold as we start this next chapter. We will play with tenacity, pace, and be connected as a team. I cannot wait to start with our student-athletes, welcome our incoming class of players, and discover future Mavericks.”
Minnesota State developed into one of the premiere Division-I programs in the country under Hastings, who guided them to the Frozen Four in 2021 and 2022. They lost in the national championship game in 2022 after defeating the Gophers in the national semifinals.
