DiscoverProject Stanley PodcastBrett Larson, Head Coach - St. Cloud State University (NCAAM-DI)
Brett Larson, Head Coach - St. Cloud State University (NCAAM-DI)

Brett Larson, Head Coach - St. Cloud State University (NCAAM-DI)

Update: 2021-05-27
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Brett Larson began his third season as the head men's hockey coach at St. Cloud State University in 2020-21.

In his first season with the Huskies, Larson made an immediate impact as he led the Huskies to the 2018-19 NCHC regular season championship and a 30-6-3, 19-2-3 NCHC record.  The NCHC Coach of the Year in 2018-19, Larson helped the Huskies earn the top seed for the 2019 NCAA Division I tournament.

Under Larson's direction, the Huskies had an unprecedented four player earn AHCA All-America honors (Jimmy Schuldt, Patrick Newell, Jack Ahcan and Blake Lizotte).  Schuldt was named a Hobey Baker Award top three finalist and also gained NCHC Player of the Year notice in 2018-19.

The Huskies went undefeated at home in 2018-19 under the leadership of Larson and also set a new league standard for most NCHC victories in a season at 19.

In 2020, Larson has been selected to serve as an assistant coach for Team USA at the  IIHF World Junior Championships by USA Hockey.  With the Huskies in 2019-20, Larson led the Huskies to 13-15-6 overall record and a 10-12-2 mark in the always rugged NCHC.  SCSU's Jack Ahcan, David Hrenak and Nick Poehling all earned All-NCHC honors in 2019-20.

Larson is the third coach at St.Cloud State in the history of the University's NCAA Division I men's hockey program, and SCSU's 17th head coach since the program stared intercollegiate play in 1931-32.

Larson most recently served as an assistant coach at his alma mater Minnesota Duluth from 2015 to 2018. He also was an assistant with the Bulldogs from 2008-11 and helped Minnesota Duluth win an NCAA Division I national title in 2011 and once again in 2018. The Bulldogs made five NCAA tournament appearances during Larson's tenure, finished as the NCAA runner-up in 2017, won the NCHC playoff title in 2017 and the WCHA playoff championship in 2009.

At UMD, Larson coached and/or recruited one Hobey Baker Award winner, five All-Americans, eight future NHLers and one U.S. Olympian.

In addition to his time at UMD, Larson served as head coach and general manager with the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers from 2011-13. He spent two seasons in Sioux City and led that team to the USHL playoffs in 2011-12.

Larson, who served as the head coach for gold medal-winning Team USA at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge, returned to the collegiate ranks in 2013 when he joined the staff at Ohio State as an associate head coach. Many of the players Larson coached and recruited at Ohio State helped the Buckeyes advances to the Frozen Four in 2018.

A Duluth native and 1991 Denfeld High School graduate, Larson played college hockey as a defenseman at UMD for four seasons (1991-95). He scored 24 goals and 43 assists in 133 career games. He captained the Bulldogs during his senior year in 1994-95 and was a three-time WCHA All-Academic team award recipient. He also landed the team's Community Service Award and was named UMD's Most Improved Player as a junior.

An 11th round pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1990 National Hockey League draft, Larson went on to play 12 years in the professional ranks, including two (1990-2001) as a player-coach with the San Diego Gulls of the now-defunct West Coast Hockey League.

He also played with the Colonial Hockey League's Madison Monsters, the East Coast Hockey League's Louisville Riverfrogs, the International Hockey League's Utah Grizzlies, Las Vegas Thunder and Long Beach Ice Dogs in addition to spending another five years in Denmark, Germany and England. He wrapped up his playing days in 2006-07 as a player/assistant coach for the Florida Seals of the Southern Professional Hockey League. During the spring of 2008, Larson coached Team RBK (AAA selects) in the Twin Cities metro area.

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Brett Larson, Head Coach - St. Cloud State University (NCAAM-DI)

Brett Larson, Head Coach - St. Cloud State University (NCAAM-DI)

Aaron Riccio