Minnesota hired one of the top assistants in the nation, Steve Miller, to replace Garrett Raboin on the coaching staff. Miller, who was previously at Ohio State, will serve as Minnesota’s associate head coach. Raboin left the program to become the inaugural head coach at Augustana.
Miller has three national championships on his resume, winning rings with Providence and twice with Denver. He was awarded the Terry Flanagan Award in 2009 for an assistant coach’s body of work.
“Steve is one of the most decorated coaches in our sport,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “From the national championships to the gold medals; he’s been a part of everything. He’s just a fantastic person and family man and a very highly respected coach in the business. We’re so fortunate that Gopher hockey is going to have a guy with his background on the coaching staff.”
Miller, 57, was at Ohio State for five seasons (2017-22). He only spent one season at Providence (2014-15) and was at Denver for 26 years, spanning from 1988-2014. After his one season at Providence, he returned to Colorado and spent two years with Air Force before taking the Ohio State job.
Ohio State moved fast in filling Miller’s spot and hired Sioux City (USHL) head coach Luke Strand this week.
Strand had been a candidate for a handful of NCAA openings over the last two years and has been coveted. He has tremendous experience in the USHL – a league Ohio State needs to have success recruiting – and as the head coach of a USHL team he surely has connections in the midget ranks as well.
As for Sioux City, I would imagine that Colton St. Clair could be elevated to head coach.
Another opening was filled this week as well. Michigan Tech hired Jordy Murray to replace Chris Brooks, who took a job at Clarkson. Murray, 32, had been a volunteer assistant at Notre Dame and owned his own development company prior to taking the Michigan Tech job. Murray played college hockey at Wisconsin.
Northeastern made Jason Guerriero’s hiring official yesterday. Guerriero was viewed as the top target as soon as the job opened up last month.
“We are very excited to welcome Jason back to Northeastern,” said Keefe. “He has a proven track record as a great teacher and developer for our student-athletes. He had a lot of success as a player at Northeastern, and now we are looking forward to seeing his impact on our program as a coach.”
For Guerriero, the move to Northeastern is the culmination of a long journey.
“I got into coaching 11 years ago with the hopes of coaching at Northeastern one day,” he said. “I’m excited to work with Coach Keefe and his staff. Both my wife and I were athletes here, so it feels like home already.”
Guerriero’s hiring makes the opening at Brown now official.
Meanwhile, Arizona State and Greg Powers agreed to a five-year contract extension through 2026-27.
Former Maine assistant Ben Guite was named the head coach at Bowdoin (D-III). Guite was one of the finalists for the Maine job last year that ultimately went to Ben Barr.
Last season Guite was the head coach of the Maine Mariners (ECHL).
Also in the junior ranks, Scott Langer is back with Aberdeen in the NAHL. The former Fargo Force head coach was named GM and president of hockey operations for the team this week.
