Luke Strand named head coach of Minnesota State-Mankato hockey

Strand is the fifth head coach at MSU-Mankato.
Luke Strand named head coach of Minnesota State-Mankato hockey
Luke Strand named head coach of Minnesota State-Mankato hockey /

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. 


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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.