Gopher Hockey Coaching Candidates Revealed
On Wednesday, it was announced that the University of Minnesota Gophers men’s hockey program was parting ways with eight-year head coach Bob Motzko.
According to a report Friday from NHL insider Michael Russo, University of Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle has “begun” his search for the next Gopher men’s hockey coach. On his list of candidates are Augustana head coach, Garrett Raboin; Hartford (AHL) head coach Grant Potulny and St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson
University of Minnesota AD Mark Coyle has begun the process to hire a new men’s hockey coach. According to sources, interviews have been lined for this weekend with St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson, Hartford Wolf Pack coach Grant Potulny and Augustana coach Garrett Raboin
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 20, 2026
However, there are some questions over how serious of a candidate Larson is, at this point. Earlier Friday, prior to Russo’s report, local insider David Shama wrote at ShamaSportsHeadliners.com that the Golden Gopher men’s hockey head coaching search is down to two candidates, Raboin and Potulny, omitting Larson.
Below, you can read more about each of the three potential Minnesota Gophers men’s hockey coaches.
A trusted source tells Sports Headliners two names are at the top of the candidates list for the University of Minnesota men’s hockey head coach opening. The source said people “close to the program” tell him that Grant Potulny and Garrett Raboin are the top targets of athletics director Mark Coyle. Another source couldn’t confirm that but wasn’t surprised to hear the report.
David Shama – Sports Headliners
Garrett Raboin – Augustana Head Coach
Currently serving his third season as Augustana University’s inaugural men’s hockey coach, Garrett Raboin has emerged recently as one of the brightest young minds in the college ranks.
During the first two years under Raboin’s leadership, Augustana started its men’s hockey program with a pretty impressive 30-31-8 record. Then this year, they took a major leap forward, finishing with a 22-11-4 record, losing to St. Thomas in the CCHA Mason Cup Finals.
Raboin started his college coaching career where his American playing career ended, at St. Cloud State University, where he served as an assistant coach under Bob Motzko from 2012 to 2018, before following Motzko to the U of M, where he stayed until 2022, when he got the job at Augustana.
While with the Gophers, Raboin helped to recruit future NHL stars including Brock Faber, Logan Cooley, and Matthew Knies.
Grant Potulny – Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) Head Coach
Grant Potulny enjoyed a decorated playing career in Dinkytown (146 games: 68 goals, 48 assists) from 2000-2004, including not one, but the last two Gopher National Championships in 2002 and 2003.
After his professional playing career never really made it passed the AHL, Potulny returned to the University of Minnesota to start his coaching career in 2009, serving as a Gophers assistant for eight years (2017).
In that time, he helped Minnesota to six regular-season conference championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances. He was part of the Gopher staff in 2014 that lost to Union College in the National Championship.
Back then, Potulny worked a ton with forwards and the Gopher power-play units. He was also heavily involved in recruiting numerous future NHL players to the program.
After he left the Gophers in 2017, Potulny was hired as head coach at Northern Michigan, where he coached seven seasons (128-113-17) before accepting the AHL job in Hartford. Under Potulny, the Hartford Wolf Pack went 30-33 last season. Through 60 games this year, they are 24-30.
Brett Larson – St. Cloud State Head Coach
Brett Larson was hired at St. Cloud State University in 2018, shortly after Bob Motzko left for the University of Minnesota. In his 8 seasons leading the Huskies, Larson went 153-116-23, making four NCAA Tournament appearances, one Frozen Four (2020-21), a run that ended in a National Championship loss.
Unfortunately, SCSU hasn’t found success during the past few years of his tenure, including back-to-back losing seasons this year and last year, for the first time since 1994-95 and 1995-26, under Craig Dahl.
Nonetheless, there aren’t a lot of college hockey coaches nationwide who garner as much respect from their peers as Larson. Not only does he have Team USA hockey coaching experience, going all the way back to Junior selects in 2012.
Brett Larson is also a University of Duluth hockey alum who assisted in building the school’s decade-long hockey dynasty, as an assistant coach on staff from 2008-2011 and 2015-2018.
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