Who should be the first St. Thomas D1 men's hockey head coach? A name no one has brought up.

Who will be the first D-1 men's hockey head coach for St. Thomas?

A few days ago, The Rink Live's excellent group of writers tackled this question. They came up with a variety of names who should and likely will be considered, including Northern Michigan head coach Grant Potulny, Minnesota State associate coach Todd Knott, former University of Minnesota assistant coach Scott Bell, former UMD associate coach Jason Herter, and Bemidji State assistant Travis Winter. Other names who get brought up usually have a Minnesota tie in one way or another, such as former longtime Minnesota assistant Mike Guentzel.

Reading their answers got me thinking not just who would be a good fit, but who is someone who would be a good fit that no one has brought up yet. I quickly came up with an answer.

Taking the St. Thomas job presents an intriguing challenge as the Tommies enter the D-1 world in 2021-22, joining seven other teams in (re-?)forming the CCHA. Very few coaches get to put their stamp on a program by building from the ground up and pouring the foundation. 

With that in mind, I am going outside the box with someone who understands that all too well in Penn State associate coach Keith Fisher.

Why Fisher? 

The Rink Live writers bring up several fantastic points. St. Thomas can use someone who knows the state of Minnesota, who knows how to recruit, and who knows how to win and compete against some of the top teams in the country by being directly thrown into the CCHA. Names brought up all hit on those points.

The coach also needs to promote a culture and program that is looking to grow, eventually getting a new rink and being competitive as the sixth Minnesota Division 1 school. Whoever does will also have six months before opening puck drop to do so.

Getting someone like Fisher, who as Guy Gadowsky's assistant and recruiter played a major role in creating the Penn State program, from scratch, can be a major help for the Tommies. Unlike others, he has that experience. The Nittany Lions went from a non-entity at the beginning of the 2010s to NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big Ten regular-season and conference tournament title, and a national title contender at the end of the decade. PSU got to that point by building on each recruiting class, getting higher quality players from all over the world, and building a unique culture that works with players buying in.

All of that would be worthy of taking a look on its own, but Fisher also checks off the all-important Minnesota boxes. He is a Minnesota native who graduated from St. Cloud State and served as an undergrad assistant coach for Craig Dahl. Before working with Gadowsky at Princeton, he helped recruit a number of future NHLers to the USHL's Omaha Lancers (then coached by Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings). At Penn State, the Nittany Lions have found its share of Minnesotans between Nate Jensen, Eric Scheid, Vince Pedrie, and currently with Xander Lamppa and former Gopher Clayton Phillips.

A program like St. Thomas, entering a crowded Twin Cities and Minnesota pipeline, will need to both scour the state and look elsewhere for diamonds in the rough. Getting someone like Fisher who can recruit all over, understands the challenges which come from coaching college hockey in the state, and knows how to build a successful program from scratch seems like a home-run hire.

--
If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!