Wisconsin hires Minnesota State's proven winner as men's hockey coach

[Mark87]

M
ike Hastings, who has made Minnesota State into a perennial NCAA Tournament participant, will be the next coach of the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team.
The Badgers have turned to Hastings, the school announced Thursday. Contract details weren't immediately available.
Hastings has won at least 21 games in all 11 seasons he has coached the Mavericks, and they've appeared in the last five NCAA Tournaments. They were in the 2022 championship game after making their first Frozen Four appearance in 2021.


He has been mentioned as a name to watch in other recent coaching searches but the Badgers were the ones who were able to get him to leave a good job at Minnesota State.

"Wisconsin is one of college hockey's great programs and I am both thrilled and humbled to have this opportunity," Hastings said in a statement. "I want to thank Chris McIntosh for his belief in me. Badger hockey has a lot going for it — great alums, fans, facilities, tradition, a terrific campus and city. I can't wait to get to Madison and start working with our team on building a winning culture on and off the ice."

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McIntosh, the UW athletic director, fired Tony Granato on March 6 after the Badgers suffered their fifth losing season out of seven under the coach. The team is fourth in NCAA history with six national championships but has been under .500 in seven of the last nine seasons.

Getting the Badgers back to national prominence is one of the expectations for Hastings, who took over at Minnesota State in 2012 and has guided the Mavericks to the NCAA Tournament in eight of 10 events held during his 11 seasons there.



"I am incredibly excited about Mike Hastings becoming our men's hockey coach," McIntosh said in a statement. "He has a tremendous history of success at Minnesota State and, before that, with the Omaha Lancers. In my conversations with Mike, it is clear that he shares the values we have at Wisconsin and I know he is committed to the academic achievement and personal growth of our student-athletes. He is a great fit for our athletic department and I can't wait for him to get started."


Hastings, 57, is a three-time winner of the Spencer Penrose Award as top Division I men's hockey coach and has a long coaching history in the college and junior levels. He's 299-109-25 in 11 seasons at Minnesota State and previously had assistant positions at Omaha (2009-12) and Minnesota (2008-09).
He was the longtime coach and general manager of the United States Hockey League's Omaha Lancers after he started his coaching career as an assistant at St. Cloud State, where he played before an injury ended his career.

 

[TW]

I think this is going to prove to be an awesome decision.

 

[Keg Man]

I like this hire.

[Of course, I liked Eaves and Granato as well.]

 

[TW]

I like this hire.

[Of course, I liked Eaves and Granato as well.]

So did I. But, I think both of us were thinking about the history they had on the ice with the Badgers, and where they'd gone to that point, in coaching at a different level.

I think running a program at the DI level is a completely different set of circumstances than any other, because of the recruitment, and risk of players never hitting the ice for you, before being snatched away by a team that drafted them.

 

[Crease Creature]

Is Wisconsin alluring enough to pry someone away from Mankato

I guess the answer to that question is: Yes

Word is that Hastings' UW salary starts at $700k/yr, and escalates each of the 5 years, with more incentives for doing the thing he was hired to do. Same word says that he's starting in Madison at at least twice the salary he had at MNSU.

TG was and is a very decent human being and a class act all around. But he just couldn't make it work, and I suspect (as I've said before) that the wrong Granato ultimately got the top job. Hastings fits exactly the kind of thing McIntosh said we're looking for: previous success in DI cawllidge hawkey.

What remains to be seen is whether Hastings will recruit as well at Madison. Coach Knott, brains behind the talent that's made its way to Mankato the last several years is reportedly not coming along.

As an absolute aside, any of you guys know how NIL stuff is supposed to work in hockey, where a lot of the best guys are already under rights with NHL teams?