Hockey Coaching Candidates Part 2

Submitted by Canadian on

Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Age: 60

Alma Mater: Michigan State University

Head Coaching Record: 236-148-47

First year coaching: 1986-87

First year as Head Coach: 1990-91

Current Record: 19-10-7

Current Pairwise: 12th

Current Tournament Probability: 100%

Jackson would likely be a short term solution as he is already in his sixties but I think his resume should garner, at the very least, a look. Jeff Jackson is in his 11th season in charge of the Fighting Irish, where he has 6 NCAA Tournament appearances (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 & 2014), 3 CCHA Tournament titles (2007, 2009 & 2013), 2 CCHA Regular Season Titles (2007 & 2009) and 2 Frozen Fours (2008 & 2011). Before taking on the Notre Dame job, Jackson spent 2 seasons with the New York Islanders of the NHL as an assistant Coach. Jackson started his coaching career way back in 1986 as an assistant at Lake Superior State and ascended to the Head Coaching job before stepping down to become the national coach and Senior Director of the newly formed U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor. Jackson served as an assistant coach on the United States 1998 Winter Olympic team. After the 99-00 season Jackson left the USNTDP to take the Head Coaching job for the Guelph Storm of the OHL where he had a 87-67-24-4 record before being fired in his third season thanks to a slow start. In his time at Lake St. he won a National Championship as an assistant (1988), and 2 as a Head Coach (1992 &1994) and a runner-up performance (1993). He added 2 CCHA regular season titles (1991 & 1996) and 4 CCHA Tournament titles (1991, 1992, 1993 & 1995). In all six seasons he spent at the helm of the Lakers they made the NCAA Tournament every season.

Coaching History:

1986-90 Lake Superior State Assistant

1990-96 Lake Superior State Head Coach

1996-00 USNTDP Head Coach and Senior Director

2000-03 Guelph Storm (OHL) Head Coach

2003-05 New York Islanders (NHL) Assistant coach

2005-16 Notre Dame Head Coach

NCAA Coaching Records:

at Lake Superior St.

90-91: 36-5-4 

91-92: 30-9-4 

92-93: 25-7-5 

93-94: 31-10-4

94-95: 23-12-6

95-96: 30-8-2

at Notre Dame

05-06: 13-19-4

06-07: 32-7-3

07-08: 27-16-4

08-09: 31-6-3

09-10: 13-17-8

10-11: 25-14-5

11-12: 19-18-3

12-13: 25-13-3

13-14: 23-15-3

14-15: 18-19-5

15-16: 19-10-7

Mike Hastings, Minnesota State- Mankato Mavericks

Age: 50

Alma Mater: St. Cloud State University

Head Coaching Record: 79-36-7

First year coaching: 2012-13

First year as Head Coach: 2012-13

Current Record: 20-12-7

Current Pairwise: 24th

Current Tournament Probability: 25%

Hastings burst onto the college hockey scene in 2012 following a long successful career in the USHL. In his 14 seasons in charge of the Omaha/RiverCity Lancers, of the USHL, Hastings was named GM of the year 5 times, Coach of the Year 3 times and left as the league’s all-time winningest coach with a 529-210-56 record. Hastings went from the USHL to an assistant coaching job with the University of Minnesota for a season and 3 as an associate Head Coach at Nebraska-Omaha. Hastings first seasons have been OUTSTANING at Minnesota St. winning more games than any other team in college hockey. After his first season he was named WCHA and National Coach of the Year, 2014 saw Minnesota St. improve on their win total an won the WCHA Tournament in route to their second straight NCAA tournament berth. 2015 was even better for Hastings’ Mavericks as they improved their win total again, won both the WCHA regular season and Tournament titles and earned their third straight NCAA berth.

Coaching History:

1994-08 Omaha/River City (USHL) Head Coach and GM

2008-09 Minnesota assistant

2009-12 Nebraska-Omaha Associate Head Coach

2012-16 Minnesota State-Mankato Head Coach

Seasons at Minnesota St.:

2012-13: 24-14-3

2013-14: 26-14-1

2014-15: 29-8-3

2015-16: 20-12-7

Enrico Blasi, Miami RedHawks

Age: 44

Alma Mater: Miami University

Head Coaching Record: 314-231-102

First year coaching: 1995-96

First year as Head Coach: 1999-00

Current Record: 15-18-3

Current Pairwise: 26th

Current Tournament Probability: 0%

When Blasi was hired to take over his Alma Mater’s hockey program he was, at the time, the youngest Division 1 hockey coach. Blasi has enjoyed a good amount of success at Miami including 3 CCHA Regular Season titles and 1 Mason Cup (CCHA Tournament Championship) along with 1 Frozen Four birth in 2010. Blasi was named CCHA Coach of the ear 5 times and a National Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2010. According to the Miami RedHawks bio of Basi (which has some incorrect information on it) breaks its hockey program’s history into two different categories:

Before Blasi (21 seasons) and Under Blasi (16 seasons).

Win%: .446%/.595%

20-win seasons: 5/12

NCAA Tournaments: 2/10

Frozen Fours: 0/1

All-Americans: 5/10

Coaching History:

1995-96 Denver Grad Assistant

1996-99 Denver Assistant

1999-16 Miami Head Coach

Seasons at Miami:

99-00: 13-20-3

00-01: 20-16-2 

01-02: 12-22-2

02-03: 21-17-3

03-04: 23-14-4

04-05: 15-18-5

05-06: 26-9-4

06-07: 24-14-4

07-08: 33-8-1

08-09: 23-13-5

09-10: 29-8-7

10-11: 24-15-2

11-12: 24-15-2

12-13: 25-12-5

13-14: 18-21-3

14-15: 29-14-1

15-16: 15-18-3

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