Eric Rud - Women's Hockey Coach - St. Cloud State University Athletics

Eric Rud

Title:
Head Women's Hockey Coach
Email:
errud@stcloudstate.edu
Office:
HBNHC 23

Eric Rud begins his first season as an assistant coach and third stint overall with St. Cloud State in 2024-25. A 25-year veteran of the coaching world with head coaching experience, Rud returns to St. Cloud for the third time after previous stints as an assistant coach with the men’s team from 2005-10 and as the head coach of the women’s team from 2014-19. Rud most recently served as the head coach of the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL, his second stint as a head coach in the nation’s top junior hockey league.

In his first stop in St. Cloud, Rud was an important figure in building the Husky Hockey program into what it is today, as he served as an assistant coach for the Huskies from 2005-10. In his five seasons on the bench, Rud helped the Huskies record five consecutive winnings seasons, reach three NCAA Tournaments and advance to the 2010 NCAA West Regional Championship Game. He was instrumental in the recruiting efforts during his tenure, leading the charge in signing 2013 Hobey Baker winner Drew LeBlanc, Hobey Baker finalists Ryan Lasch and Nic Dowd and all-conference honorees Andreas Nodl, Garrett Roe and Nick Jensen. In all, three Huskies earned All-America, 16 earned All-WCHA recognition and Nodl was named the 2006-07 WCHA Rookie of the Year with Rud on staff.

Rud’s second stint in the Granite City came as the head coach of SCSU Women’s Hockey (2014-19), where he coached five Huskies to all-conference recognition and had 63 WCHA all-academic recipients. Three Huskies earned WCHA All-Rookie Team honors in consecutive seasons under Rud’s tutelage with Julie Tylke (2015-16), Janine Alder (2016-17) and Emma Polusny (2017-18) all earning the recognition. Alder was also the team’s first Olympian, as she represented Switzerland in the 2014 Sochi and 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games.

Rud comes to St. Cloud for the third time after a two-year stint as head coach of Sioux Falls (2022-24) in the USHL, where his team showed vast improvements in his tenure, earning its first playoff appearance since 2019. Prior to his return to head coaching, Rud spent three seasons with NCHC rival Miami (2022-24) as an associate head coach.

The Colorado College graduate spent three seasons as an assistant coach with his alma mater from 2011-14 and one season as the head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Gamblers (2010-11) of the USHL between his stints at SCSU. Rud set a USHL record for a rookie coach with 41 wins with the Gamblers, while his squad set the league record for penalty kill at 92 percent.

A 1997 graduate of CC, Rud was a two-time team captain and two-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Year for the Tigers during his collegiate playing career. He went on to play professional hockey from 1997-02 and served as a player assistant coach with the Florida Everblades (ECHL) in 1999-00 and with the Idaho Steelheads (WCHL) from 2000-02. He joined the coaching ranks as an assistant with the USHL's Cedar Rapids Roughriders from 2002-04 and was an assistant coach at Colorado College in 2004-05.

Rud has worked extensively with the USA Hockey program throughout his career and served as the head coach of the 2008 USA U-17 team in the Slovakia Four Nations Cup, the 2009 USA U-18 team at the Czech Republic Ivan Hlinka Cup and the 2022 USA Hockey World Junior Challenge team that won a gold medal.

A native of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Rud prepped at Simley High School. Rud and his wife have three children Sam, Gabbie and Max.