Brian Idalski Named St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey Head Coach
5/19/2022 3:30:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Veteran of the collegiate, professional and Olympic circuits, Idalski coached UND’s women’s team from 2007-18
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Brian Idalski, a seasoned veteran in the collegiate, professional and Olympic coaching worlds, has been named the sixth St. Cloud State University Women's Hockey Head Coach, Director of Athletics Heather Weems announced today.
Idalski will be introduced to the St. Cloud State community at an introductory press conference, which will be announced at a later date and streamed on the St. Cloud State Athletics social channels (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube).
"I am excited to welcome Brian Idalski back to St. Cloud State as our head women's hockey coach," said Weems. "His background, experience, and success as a head coach at international, professional, and collegiate levels of women's hockey make him a great fit for our Huskies program. Coach Idalski successfully built UND women's program into a national contender and is recognized for his ability to raise performance expectations through recruiting and developing players. He has a strong understanding of the recruiting landscape and how to compete in the WCHA, the premier women's collegiate hockey league."
"I'm really excited to be back in St. Cloud and for the opportunity to lead the women's hockey program," said Idalski. "The WCHA is the best collegiate hockey conference in North America, and I look forward to building St. Cloud State into a winner. I'm thankful to Heather Weems and the search committee for entrusting me with this opportunity and can't wait to get to work."
Idalski comes to St. Cloud State after a successful three-year stint as the head coach of the KRS Vake Rays in Russia's Women's Hockey League, where he has guided the Rays to a 77-17 mark in three seasons with a playoff championship in 2019-20 and a regular season championships in 2020-21 and 2021-22. He was selected to coach in the league's all-star game in 2019-20 and was named the league's coach of the year for the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.
He was chosen to coach China's Women's Olympic team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, leading the team to two victories in pool play with the competition's top-ranked penalty kill unit. He spent the 2018-19 season as the Director of Hockey Activities at Culver Academy, leading the academy to its first USA Nationals bid.
Idalski is most known for his tenure as the head coach of the University of North Dakota women's hockey program from 2007-18, where he compiled five 20-win seasons while leading the Fighting Hawks to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013. He inherited a team that went 3-31-2 prior to his arrival and propelled UND to national prominence, as his teams were consistently ranked in the nation's top-10 and produced a record of 169-156-39 in 11 seasons.
With Idalski at the helm, UND saw the program's first-ever Olympian in Susanne Fellner (2006 Olympics, German National Team), first-ever active student-athlete Olympians in Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux (2010 Olympics, U.S. National Team) and first-ever recruited Olympian in Michelle Karvinen (2010 Olympics, Finnish National Team). Overall, he coached 10 Olympians, 26 national team members from eight countries, three All-Americans, three Academic All-Americans, four Patty Kazmaier Top-10 finalists, two NCAA Great Eight Award winners and 62 WCHA Scholar Athletes. During his time in Grand Forks, Idalski served as the Vice President of the American Women's Hockey Coaches Association and the Governor of the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Prior to UND, he was an assistant for St. Cloud State for the 2006-07 season where the Huskies went 12-18-7, one of only 10 seasons with 10+ wins in the program's 24-year history.
Idalski led the women's program of his alma mater, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, from 2001-06, guiding the Pointers to a 108-21-11 (.811) record while being a named a finalist for the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) National Coach of the Year four times. In his five seasons as head coach, UWSP earned an NCAA D-III runner up finish in 2003-04, a third-place finish in 2005-06 and a national quarterfinal finish in 2004-05. He captured three conference regular season titles and four conference tournament championships while in Stevens Point and was a two-time conference coach of the year award winner.
As four-year letterwinner at UW-Stevens Point from 1991-95, Idalski was a two-time captain and a member of the Pointers' NCAA Division-III runner-up team in 1992 and the 1993 NCAA D-III national championship team. In 97 career games as a defenseman, he tallied five goals and 20 assists.
Following his collegiate playing days, Idalski went on to play professional hockey for two years with the Madison Monsters of the United Hockey League from 1995-97 and the Columbus (Ga.) Cottonmouths of the Central Hockey league from 1997-99. After professional playing days, he spent the 1999-00 season as a full-time assistant coach with the Cottonmouths.
He earned his bachelor's degree in Health Promotion and Wellness from Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2001. A Warren, Mich., native, Idalski and his wife, Nicole, have four sons, Beau, Jason, David and Mitchel.
Idalski will be introduced to the St. Cloud State community at an introductory press conference, which will be announced at a later date and streamed on the St. Cloud State Athletics social channels (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube).
"I am excited to welcome Brian Idalski back to St. Cloud State as our head women's hockey coach," said Weems. "His background, experience, and success as a head coach at international, professional, and collegiate levels of women's hockey make him a great fit for our Huskies program. Coach Idalski successfully built UND women's program into a national contender and is recognized for his ability to raise performance expectations through recruiting and developing players. He has a strong understanding of the recruiting landscape and how to compete in the WCHA, the premier women's collegiate hockey league."
"I'm really excited to be back in St. Cloud and for the opportunity to lead the women's hockey program," said Idalski. "The WCHA is the best collegiate hockey conference in North America, and I look forward to building St. Cloud State into a winner. I'm thankful to Heather Weems and the search committee for entrusting me with this opportunity and can't wait to get to work."
Idalski comes to St. Cloud State after a successful three-year stint as the head coach of the KRS Vake Rays in Russia's Women's Hockey League, where he has guided the Rays to a 77-17 mark in three seasons with a playoff championship in 2019-20 and a regular season championships in 2020-21 and 2021-22. He was selected to coach in the league's all-star game in 2019-20 and was named the league's coach of the year for the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.
He was chosen to coach China's Women's Olympic team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, leading the team to two victories in pool play with the competition's top-ranked penalty kill unit. He spent the 2018-19 season as the Director of Hockey Activities at Culver Academy, leading the academy to its first USA Nationals bid.
Idalski is most known for his tenure as the head coach of the University of North Dakota women's hockey program from 2007-18, where he compiled five 20-win seasons while leading the Fighting Hawks to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013. He inherited a team that went 3-31-2 prior to his arrival and propelled UND to national prominence, as his teams were consistently ranked in the nation's top-10 and produced a record of 169-156-39 in 11 seasons.
With Idalski at the helm, UND saw the program's first-ever Olympian in Susanne Fellner (2006 Olympics, German National Team), first-ever active student-athlete Olympians in Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux (2010 Olympics, U.S. National Team) and first-ever recruited Olympian in Michelle Karvinen (2010 Olympics, Finnish National Team). Overall, he coached 10 Olympians, 26 national team members from eight countries, three All-Americans, three Academic All-Americans, four Patty Kazmaier Top-10 finalists, two NCAA Great Eight Award winners and 62 WCHA Scholar Athletes. During his time in Grand Forks, Idalski served as the Vice President of the American Women's Hockey Coaches Association and the Governor of the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Prior to UND, he was an assistant for St. Cloud State for the 2006-07 season where the Huskies went 12-18-7, one of only 10 seasons with 10+ wins in the program's 24-year history.
Idalski led the women's program of his alma mater, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, from 2001-06, guiding the Pointers to a 108-21-11 (.811) record while being a named a finalist for the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) National Coach of the Year four times. In his five seasons as head coach, UWSP earned an NCAA D-III runner up finish in 2003-04, a third-place finish in 2005-06 and a national quarterfinal finish in 2004-05. He captured three conference regular season titles and four conference tournament championships while in Stevens Point and was a two-time conference coach of the year award winner.
As four-year letterwinner at UW-Stevens Point from 1991-95, Idalski was a two-time captain and a member of the Pointers' NCAA Division-III runner-up team in 1992 and the 1993 NCAA D-III national championship team. In 97 career games as a defenseman, he tallied five goals and 20 assists.
Following his collegiate playing days, Idalski went on to play professional hockey for two years with the Madison Monsters of the United Hockey League from 1995-97 and the Columbus (Ga.) Cottonmouths of the Central Hockey league from 1997-99. After professional playing days, he spent the 1999-00 season as a full-time assistant coach with the Cottonmouths.
He earned his bachelor's degree in Health Promotion and Wellness from Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2001. A Warren, Mich., native, Idalski and his wife, Nicole, have four sons, Beau, Jason, David and Mitchel.
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