COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
The University of Vermont is a far cry from Minnesota, but the head coach of that state’s hottest hockey team has some impressive hockey-state roots. Todd Woodcroft is entering his third season as Catamounts head coach after landing two of Minnesota prep hockey’s hottest players last season in Prior Lake star Alex Bump and Mr. Hockey 2022 Max winner Strand of Roseau. Woodcroft came to UVM after two decades in various NHL coaching roles, including his debut with the Minnesota Wild as a video coach early in the franchise. He joined The Rink Live’s Mick Hatten and Jess Myers to talk about the high-quality competition in Hockey East, everything he learned from Jacques Lemaire during his wild days, and how often a real Vermonter goes. at Ben & Jerry’s for Cherry Garcia.
Timestamp
:30 Resumption of an NCAA Division I program in the midst of a pandemic in 2020
2:00 After 20 years of working in the NHL, why become a college hockey head coach?
4:20 How he came to Minnesota and worked for the Wild and what it was like to be a video coach in 2000
9:00 How it was to work for Jacque Lemaire and some great stories about him
14:20 Why he thinks Hockey East is the best conference in college hockey and the state of the Catamounts
19:55 How he recruits and secures some of Minnesota’s top talent
26:00 His brother Jay coaches the Edmonton Oilers
28:00 What it was like to work in the KHL
31:00 Ben and Jerry’s ice cream
