The Rink Live

Forest Lake Girls Hockey Head Coach Andrew Richardson talks the team's 13-13 season, some of the incoming players the program is excited about and how he keeps a balance between coaching three different sports.

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"What would a kid from the desert know about hockey?" If you are a Minnesota Gophers fan who asked that question a year ago, you received an emphatic answer from Matthew Knies on the ice last season. The good-sized forward who is a draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs burst onto the college hockey scene and was an offensive catalyst with his size and skill, playing a vital role in their Big Ten title and their run to the Frozen Four. He also skated for Team USA at the World Junior Championships and the Winter Olympics in his "spare time." Back in his native Arizona for the summer, where it was 111 degrees when he talked to The Rink Live, Knies is preparing to host a summer hockey camp and looking forward to another college hockey season in maroon and gold.

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Since being introduced as St. Cloud State University's sixth women's hockey head coach on June 2, Brian Idalski has been working on getting to know all of his new players. He and his wife have temporarily moved into the SCSU dorms at Shoemaker Hall and he is getting used to his new surroundings. Idalski is no stranger to women's hockey. He was the head coach at Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 2001-06, spent one season as an assistant coach at SCSU and then was the head coach for the University of North Dakota from 2007-17. Idalski discusses what he's learned about the Huskies he's inheriting, talks about his background in coaching and his playing days growing up in Michigan and playing AAA hockey. All this and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider Podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

In 2020-2021, Eastview went 5-14 and then did a complete 180 to finish this past season at 17-11, only falling in the Section 3AA championship game. The team has had a taste of success, but has its sights set on making it to the Xcel Energy Center for the state tournament. Head coach Aaron Fulton talks with Sydney Wolf on The Rink Live podcast.

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Tony Gruba played forward for St. Cloud State from 1990-94 after playing at Hill-Murray High School. He ended up turning down the University of Minnesota to play for the Huskies. His son, Leo, an 18-year-old defenseman, recently verbally committed to play for the Huskies. Tony compares and contrasts the recruiting process for his son vs. when he went through it. He also shares memories of playing for the Huskies, gives a bit of a scouting report on his son and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider Podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

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The first head coach of the women's hockey program at the University of Minnesota, Halldorson discusses the changes in hockey since she grew up, challenges she's faced along the way and more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

The Stampede's new vice president of hockey operations and general manager also talks about growing up in Grand Forks with a college hockey coach as a dad, working with Bob Motzko, Nate Leaman and more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

Sydney Wolf talks with Mankato East girls hockey head coach Amber Prange to recap the team's season, their state tournament run, their experience at Hockey Day Minnesota, and more.

The University of Vermont is a long way from Minnesota, but the head coach of that state's most prominent hockey team has impressive roots in the State of Hockey. Todd Woodcroft is heading into his third season as the head coach of the Catamounts after landing two of the higher-profile players from Minnesota prep hockey last season in Prior Lake star Alex Bump and 2022 Mr. Hockey winner Max Strand from Roseau. Woodcroft came to UVM after two decades in various coaching roles in the NHL, including getting his start with the Minnesota Wild as a video coach in the early days of the franchise. He joined Mick Hatten and Jess Myers from The Rink Live to talk about the high-quality competition in Hockey East, all he learned from Jacques Lemaire during his Wild days and just how often a real Vermonter heads to Ben & Jerry's for some Cherry Garcia.

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Garrett Roe came to St. Cloud State in the fall of 2007 after playing three seasons of junior hockey for the Indiana Ice in the United States Hockey League. That came after two seasons of playing for Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep and growing up as the youngest of three hockey players in his family in Vienna, Va. Since graduating from SCSU in 2011, Roe has played the last five seasons in the top Swiss League after two seasons playing in Sweden, one season in Germany, one season in Austria and two seasons in the AHL. The three-time All-WCHA pick discusses the many stops of his career with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.