Brett Larson is an American ice hockey coach and former player. He is the current head coach of

St. Cloud State St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximate ...

, having been named to the position in April 2018.

Playing career

After being drafted out of high school, Larson waited a year before beginning his college career at Minnesota–Duluth. In his freshman season he scored only three points in 26 games for a middling team. The following year the Bulldogs rocketed up the standings, winning the

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

and making the NCAA tournament. In his junior season Larson was given a great role with the team and responded by posting more than quintuple his previous season's total. Despite this Duluth dropped to 7th in the WCHA and stayed there for the rest of Larson's college career. After graduating Larson embarked on a long career that was spent mostly in the minor leagues in North America. During the later half of the 1990s he also played roller hockey in the RHI, stopping only due to the league ceasing operations. In 2001, After winning the Taylor Cup with

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Larson signed with Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim of the German second league playing one season for the Red Devils before joining the

Odense Bulldogs The Odense Bulldogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Odense, Denmark. They currently play in Ret&Råd Fyn Arena in the Bolbro area, as a part of the best Danish league Metal Ligaen, and they are furthermore the only hockey team from Fu ...

. In his first season with the Bulldogs he helped the team win the regular season title but fell in the championship match. The team had diminishing returns each of the following two years and after splitting the 2005–06 season between Bad Nauheim and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

Larson returned to the states for one more season before retiring as a player.

Coaching career

During his playing career Larson had twice served as a player/coach; for two years with the San Diego Gulls and in his brief stint with

Florida Seals The Florida Seals were a minor league ice hockey franchise, a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Originally based in Orlando, Florida, as the Orlando Seals, they later moved to Kissimmee, Florida, a suburb thirty miles sout ...

. After his playing days were over Larson took a year off before returning as a full-time coach, joining the staff at his alma mater as an assistant. After only three years behind the bench he was hired as the head coach/GM for the

Sioux City Musketeers The Sioux City Musketeers are a junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Musketeers' home ice is Tyson Events Center. The team was founded in 1972, and has won three Anderson Cups a ...

, but after two poor seasons he headed back to the college ranks. After a two-year stop at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

he began a third stint with Minnesota–Duluth, staying for another three seasons before he received his first opportunity to lead a college program with

Career statistics

Awards and honours

Head coaching record

USHL

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Brett 1972 births People from Duluth, Minnesota Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota Living people American ice hockey coaches Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players Louisville RiverFrogs players Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players San Diego Gulls (WCHL) players Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players Las Vegas Thunder players Basingstoke Bison players Orlando Seals (ACHL) players Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim players Odense Bulldogs players Madison Monsters players Minnesota Arctic Blast players Orlando Jackals players Minnesota Blue Ox players St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey coaches Florida Seals players American men's ice hockey defensemen Ice hockey players from Minnesota