EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – UW-Eau Claire athletics director Dan Schumacher has announced the hiring of Erik Strand as the women's hockey coach. Strand, a 2002 men's hockey alumnus, has been an assistant coach for the men's team for the past eight seasons.
"We are excited to have Coach Strand take over the women's hockey team," said Schumacher. "As an alum and assistant coach, he bleeds blue and gold and is truly passionate about Blugold hockey."
The Bloomington, Minn. native played three years in juniors following high school and won the Anderson Cup and a national championship with the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) before starting his Blugold career where he played in 104 games.
Strand joined the Blugold coaching ranks in 2005 when current men's head coach Matt Loen took the helm. Together, they have coached 10 First Team All-National Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) and 12 NCHA honorable mention recipients along with 34 NCHA All-Academic selections. In the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) they have coached 17 All-WIAC First Team and 19 All-WIAC Honorable Mention honorees in addition to four All-Americans and one CoSIDA Academic All-American. The Blugolds won NCHA and WIAC Championships in 2012 and 2013.
Following the 2013 season and the program's first NCAA Division III National Championship, the coaching staff received national awards including USCHO and D3Hockey.com National Coach of the Year honors. Strand also earned the UW-Eau Claire Joe Merten Coaching Award, an award honoring Blugold basketball Hall of Famer Joe Merten who died in 2008. According to the family's criteria for the award, the recipient "shall demonstrate a deep commitment to the student-athletes and embody a passion for lifelong learning and the 'love of the game.'"
Strand managed the Blugold defense that holds several NCAA records, including season goalie save percentage (.972), goals-against average (.71) and goalie winning percentage (.944) (Jay Deo, set in 2014). This season, the Blugolds were ranked sixth nationally in penalty kills and 17th in team defense.
"I want to thank Chancellor [James] Schmidt and our Athletic Director, Dan Schumacher, for giving me this opportunity to become the new head coach of the women's hockey team," said Strand. "I've been fortunate to be a part of Blugold hockey as a coach for the past eight years and working with Coach Loen has been a tremendous experience.
"I really look forward to taking the next step as the head coach of the women's team. Coach [Mike] Collins did a great job of starting the program 15 years ago and he built an excellent foundation to build on."
