Daily Skate: Augustana nearing a hire
Apr. 16—GRAND FORKS — There's a startling number of high-profile head coaching jobs open in college hockey right now.
Boston College, Boston University and Michigan State are all searching for new head coaches.
But that didn't prevent Augustana College, a Division-I startup program in Sioux Falls, S.D., from attracting high-end candidates for its first-ever hire.
Many of the country's top assistant coaches were interested in the job, but Vikings athletic director Josh Morton, a UND graduate, is closing in on his hire.
Minnesota assistant coach Garrett Raboin is emerging as the top candidate, multiple sources have told the Herald.
Raboin, a Detroit Lakes native, has served as a Gopher assistant the last four years under head coach Bob Motzko. Prior to that, he was an assistant for six years at St. Cloud State, where he played and served as a two-year captain.
Augustana is set to begin play as an independent program in the fall of 2023.
The vast interest in the job showed confidence from college hockey's coaching community that Augustana is doing things right and that it's a place where winning teams can be assembled.
For starters, it already has a new arena in the works. The plan is for the 3,000-seat Midco Arena to be open in time for the 2023-24 season.
The Vikings also are putting together a competitive salary package for its coaches, according to a source.
The last piece in the puzzle for Augustana is conference affiliation. The Vikings are located in the footprint of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and the Central Collegiate Hockey Conference.
But the coaching piece is about to be complete.
Union College made its coaching hire Friday.
The Dutchmen selected Clarkson assistant Josh Hauge as their next head coach.
Hauge served as an assistant coach for the Fargo Force for one year in 2014-15 before joining the staff at Clarkson.
Union's previous coach, Rick Bennett, resigned during the season while under investigation for his coaching style. Bennett led the Dutchmen to the 2014 NCAA national championship.
Atlantic Hockey officially voted to reinstate Robert Morris to the conference this week.
Robert Morris cut its men's and women's hockey programs last spring, but will reinstate them in the fall of 2023.
Regaining membership in Atlantic Hockey was not a foregone conclusion for the men's team. Behind the scenes, there was pushback from some members.
"We're very excited to be reinstated back into Atlantic Hockey," Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley said. "Thank you to the conference athletic directors and presidents for allowing us to return to a league we've called home since 2010. Atlantic Hockey is a very deep and challenging league with outstanding coaches and programs. We look forward to building on our three regular season and tournament championship resume within the AHA and can't wait to continue the rivalries we've had against some very good teams in 2023-24."
Teams that remain looking for conference affiliation: Arizona State, Alaska Fairbanks, Long Island University, Lindenwood and Augustana (starting in 2023).
