Sandelin does not shy away from the hot topics of college hockey – duluth news tribune

St. Louis Minnesota Duluth Mens Hockey Coach Scott Sandelin received questions about retirement this spring, and the subject was discussed again last week during the NCAA -Heren Frozen Four.

However, the questions are not about Sandelins pension, but only the wave of retirement announced by his old colleagues from the university. Five coaches with a combined more than 130 seasons of experience and institutional knowledge of university hockey went aside this spring.

Great people, our game loses some great coaches, but more importantly, great people who have done a lot, Sandelin said. You see those guys over the years, we will be good friends and definitely respect their career and what they have done for our game.

More than two decades have passed since Sandelin was hired in 2000 by the Bulldogs as a young, 35-year-old Rookie head coach of the University of North Dakota. At the time, Wisconsins Jeff Sauer, Michigans Rick Comley and Boston High Schools Jerry York were among the deans of sport.

Sandelin said he was lucky to learn from veterans such as those, as well as former Bulldogs coach Mike Sertich. Now Sandelin is the experienced coach that others look for.

I don't always see myself in that light, maybe others do that. I appreciate that, said Sandelin, who was on the frozen four that served the third year of a period of four years in the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Committee. If I can have some impact to improve our game, if I can definitely be a voice for that. We all want to see (college hockey) as good as possible in this changing world here. Sometimes it takes a little time to see how things will settle before we do some crazy things.

Ferris sets Bob Daniels (36 seasons), Cornells Mike Schaefer (30), Lake Superior State and Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson (26), Armys Brian Riley (20) and, most recently, Rits Wayne Wilson (26) all retiring after the 2024-25 season.

Clint Austin / File / Duluth News Tribune

Sandelin starts the 2025-26 season at UMD as the fourth longest regular coach in NCAA Division I Mens Hockey behind Air Force Frank Serratore (35), Quinnipiacs Rand Peckknold (31) and Mercyhursts Rick Gotkin (37).

And Gotkin, 65, has already announced that 2025-26 will be its last season, which means that Sandelin is ready to climb the tenure hit lists again next spring. He already leads all the active head coaches in national championships with three, while his 469 victories are third under active head coaches behind Serratore (521) and Peckknold (591).

Sandelin's contract with UMD runs through the 2026-27 season. At the end of that season 62. That is still young by coaching the standards with Serratore, who has just signed a contract extension that holds him at Air Force until the 2026-27 season, is 67. Peckknold is 58.

The Bulldogs coach desires to return to the NCAA Frozen Four as a coach of a participant, not just as a committee member. He mentioned his hope to return to the Frozen Four all week and again as he answered questions during the annual State of the Game press conference of the NCAA on Friday in Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

It was the second frozen four in a row that Sandelin was to the members of the NCAA committee answered those questions from reporters and stakeholders during the day between the semi -final and the national championship.

Matt Wellens / Duluth News Tribune

Here were his thoughts about some of the biggest problems with the sports that came in the low season:

• On big junior players from Canada are now eligible for NCAA hockey from 2025-26: it is an extension of the (transfer) portal, it is a larger pool of players and everyone will use it the way they feel they use it.
• About the impact of zero (name, image, parable) money when recruiting: my assistants hear a lot about it. Much of it, you don't know what is being paid. There are many rumors, many figures are thrown around. Who knows what fact is or not. It is there and it is part of what went into it. Were not a school that has as much as another school. The way we tackle it is, how our recruits and our children were, this is what we have to offer you. This is what we can give you possible. That is the best we can do. It comes a lot in conversations with agents. What do you have? It has changed a lot.

• Whether something can be done to rule in the madness of the transfer portal: I don't know what we can do, Sandelin said. Unfortunately.

  The horse is out of the shed, said Hockey East Commissioner Steve Metcalf, chasing after Sandelin.

Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group

Sandelin said he liked to be part of the NCAA Championship Committee, which he learned a lot and met some great, nice people. He feels that HES has an impact on the game with small things at the Frozen Four and offers the insight of a coach who was part of the event.

The Bulldogs made six frozen four under Sandelin and went to four consecutive frozen four between 2017 and 2021, with 2020s being canceled by the COVID-19 Pandemie. UMD appeared between 2017-2019 in three consecutive final and won back-to-back national championships in 2018 and 2019.

Since he came to the committee in 2022-23, Sandelins teams have not only missed every frozen four, but his bulldogs have also missed the NCAA tournament. He admitted that it hurt to see other teams enjoy the experience, and not his.

It's hard to see, sometimes, Sandelin said.