Craig Dahl (ice hockey)

Craig Dahl
Biographical details
Sport(s)	Ice hockey
Born	Albert Lea, Minnesota
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1980–1985	Bethel (MN)
1985–1986	Wisconsin–River Falls
1986–1987	St. Cloud State (assistant)
1987–2005	St. Cloud State
2011–present	SUNY Geneseo (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall	407–401–59
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
WCHA Tournament Championship (2001)
Awards
MIAC Coach of the Year (1985) WCHA Coach of the Year (1998)

Craig Dahl (born January 28, 1953) is an American ice hockey coach. He was the head coach of St. Cloud State from 1987 thru 2005.^[1] After retiring from coaching for about six years, Dahl returned to help Chris Schultz at SUNY Geneseo starting in 2011-12.

Career

Though Dahl received a football scholarship from the University of Minnesota, he transferred to and graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 1976 with a degree in physical education and social sciences.^[2] Dahl began his coaching career a few years later when he took over the top job at Bethel College from David Harris.^[3] Over the course of 5 seasons at the helm Dahl directed the fledgling program on an upwards trajectory, going from 3 wins in his first season to 15 in his last, including being named 1985 MIAC Coach of the Year. Dahl moved east for 1985-86, taking over at Wisconsin–River Falls before receiving his first opportunity at the Division II level when storied college coach Herb Brooks asked him to serve as an assistant with St. Cloud State as it was getting ready to move up to Division I.^[4]

Dahl remained as an assistant for only one season, however, as Brooks moved back to the NHL to coach the Minnesota North Stars the next year. With the Huskies playing as a D-I independent starting in 1987-88, Dahl was offered the head coaching duties and proceeded to serve in that position for the next 19 years. In only his second year, Dahl led the Huskies to their first tournament berth but lost both games against defending champion Lake Superior State in the first round. In 1991 St. Cloud joined the WCHA, giving it a much better opportunity to receive further invites to the NCAA tournament though it took over a decade for the Huskies t make their return.^[5] Despite playing against multiple powerhouse teams throughout the 1990s, Dahl was able to keep St. Cloud's record respectable, posting 4 winning seasons and finishing with a sub-.400 mark only once (1995–96) while also making the conference tournament title game in 1994. Dahl closed out the Huskies first decade with the WCHA by leading St. Cloud to their first tournament berth in 2000. The next season Dahl led the Huskies to their first 30-win season and conference tournament championship (the only time in school for either (as of 2014)). From 2000 to 2003 Dahl brought the St. Cloud to four consecutive NCAA tournament berths but failed to win a single game.

After the 2004-05 season Dahl announced his decision to step down as head coach of St. Cloud State to pursue a career in the private sector.^[6] While the move seemed to be an end to Dahl's coaching career he made an unexpected returned behind the bench as a volunteer assistant with SUNY Geneseo in 2011-12, a position he continues to occupy. (as of 2014)^[7]

Head coaching record

Ice hockey

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Bethel College (MIAC) (1980–81–1984–85)
1980–81	Bethel College	3–23–1
1981–82	Bethel College	15–15–0
1982–83	Bethel College	10–17–0
1983–84	Bethel College	11–15–1
1984–85	Bethel College	15–10–0
Bethel College:		54–80–2
Wisconsin–River Falls (WIAC) (1985–86–1985–86)
1985–86	Wisconsin–River Falls	15–12–3
Wisconsin–River Falls:		15–12–3
St. Cloud State (Independent) (1987–88–1989–90)
1987–88	St. Cloud State	11–25–1
1988–89	St. Cloud State	19–16–2			NCAA First Round
1989–90	St. Cloud State	17–19–2
St. Cloud State:		47–60–5
St. Cloud State (WCHA) (1990–91–2004–05)
1990–91	St. Cloud State	18–19–4	12–16–4	t–5th	WCHA First Round
1991–92	St. Cloud State	14–21–2	12–19–1	t–7th	WCHA First Round
1992–93	St. Cloud State	15–18–3	14–16–2	7th	WCHA First Round
1993–94	St. Cloud State	21–13–4	16–12–4	4th	WCHA Runner–Up
1994–95	St. Cloud State	17–20–1	15–16–1	t–5th	WCHA First Round
1995–96	St. Cloud State	13–22–4	10–18–4	8th	WCHA Quarterfinal
1996–97	St. Cloud State	23–13–4	18–10–4	3rd	WCHA Third Place Game (Loss)
1997–98	St. Cloud State	22–16–4	16–11–1	4th	WCHA Third Place Game (Loss)
1998–99	St. Cloud State	16–18–5	8–16–4	7th	WCHA Quarterfinal
1999–00	St. Cloud State	23–14–3	16–9–3	3rd	NCAA East Regional Quarterfinals
2000–01	St. Cloud State	31–9–1	20–8–0	2nd	NCAA West Regional Semifinals
2001–02	St. Cloud State	29–11–2	19–7–2	2nd	NCAA West Regional Quarterfinals
2002–03	St. Cloud State	17–16–5	12–11–5	6th	NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals
2003–04	St. Cloud State	18–16–4	12–12–4	6th	WCHA First Round
2004–05	St. Cloud State	14–23–3	8–19–1	9th	WCHA First Round
St. Cloud State:		291–249–49	208–200–40
Total:		407–401–59
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

References

↑ "Craig Dahl Year-By-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
↑ "Dahl Departs SCSU Coaching Position". USCHO.com. 2005-08-31. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
↑ "Bethel Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
↑ "Herb Brooks Year-By-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
↑ "St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
↑ "Men's hockey coach Craig Dahl gone after nearly two decades". St. Could State University. 2005-10-05. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
↑ "Leo Roth: Dahl brings some of Brooks' magic to Geneseo". Democrat & Chronicle. 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2014-06-09.

External links

Craig Dahl's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Dean Blais	WCHA Coach of the Year 1997–98	Succeeded by Dean Blais

Bethel Royals head football coaches

Dudley Lutton (1980–1983) Craig Dahl (1984) Kevin McDonald (1985–1987) Phil Janaro (1988) Steve Johnson (1989– )

St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey

Playing venues	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (1989–present)

Head coaches	Ralph Theisen (1931–1932) Ludwig Andolsek (1932–1935) Robert DePaul (1935–1936) Walter Gerzin (1936–1937) Benedict Vandell (1937–1938) George Lynch (1938–1942) Roland Vandell (1946–1950, 1951–1952) Ray Gasperline (1950–1951) George Martin (1952–1953) Brendan McDonald (1953–1954) Jim Baxter (1954–1956) Jack Wink (1956–1968) Charlie Basch (1968–1984) John Perpich (1984–1986) Herb Brooks (1986–1987) Craig Dahl (1987–2005) Bob Motzko (2005– )

Conference affiliations	NCHA (1981–1987) Independent (1987–1990) WCHA (1990–2013) NCHC (2013–present)

Culture & lore	North Star College Cup

All-time leaders	Ryan Lasch (183 Points) Mark Hartigan (86 Goals) Brian Leitza (66 Wins)

Frozen Four appearances	1987 (DII) 2013

NCAA Tournament appearances	1987 (DII) 1989 2000 2001 2002 2003 2007 2008 2010 2013 2014 2015

Conference Tournament champions	WCHA: 2001

Hobey Baker winners	Drew LeBlanc (2013)

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud, MN

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