The local paper had an article on St. Cloud State's Coach Craig Dahl. stcloudtimes.com is the general website if the following address is outdated:
http://miva.sctimes.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?Web/page.mv+1+sports+345899

Nathan Hampton


Dahl receives vote of confidence
By Kevin Allenspach
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Morris Kurtz remembers the early days of St. Cloud State's foray into Division I hockey.

The games were played at the Municipal Athletic Complex and, Kurtz said, it was hard to get a lot of people to care about the program. Today they care so much that, as athletic director, Kurtz felt compelled to issue a public show of confidence for Craig Dahl, the only head coach the Huskies have had since they moved from Division II status in 1987, even though he has two years remaining on his fifth consecutive four-year contract.

"I just want to let everyone know that Craig will be back in the fall, that I appreciate his tireless efforts and, after 18 years, he's earned the faith I have in him," Kurtz said Monday. "Sometimes the rumor mill gets going and you need to set the record straight."

This season's ninth-place finish, St. Cloud State's lowest since joining the WCHA in 1990, led to speculation among fans and even some in the hockey community that Dahl might be replaced. Less than two weeks ago, fifth-year assistant coach Brad Willner was let go.

Kurtz said he and Dahl have met and agreed on academic and competitive standards for the team next season. The standards were not made public.

"They're goals we're excited about achieving and I strongly believe he will," Kurtz said. "It's the nature of college sports that you have a very loyal and intense fan base. When those people see this in the paper, some will be happy and some will be unhappy. I'm sure I'll get plenty of e-mails about it. But Craig is our coach and I hope our fans will get behind the 28 young people on the team."

Kurtz said he met with all of the players and included them in the process of evaluating the program. He said he also spoke with former players, parents and administrators. Dahl, who has a 338-309-52 career record with the Huskies, also has met with his team, which soon will begin off-ice training for next season.

"Nobody's happy about the fact that we finished ninth — the fans aren't and we aren't," Dahl said.

"But (Kurtz) is backing the program because we're doing what we need to do to improve. We've been in a rebuilding phase and now, when I look at the overall talent we'll have next year, I believe things are going to start to turn."

If they don't, both realize they will be in an uncomfortable position less than a year from now.

"The reality is I'm not going to beat my head against a wall," said Dahl, 52, who earned approximately $131,709 this season. "I'm going to do everything I can do to make this program successful. If it's not going to work, I'll look for something else. Not many coaches have spent 18 years in one place. But I'm not thinking about that right now. I'm thinking about how I can get this thing back on track."

Dahl says he has the right kind of character in his players. He went through the entire season with only a couple of disciplinary incidents, for nothing bigger than being late for a team breakfast or for the bus to the rink.

This spring, the Huskies expect to have a team grade-point average above 3.0 for the fourth consecutive semester. They had a school-record 12 players earn WCHA All-Academic honors.

A recent NCAA report detailing the school's Academic Progress Rate found too much movement of players in and out of the program to achieve a passing grade, however. St. Cloud State's initial APR score of 898 was second-lowest among the 57 Division I hockey programs. The Huskies, who have four seniors and should return the vast majority of the rest of the players on the roster, expect to attain a score above the threshold of 925 for this season. Should they fail, the team could risk losing scholarship money.

The hard part will be finding success on the ice, where the WCHA represents all the teams in this year's Frozen Four. The Huskies have scored fewer goals the past two seasons than at any point in school history and have lost in the first round of the league playoffs in each of the past three years.

This season, approximately 60 percent of the team's games were against top 15 foes. St. Cloud State, which finished 14-23-3, collectively outshot its opponents and lost 13 games by two or fewer goals.

Huskies goaltenders stopped fewer than 88 percent of the shots they faced in league games after Jan. 1. But Dahl also has extolled the virtues of goalie Bobby Goepfert, a draftee of the Pittsburgh Penguins and a former member of Team USA at the World Junior Championships, who will be eligible this fall following his transfer from Providence. Goepfert and incumbent goalie Tim Boron both will be juniors.

Of course, within the next couple of months the Huskies hope to hire a new assistant. The job should be posted within two weeks.

"Ours is a tough business, but nobody put a gun to our head to get involved," Kurtz said. "And, be it good or bad, you don't have to wait years to see the results of your actions. Everyone will know how they turned out."

Next season opens Oct. 14 at Northern Michigan.