Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Means out as MSU women's coach

Eric Means, the Minnesota State women's hockey coach for the last six seasons, has resigned from the position.

The Mavericks recently completed their season, falling in two games in the first round of the WCHA tournament, and Means was in the final year of a his second contract, a two-year deal, with MSU.

Means was never able to turn around a program that has struggled since its inception in the powerhouse WCHA. His teams compiled a record of 48-161-16, including a 3-32-1 mark (1-26-1 in WCHA) this season with a roster of mostly freshmen.

Means has been an MSU hockey coach for 20 years, spending his first 14 as an assistant for the men’s team before moving down the hall to become a head coach for the first time.

He took over a 12-win team and expected to make the Mavericks more competitive in the WCHA. His teams, however, reached that win total once (winning 13 games two seasons ago) and never finished higher than sixth place in the eight-team conference.

Minnesota State now will be searching for its third head coach. Todd Carroll was the team’s original coach, lasting three years. Jeff Vizenor coached the Mavericks for eight seasons.

Means will remain at MSU until May 11.

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