Coaching Changes at NCAA Division I Level

College hockey will have a different look at several NCAA Division I men's schools next season.

Grant Potulny has stepped down at Northern Michigan University after seven seasons to pursue a professional hockey job. Potulny, 44, who scored the game-winning power-lay goal in overtime for Minnesota in the 2002 NCAA championship contest, guided the Wildcats to a 128-113-17 mark overall, including their transition from the WCHA to the new CCHA, as just the third head coach in program history. Following a five-year professional playing career, the Grand Forks, N.D. native served as an assistant coach at his alma mater from 2009 to 2017 before taking over at NMU. Athletic director and former head coach Rick Comley, who led the Wildcats to the 1991 NCAA title, will serve as interim head coach until Potulny's successor is selected.

Clarkson is also in the market for a new men's hockey head coach, as Casey Jones is returning to Cornell University as associate head coach for next season. He will then transition to head coach next summer, when Mike Schafer retires following the 2024-25 campaign after 30 years at the helm of the Big Red. 

Jones, 56, from Temiscaming, PQ compiled a 234-185-56 overall record at Clarkson over the past 13 years, while leading the Golden Knights to the 2019 ECAC Hockey playoff crown and two NCAA tournament berths. Prior to taking over at Clarkson, he served as an assistant or associate coach at Clarkson and Ohio State, a stretch that was bookended by two stints at his alma mater. He skated four years as a Big Red center (1986-1990), helping them to 62 wins overall.

Schafer, 61, from Durham, Ont., has overseen the Big Red since the 1995-96 season, accumulating an overall mark of 542-289-111. A former Cornell defenseman (1982-1986), he served four years as an assistant coach at his alma mater before moving on to Western Michigan for four more years. He then took over the Big Red and has since led it to 13 Ivy League crowns, six ECAC Hockey Cleary Cup regular-season titles, and six Whitelaw Cups as conference tournament champion, including this past season. Cornell has also qualified for 14 NCAA tournaments under Schafer's watch, including a berth in the 2003 NCAA Frozen Four.