St. Cloud State has announced the addition of Eric Rud as an assistant coach for the men’s hockey team.
A 25-year veteran of the coaching world with head coaching experience, Rud returns to St. Cloud for the third time after previous stints as an assistant coach with the men’s team from 2005 to 2010 and as the head coach of the women’s team from 2014 to 2019. Rud most recently served as the head coach of the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL, his second stint as a head coach in the nation’s top junior hockey league.
“I am very excited to bring Eric Rud and his family back home to St. Cloud,” said SCSU head coach Brett Larson in a statement. “In his first time on staff with the Huskies, Eric did some of his best work as a coach while helping our program reach new heights, including recruiting the team’s first Hobey Baker winner. I know St. Cloud is a place where he can come back and help our team accomplish the goals we set each season, because Eric knows the type of players and people we need in our program to remain among the elite in college hockey. His passion for our program and this community will make for a smooth transition back on staff and will allow our program to continue moving forward.”
“Our family could not be more excited to be coming back to the SCSU family,” added Rud. “My wife got her teaching degree from St. Cloud State and our three kids graduated from St. Cloud Tech. We are thrilled to be coming home. I can’t wait to jump in with a great staff and get to work.”
A 1997 graduate of Colorado College, Rud was a two-time team captain and two-time WCHA defensive player of the year for the Tigers during his collegiate playing career. He went on to play professional hockey from 1997 to 2002 and served as a player-assistant coach with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades in 1999-2000 and with the WCHL’s Idaho Steelheads from 2000 to 2002. He joined the coaching ranks as an assistant with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids Roughriders from 2002 to 2004 and was an assistant coach at Colorado College in 2004-05.
Rud has worked extensively with the USA Hockey program throughout his career and served as the head coach of the 2008 USA Under-17 team in the Four Nations Cup, the 2009 USA Under-18 team at the Hlinka Cup and the 2022 United States World Junior Challenge team that won a gold medal.
