It took Minnesota State men’s hockey coach Luke Strand some time to hire his coaching staff.
When he got the job in April, building the team’s roster had to be the first priority. There needed to be meetings with returning players, incoming recruits had to be re-recruited, and the transfer portal needed to be scoured for quality replacements for the departing players and decommitments.
When Strand got around to seriously considering assistant coaching candidates in May, there were a lot of intriguing possibilities. However, after making phone calls to former colleagues and long-time friends Troy Ward and Keith Paulsen, Strand knew they were right for the jobs.
“As a head coach, I think you hire people that make you better. These guys do,” Strand said. “You hire people with a ton of passion. They’re hungry to be first-class coaches.
“The trust factor with us — we’re tight in our work, but we’re tight off the ice, too. There’s a demand, a workload that it takes … their work-ethic will not be outdone.”
The three go way back and the connections are seemingly endless.
All three played hockey at, and graduated from, Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Ward played from 1980-84, Strand from 1993-97 and Paulsen from 1996-2000.
Strand and Paulsen, who grew up about two blocks apart in Eau Claire. Strand routinely drove Paulsen to and from youth hockey practice, and the two played together for a season in college. Paulsen also worked under Strand as an assistant at Sioux City in the United States Hockey League.
Paulsen, who’s spent the last seven seasons on staff with the Iowa Wild, loved his time with the organization. But with Iowa going through a coaching change, it felt like a good time to consider a new challenge.
“When Luke called to indicate interest, it peaked my interest,” Paulsen said. “If you could handpick an opportunity … this would be it. A great friend, a mentor in Luke Strand gets a head job, and he chooses me to be his assistant coach.”
Strand and Ward have known each other since the early 1990s. Ward was the head coach of the Blugolds from 1987-1990 while Strand was growing up in the community. The two were assistant coaches together in the American Hockey League for the Houston Aeros from 2009-2011.
While Ward was playing for the Blugolds, he worked at the local rink, and Paulsen and his sister were frequent visitors as young kids. Ward would play pickup with them when they came to the rink. Ward and Paulsen also coached together for a season with the Madison Capitols in the USHL.
“I was probably 6, 7 years old when Troy was at UW-Eau Claire. My sister was 3. My dad would take us down on Sundays and Wednesdays to open skate,” Paulsen said. “Troy actually taught my sister and I how to skate.”
Added Ward: “I remember chasing Keith and his sister around the rink. I was trying to help them skate.”
Ward, Strand’s associate head coach, has a long and impressive resume. He’s had stops at essentially every major level in the world, including the NHL, AHL, college and USHL.
His college stints came as an assistant at Denver from 1990-93 and Wisconsin from 2002-05. He was an assistant for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1997-2000, coaching the likes of Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis and three playoff teams during those years.
He spent last season as the general manager of Sioux City in the USHL, a position Strand helped him get. The three seasons prior to that, he was a scout with the Vancouver Canucks, where he was in charge of amateur scouting in the United States.
Ward has spent four straight seasons intensely studying players born between 2003-08, and he’ll now get a chance to recruit them to MSU.
He’s excited to get back into recruiting and feels the staff is on the same page in terms of what it’s looking for in players.
“We’re going to look for a combination of hockey sense and stick skill. Those are two areas that I feel are important to this coaching staff,” Ward said. “Based on the conference you play in, I think based on what Mike (Hastings) and Todd (Knott) did a good job at … I thought Mankato was always a hard team to play against.
“I think that’s a part of our recipe, too. That’d be No. 3 after hockey sense and stick skill.”
Paulsen has also spent many years coaching in big-time hockey. He worked in the USHL for Sioux City and Madison from 2010-16 prior to his stint with Iowa.
Video becomes a more important part of game prep at the college level each season, and Paulsen is excited to bring his pro experience on that front to the Mavericks. Strand feels he’ll be a huge part of getting the team ready to play each night.
Paulsen will need to learn more about the player pool in terms of recruiting, as it’s been awhile since his USHL days. However he’s excited to get back on the road and thoroughly enjoys the task of player evaluation.
“I remember those days in the USHL. I’m going to this game, or this showcase, or this tournament, and I’ve got to make a decision on somebody,” Paulsen said. “I think that’s what gives me the energy and the high.”
For Ward and Paulsen, it feels like things are coming full circle in getting to work with each other and Strand. They’re excited to get a chance to push in the same direction for a program that’s already in a strong position.
“It’s always been a very good program,” Ward said. “Everybody that I’ve known that’s went through there — there’s just really good people involved.”
Added Paulsen: “We know the success that they’ve had. There’s an expectation there — a high expectation. From everybody I’ve talked to around there, they bleed Maverick hockey. That’s what’s exciting about it.”
Follow Kevin Dudley on Twitter @Dudley7Kevin