UMD Athletics

When Scott Sandelin accepted his first collegiate head coaching job with the University of Minnesota Duluth shortly after the new millennium, his primary mission was to make the Bulldogs a perennial force in the national collegiate hockey landscape and bring home the program's first NCAA championship.
 

Mission accomplished -- and then some. Sandelin helped cement the Bulldogs' status as one of the powerhouses in Division I hockey -- and the numbers prove it.

During his tenure, UMD won three NCAA titles, made eleven NCAA Tournament appearances, advanced to six NCAA Frozen Fours, claimed three conference playoff titles (2 NCHC, 1 WCHA), and put together twelve winning regular seasons. 

The Bulldogs have gone 469-408-104 in the past 25 seasons under Sandelin’s watch, making him the winningest coach in program history. Sandelin also boasts a .718 winning percentage off a 22-9 record NCAA Tournament play to go with those three national title trophies, and among all active NCAA D-1 head coaches, ranks eighth in wins.

 
On April 9, 2011,  the Bulldogs, before a sold-out Xcel Energy Center crowd of over 19,000, toppled the University of Michigan 3-2 in overtime to cap off a season for the ages. For the first time in its nearly seven-decade history, UMD was indeed college hockey's top 'Dog!

In 2018, history repeated itself as Sandelin and the Bulldogs returned to downtown St. Paul for the NCAA Frozen Four and skated away with their second NCAA title, taking down the University of Notre Dame 2-1.

A year later, UMD became the third team in the past 47 years to win back-to-back NCAA DI men’s hockey titles, throttling the University of Massachusetts 3-0 in the championship bout.

Sandelin was named the 2003-04 Spencer Penrose Award recipient for American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA DI Coach of the Year. Sandelin enters his program-record-breaking 23rd season with the Bulldogs for 2023-34. Only seven current NCAA head coaches have held the position for longer. Even fewer have more career wins.

He had a hand in developing three Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners (Jack Connolly, Junior Lessard, Scott Perunovich), and 12 NCAA DI All-Americans (including two three-time picks). In addition, over 20 of Sandelin's players have skated in the National Hockey League and three have taken part in the Winter Olympics (USA: Justin Faulk, 2014; Noah Cates, 2022; Canada: Mason Reymond, 2018).

During the course of the 2011-12 season, UMD set a team record by winning 17 straight games and ranked first in both major weekly polls (USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey) for nine consecutive weeks  -- the longest first-overall run ever held by a UMD Men’s Hockey roster.

In March 2009, Sandelin's Bulldogs laid claim to the WCHA playoff title (becoming the first play-in participant in the 17-year history of the WCHA Final Five to win it all) and advanced to the NCAA West Regional Final. 

Four seasons earlier, UMD was named the preseason league favorite in the Grand Forks Herald WCHA Coaches Poll for the first time ever and, in mid-October of that year, occupied the No. 1 spot in both national polls for the first time in 15 years. 

Sandelin further displayed his coaching wares on the international stage as the two-time head coach of Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. He worked in an assistant coaching capacity in 2012 and 2019.

Sandelin turned UMD into a NCAA Frozen Four participant for the first time in nearly a generation in 2003-04 while shepherding the Bulldogs to their most victories (28) and highest WCHA finish (second) since the 1992-93 season. UMD also sported the nation's second-highest scoring team, and, during the course of the year, strung together a 14-game unbeaten streak. For his efforts, he was chosen the WCHA Coach of the Year as well as the national coach of the year by both USCHO.com and insidecollegehockey.com

Sandelin's 2002-03 Bulldogs racked up their best overall mark (22-15-5) in a decade while experiencing the greatest one-year turnaround of any WCHA club. He nearly doubled the Bulldogs’ victories from the previous season. 

Prior to officially becoming the Bulldogs' 12th head coach on March 31, 2000, Sandelin served with the University of North Dakota coaching staff for six years, including the last three as an associate head coach. During his tenure in Grand Forks, North Dakota laid claim to two NCAA titles (1996-97 and 1999-2000), three WCHA regular season championships (1996-99), two WCHA playoff crowns (1996-97 and 1999-2000), and earned four straight berths in the NCAA tournament (1996-2000). His primary responsibilities with the Fighting Sioux were serving as the team's recruiting coordinator and academic advisor, and assisting with all aspects of practice and game preparation.

Sandelin spent the 1993-94 season as the head coach of the Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings of the Junior Elite Hockey League after working in that same capacity (and doubling as general manager) the previous winter with the American Hockey Association's Fargo-Moorhead Express.

Born and raised in Hibbing, Minn., Sandelin capped off his four-year playing career at North Dakota in 1985-86 by being named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. He captained the club that season and also was an All-WCHA first team pick and an NCAA I All-American second team selection. Named North Dakota's Most Valuable Player as a senior after amassing a career-high 38 points in 40 games, Sandelin went on to play seven years of professional hockey, including NHL stints with the Montreal Canadiens (1986-88), Philadelphia Flyers (1990-91) and Minnesota North Stars (1991-92). A second round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft (40th overall), he was credited with four assists in 25 lifetime NHL outings. A back injury forced him to retire prematurely from the professional ranks following the 1991-92 season. Sandelin is one of a small number of current NCAA coaches with NHL playing experience. He also skated for Team U.S.A. at the 1989 Goodwill Games, the 1986 International Ice Hockey Federation Championships, and the 1984 IIHF Junior Championships.

Sandelin graduated from North Dakota in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and was the 2013 recipient of his alma mater's Tom Clifford Award (recognizing North Dakota alumni who serve with distinction as athletic coaches at the high school or college levels). He and his wife, Wendy, have a son (Ryan, most recently with the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL) and a daughter (Katie, who skates for Nazareth University) and reside in Fredenberg, Minn.