Derek Plante, who helped the UMD men's hockey program win its first national championship, is returning once again to his alma mater as assistant men's hockey coach.
"I am very excited to be joining Scott Sandelin's staff for my 3rd stint as a Bulldog, the program has clearly established itself as one of the top programs in all of college hockey over the last decade," said Plante. "When coach Sandelin offered me the chance to come back and be a part of the program again I was honored and jumped at the opportunity."
Plante added, "The challenge of recruiting to find the right mix of talented, high character, quality young players to join our program is very exciting to me and the adrenaline of getting back behind the bench and on the ice will be a blast. The fact that Dr. Suz Hoppe, Christian Koelling, Coach Brandt Nicklin, Chris Garner, and of course, Bulldog legend Dale "Hoagie" Haagenson are all still on staff as well as getting the chance to work with a former Bulldog Captain Adam Krause and strength guru Jason Aldrich couldn't be more exciting. My family is a little older and in a different stage than last time I was coaching here and they are all fired up for me to be working with Bulldog Men's Hockey again."
Plante, first joined the coaching staff at his alma mater on June 9, 2010 and ten months later helped lead the Bulldogs to their first-ever NCAA national championship. During his tenure at UMD, the Bulldogs qualified for three NCAA playoff berths while transitioning from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. In August 2014, Plante served as the head coach for the U.S. Under-18 Select Team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in Slovakia and Czech Republic where he directed his troops to a third-place finish. He handled an assistant coaching role with Team USA at that international eight-team event the previous season.
"I am very excited to welcome back Derek to the Bulldog coaching staff," said UMD men's hockey head coach Scott Sandelin. "Derek was an integral part of our first National Championship in 2011 and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to our program." "He will step right in to continue the success we have had on and off the ice."
During Plante's hiatus from coaching with the Bulldogs, Derek served as a Player Development Coach with the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL along with fellow Bulldog and current Assistant General Manager, Norm Maciver.
Plante, a member of the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2009), was a driving offensive force for the Bulldogs for four winters, culminating with a senior year in which he racked up an NCAA-leading 92 points. The Cloquet, Minn. product captained the Bulldogs to the 1992-93 WCHA regular season title and a berth in the NCAA Regionals and, in the process, was chosen as a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist, a first team All-American, the USA Hockey Male Athlete of the Year, and the WCHA Player of the Year. In addition, he was an All-WCHA first team honoree as a senior after receiving second team honors the previous winter. Planted closed out his collegiate career with 219 points on 96 goals and 123 assists in 138 outings which currently puts him in a tie for second place on the UMD's all-time scoring charts. His career points per game average (1.58) trails only current Bulldog volunteer assistant coach Bill Watson (1.94 ppg), Keith "Huffer" Christiansen (1.92 ppg) and Brett Hull (1.60). During his final season, he paced the Bulldogs in points for the third winter in a row en route to landing UMD's Most Valuable Player Award an unprecedented third consecutive time. Plante, went on to enjoy an eight-year stint in the National Hockey League with Buffalo (1993-99), Chicago (1999-2000), Dallas (1998-99 and 1999-2000) where he won a Stanley Cup, and Philadelphia (2000-01), producing 96 goals and 152 assists for 248 points in 450 regular season games. Selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1989 NHL draft (8th round, 161st pick overall), Plante also did time with the International Hockey League's Chicago Wolves (1999-2000) and Michigan K-Wings (1999-2000) and the American Hockey League's Philadelphia Phantoms (2000-01). He spent another seven seasons playing professionally in Europe and Japan before retiring following the 2007-08 season. He skated with Team U.S.A. at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships on seven occasions: 1992, 1993, 1996, and 2000-2004.
