University of Minnesota director of athletics Joel Maturi has announced that Brad Frost has been named the head coach of the Golden Gophers’ women’s hockey program. Frost served as the interim head coach during the 2007-08 season after former head coach Laura Halldorson retired in August.
“Brad did an excellent job as the interim head coach last season and I am excited to announce him as our new head women’s hockey coach,” Director of Athletics Joel Maturi said. “Brad is a natural fit for this program and his knowledge of the game at the high school, college and national level is exceptional. The women’s hockey program at Minnesota has a storied tradition of which Brad has played a major role and we look forward to the future as this program will continue to flourish under Brad’s direction.”
“I would like to thank both director of athletics Joel Maturi and senior associate athletics director Liz Eull for having the confidence in me to take over this wonderful program as the next University of Minnesota head coach,†Frost said. “Laura Halldorson created a great tradition for Gopher women’s hockey and I am extremely excited to continue the excellence that has been established. I look forward to working with the student-athletes and maintaining the University of Minnesota as a premier women’s hockey program in the nation.â€
Frost, finished a stellar season as the interim head coach in March. During the 2007-08 campaign, Frost led the Gophers to a second-place finish in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season standings and a berth at the NCAA Championships. Overall, Frost guided the Gophers to a 27-7-4 record and a 21-5-2 mark against conference opponents, finishing second to Minnesota Duluth, which went on to win the NCAA championship. During the course of the year, Frost and the Gophers held a No. 4 national ranking and went on a 21-game unbeaten streak, going 19-0-2 during that span.
For his on-ice accomplishments, Frost was voted by his peers as the 2008 WCHA Coach of the Year and was named a finalist for the American Hockey Coaches’ Association’s National Coach of the Year. Along with his accolades, Frost coached seven Gophers to All-WCHA honors, including juniors Gigi Marvin and Rachael Drazan as first-team All-WCHA selections and are currently on the United States National Team. Marvin went on to become a Patty Kazmaier finalist, the Gophers’ first since 2005, as well as a second-team All-American.
Not only has Frost excelled on the ice, but in recruiting as well. During the early NCAA signing period, Frost and his staff inked one of the best recruiting classes in the program’s history and arguably the nation’s top class this season. In his interim campaign, Frost signed the Ms. Hockey award winner (Sarah Erickson), Minnesota’s Senior Goalie (Alyssa Grogan), U.S. Select Team members (Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux) and U.S. Under-18 Team members (Anne Schleper, Kelly Seeler, Erickson and Grogan).
Since his arrival at Minnesota in December of 2000, Frost has steadily climbed the professional ladder. After serving as an interim assistant coach for the remainder of the 2000-01 season, he was later named the assistant coach until 2004. From 2001 to 2004, Frost primarily coached the forwards for three and a half years, including U.S. Olympians Natalie Darwitz, Kelly Stephens and Krissy Wendell. In the 2004-05 campaign, Frost switched to coaching the defensemen and the Gopher special teams in the power-play and penalty kill units. In 2005, Frost coached the power-play unit to an impressive nation-high 31.0 conversion percentage in their national championship season. After losing four Olympians in the 2005-06 season, Frost helped the Gophers to a second-place finish in both the WCHA regular and tournament championships with a 19-8-1 record.
Following the 2005-06 campaign, Frost was elevated to the position of associate head coach in May of 2006. As an associate head coach, Frost continued his work with the defensemen, practice planning, video analysis, game planning and working with the Gophers’ power-play units. On August 10, 2007, Halldorson announced her retirement and Frost was named the interim coach for the 2007-08 season.
Prior to his tenure at Minnesota, Frost spent a year at his alma mater, Bethel University, as the assistant coach for the men’s team. Before his stint at Bethel, Frost served as an assistant coach for the girls’ hockey team at Eagan High School for three years and also served as assistant coach of the Eagan volleyball team that placed second in the Minnesota State High School League tournament in 2000. He was an assistant volleyball coach at Mounds View in 1999 and served as the head volleyball coach at New Life Academy from 1996-98. In addition to his coaching duties, Frost taught physical education at Northview Elementary in Eagan and at New Life Academy in Woodbury.
As an athlete, Frost was a four-year letterwinner and ranks eighth on Bethel’s career scoring list. He finished his career with 119 points, and was voted the team’s most valuable player and most inspirational in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Frost was captain of the Royals in both his junior and senior seasons. Along with his hockey accomplishments, Frost was a two-year letterwinner on the golf team. He went on to graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in physical education from Bethel in 1996.


Frost and his wife Dayna, have three sons, Micah, Jonah and Josiah, and reside in Cottage Grove, Minn.
