With the 2023-24 season recently concluded, Minnesota State women’s hockey head coach John Harrington has announced he will step away from his head coaching duties and take on another role as special assistant to the athletic director before his full retirement from the university on June 30.
He served nine seasons as head coach of the program.
“We are profoundly indebted to Coach Harrington for his many years of outstanding and dedicated service to Maverick women’s hockey,” said Minnesota State athletics director Kevin Buisman in a statement. “John is an iconic figure in the game of hockey and will long be remembered for his role as a member of the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ Olympic gold medal team. I believe that experience helped inspire his desire to give back to the sport. We are fortunate that he was so deeply invested in sharing that passion with others. We will miss having him on the bench in the years ahead, but we wish John, Mary and his family nothing but the best in his retirement years.”
“I am thankful for the opportunity given to me to coach the women’s hockey team at Minnesota State University for the past nine seasons,” Harrington added. “Coaching extremely talented student-athletes was a rewarding experience for me. I hope they were able to learn lifetime skills as well as hockey skills. I know I learned things every year that were new, different, and beneficial to me. Thank you also to Minnesota State University, the athletic department, my assistant coaches and staff, and most importantly, the student-athletes for their efforts and commitment to our program.
As the fourth head coach in Minnesota State women’s hockey history, Harrington finished with an 85-198-25 overall record, second in all-time wins. Three former Mavericks under Harrington are currently playing in the PWHL for Minnesota (Claire Butorac, Brooke Bryant, Brittyn Fleming). In his tenure, he has also coached one Olympian (Rebekah Kolstad, 2017-19), one WCHA rookie of the year (Jamie Nelson, 2020-21), four All-WCHA selections, and six All-WCHA rookies.
Hired as head coach in May 2015, Harrington helped the Mavericks tie eighth-ranked North Dakota in his first season. In his second year, Harrington’s Mavericks more than doubled the team’s win total, including a victory over then-No. 3-ranked Minnesota Duluth.
The Mavericks won an exhibition game against the South Korean National team in 2018 and defeated No. 5-ranked Ohio State during the regular season.
The program continued to improve the following year, as Harrington’s squad finished 9-19-7, 3-16-5 WCHA, which represented the most wins in a season since the 2013-14 campaign. The Mavericks also shut out three straight opponents for the first time in program history, including a 3-0 score over the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes in Mankato.
In his fifth season behind the bench, Harrington oversaw an 11-20-6 overall mark, 4-16-4 WCHA as the Mavericks picked up a road sweep over St. Cloud State, their first sweep of a WCHA opponent since 2014. Harrington also captured his first victory over Wisconsin by defeating the then-No. 1 Badgers 3-1 at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
The Mavericks finished 7-12-1 in the pandemic abbreviated 2020-21 season. The following year, Minnesota State went 15-19-1, 10-17-1 WCHA as the Mavericks pushed No. 5 Minnesota Duluth to overtime in game three of the WCHA quarterfinals. MSU won its first WCHA postseason game in nearly seven years.
Last winter, Harrington’s Mavericks went 15-20-1, 9-18-1 WCHA. MSU closed with a winning season at home, but the team fell to No. 6 Wisconsin in the WCHA quarterfinals.
This year, the Mavericks began the season with a 9-0 victory over Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn. The team closed the campaign 13-25-0 overall and defeated No. 4 Minnesota in the first game of the WCHA quarterfinals at Ridder Arena.
“I look forward to staying connected and being a fan of Minnesota State University athletics,” Harrington said. “I will continue to be supportive of Maverick women’s hockey and cheering on the team’s accomplishments. After 33 years of college coaching along with seven years of professional coaching and scouting, it is time to experience other things in life with my wife Mary and enjoy watching our grandchildren in their school events and sports. I am certain I will be coaching from the seats and the sidelines.”
Prior to his time in Mankato, Harrington was the head men’s hockey coach at St. Johns from 1993 to 2008 and led the Johnnies to a 241-142-31 record with five regular-season titles and five NCAA tournament appearances. He also spent four years serving as an amateur scout for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, was the head coach of Asiago in the Italian National League from 2009 to 2011 and head coach for Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss National League in 2008.
Harrington served a stint as associate head coach with the men’s program at St. Cloud State from 1990 to 1993 and as assistant coach at Denver from 1984 to 1990.
Harrington’s legendary playing career included four seasons at Minnesota Duluth (1975-79). He was a member of the 1980 United States Olympic National Team, which captured the gold medal in Lake Placid, N.Y. Harrington assisted on Mike Eruzione’s game-winning goal in the semifinals against the Russians.
