Men's Hockey | 7/6/2015 11:14:00 AM

    Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State Athletic Department officials have announced that men's hockey coach Mike Hastings has agreed to a new eight-year contract with the school.

Hastings recently completed his third year with the Mavericks in 2014-15.

"We are pleased to offer Coach Hastings this contract," said Kevin Buisman, Minnesota State Director of Athletics. "During his time here, Mike has been one of the most successful coaches in all of college hockey and a real game changer for our program. The performance on and off the ice has been exemplary and he has been a great ambassador not only for Minnesota State Athletics and Maverick hockey, but for the entire University. We are indeed very fortunate to have someone of Coach Hastings caliber leading our program and we are happy to reward those efforts with this type of long-term contract."

With a 79-36-7 (.676) ledger, no team in the nation has more wins than Minnesota State has chalked up in the last three seasons under Hastings' guidance.

The Crookston, Minn., native has led the Mavericks to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and in 2014-15 Minnesota State was rated #1 on the nation for five weeks with the team crafting a school record for wins en route to a 29-8-3 mark. The Mavericks won the Broadmoor Trophy as Western Collegiate Hockey Association play-off champions for the second consecutive year, while a 21-4-3 league mark gave the school its first MacNaughton Cup as conference regular-season champs. Hastings was named WCHA Coach of the Year for the second time (he also won the award in his first year with the program in 2012-13) and was the recipient of the Spencer Penrose Award as the American Hockey Coaches Association National Coach of the Year. This past season 15 Mavericks garnered WCHA All-Academic honors, while six players were recognized as WCHA Scholar Athletes (at least 3.50 grade point average).

"I believe Coach Hastings is very worthy of the investment we are making, as we have enjoyed an unparalleled level of success in men's hockey during his first three years with the program," said Dr. Richard Davenport, Minnesota State President. "Mike's efforts have resulted in positive notoriety for the University not only competitively, but in the classroom, and the community, as well. As such, I was personally vested in the negotiation process, as I wanted to signal not only my appreciation, but to further indicate the importance of hockey as one of the flagships of a very successful athletic program. By way of this contract and other improvements we have made to the hockey program, I believe we have demonstrated our institution's commitment and hope that others will follow that lead as we strive to sustain this type of excellence over the long haul."

Prior to his arrival at Minnesota State in the summer of 2012, Hastings had a three-year stint as the associate head coach at Nebraska-Omaha. He also served as an assistant coach with the men's hockey program at the University of Minnesota for one season and before that had a 14-year run as head coach of Omaha of the United States Hockey League where left as the league's all-time winningest coach, compiling a 529-210-56 record with the Lancers, never had a losing season and led Omaha to three Clark Cup titles as the USHL's play-off champions.

"I would like to thank President Richard Davenport as well as the entire administration for the opportunity to continue to guide the men's hockey program here at Minnesota State University," said Hastings. "From my first day in Mankato to present day the support from the University, community, my staff and players has been outstanding. Our family has become part of Mankato and are fortunate to call it home. I look forward to leading our student-athletes in continued development on the ice, in the classroom and overall pursuit of excellence."