Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State head women's hockey coach Eric Means has announced the hiring of Brett Bruininks as the program's newest assistant coach.
 
Bruininks (BREW-in-inks) comes to Minnesota State after spending the previous three seasons as the women's hockey head coach at Concordia College (Minn.).
 
"I am excited to add Brett to our staff. He is a person that had tremendous success at Concordia in a very short amount of time, plus they reached the NCAA tournament for the first time," said Means. "He truly understands the importance of being a student-athlete. He's a person who has achieved a PHD in philosophy and played hockey professionally. His background is going to make him a great coach and resource for our players. I'm ecstatic that Brett decided to join our program."
 
While at Concordia College, Bruininks led the 2010-11 Cobbers to a record-setting year in his first season at the helm as CC advanced to the semi-finals of the MIAC tournament for the first time since 2000-01 and finished the year with 15 wins, a single-season program record. He was also an assistant coach for the Cobber men's hockey team during the 2009-10 campaign.
 
Prior to coming to Concordia, Bruininks was the assistant women's hockey coach at Augsberg College (Minn.) in 2008-09 and an assistant coach for the girls' hockey team at the Academy of Holy Angels from 2005-2009.
 
Bruininks, a native of Minneapolis, Minn., received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1996, before earning his Master's of Education degree from the University of Minnesota in 2005 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2009.
 
He was a four-year letterwinner at Notre Dame from 1992-96, before moving on to play professionally for minor-league affiliates of the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes from 1996-99.
 
Additionally, Dr. Bruininks taught in the exercise science program within the department of Health and Physical Education Department while at Concordia College.