Women's Hockey Coaches
The Jeff Giesen Story
Jeff "Goose" Giesen completed his second season in 2007-2008 as the head women's hockey coach at St. Cloud State University. A native of Blaine, Minn., Giesen is the third head coach since the inception of the women's program in 1998.
In his second season as head coach, Coach Giesen led the Huskies to an 18-15-5 overall record, which tied the school record for most wins in a season. He also led the Huskies to the WCHA Final Face-off for the second time in school history. The 2007-08 St. Cloud State squad became the first team to take three-of-four points from the Minnesota Gophers in a home-and-home series, notching just the second win in school history over the Gophers on Oct. 13, 2007, by a score of 2-1 in the National Hockey Center. The stellar Husky play during the season resulted in two of the best stretches of hockey in the program's history. SCSU went on a 12-1-2 tear from Nov. 3-Jan. 19, with an eight-game unbeaten run (7-0-1) at the end of that stretch. The unbeaten streak marked the longest ever in Husky history, resulting in the best 15-game run for the program.
Most recently, USA Hockey announced plans for the U.S. Women’s National Program during the 2008-09 season. The United States will be represented by five teams and a total of 10 coaches in five international events. One of the coaches selected by USA Hockey is St. Cloud State University women’s hockey coach Jeff Giesen, who will serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s Under-18 National Team in January of 2009.
Away from the ice, Coach Giesen has concentrated on creating strong relationships with the Husky alumni, and on Oct. 13, 2007, St. Cloud State hosted the first Women's Hockey Alumni Weekend. Over 20 women's hockey alumni returned to the National Hockey Center, and 18 of those former student-athletes played in the first alumni game in the NHC prior to the Gopher and Husky game that afternoon. Following SCSU's 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Gophers that day, the alumni convened at the local Roster's Restaurant for a social.
Coach Giesen also helped collaborate the "Skate for a Cure" series with Minnesota State University for the two home-and-home series this past season. Both the Huskies and Mavericks wore special jerseys, which incorporated the color pink, in honor of breast cancer awareness. The theme was a success, as SCSU collected $1,500 in proceeds, which were presented to the St. Cloud Hospital Breast Center of the Coborn's Cancer Center prior to the home game against the Mavericks on Feb. 1, 2008.
The St. Cloud State women's hockey program has also stayed active in the community under the leadership of Coach Giesen. For the second straight season, SCSU toured local area elementary schools over its winter break in hopes to spark community interest in women's hockey and help teach basic hockey skills to the students. The SCSU women's hockey student-athletes introduced hockey fundamentals to local elementary students, covering passing, puck-handling, goaltending, shooting and a combination station. At the end of each session, women's hockey home game tickets were distributed amongst the elementary students, as well as autographed posters and schedules of the team and coaches.
The Huskies have also offered a free youth hockey clinic the past two seasons, and over 80 youth hockey girls from Central Minnesota attended the clinic at the National Hockey Center last fall. During the clinic, the youth received instruction from the Husky women's hockey players and coaches. At the end of the clinic, all participants received a free water bottle and a ticket to a Husky women's hockey game in 2007-08.
During his first year at the helm of the SCSU women's hockey program, Giesen led the Huskies to a 12-18-7 overall record and a seventh place finish in the WCHA with a mark of 7-16-5. The 2006-07 Husky squad led the nation with seven ties on the season and tied the NCAA Division I women's hockey record, playing in 10 overtime games. Ohio State set the original record of 10 overtime games in a season during the 2002 season, then tied their own initial record during the 2006 season.
Prior to being named the head coach at SCSU in June of 2006, Giesen served as the SCSU assistant women's hockey coach from 2003-2006, working with the Huskies' defensive players and recruiting. He came to SCSU from Saint John's University, where he was an assistant coach from 1992-98 and an associate head coach from 1998-2003. The Johnnies prospered during Giesen's tenure, winning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles in 1996, 1997 and 2003, as well as playoff titles and NCAA Division III national tournament appearances in 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2003. The Johnnies, whose head coach is former St. Cloud State assistant John Harrington, finished third in the national tournament in 1997.
In addition to his experience at Saint John's, Giesen has worked extensively with the USA Hockey Development program. His most recent work was with the girls 17/18 camp in Lake Placid this past summer. Giesen has also worked with the girls¹ 15/16 camp in Lake Placid, along with numerous USA Hockey boys' programs.
In 2005, Giesen served as the assistant coach for the women's WCHA All-Stars who played against the U.S. Women's National Hockey Team. He assisted Wisconsin women's head hockey coach Mark Johnson at the Xcel Center on Sept. 30th, and in Duluth at the DECC on Oct. 1st. Of note, Giesen has now had the opportunity to coach under two 1980 Olympic Hockey Gold Medalists, Harrington at Saint John¹s and Johnson with the WCHA All-Stars.
A 1993 graduate of St. Cloud State University and a true student of the game, Coach Giesen and his wife Karla reside in St. Cloud, Minn., with their daughter Delaney.
You can contact Coach Giesen at womenshockey@stcloudstate.edu.
Free E-Mail Updates
If you would like FREE e-mail updates about SCSU athletics, visit our Husky Sports Updates page for information on how to sign up to be on the listserv.
