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Adam Krause
Assistant Coach, UMD Men’s Hockey

Three years after closing out a rewarding playing career at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Adam Krause is returned to the Bulldog men’s hockey program to serve as an assistant men’s hockey coach.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be back,” said the 26-year old Krause, who officially starts his new job this Monday. “Coaching at the college level is something I’ve always had in the back in my mind — I just didn’t expect to land my dream job right out of the gate. Coach (Scott) Sandelin and I have always been pretty close and share a lot of the same ideas and philosophies. He’s built an amazing culture here so it will be easy for me to step in. UMD is truly one of the elite programs in the country and this is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Krause, a native of Hermantown, Minn., was a staple at the right wing for four seasons (2011-15) with the Bulldogs and spent both his junior and senior seasons serving as a team captain. He skated in 133 career games at UMD and had 37 points (16 goals and 21 assists) to show for it). Krause saved some of his best hockey for last as during his final UMD go-around he matched or eclipsed personal highs for goals (seven), assists (10) and points (17) despite missing a month with a wrist injury. In 2014-15, he the recipient of the E.L. “Duce” Rasmussen Award as the UMD’s top male scholar-athlete in addition to being nominee for a pair of prestigious national honors — the Hockey Humanitarian Award and the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award — as well as finalist for Shjon Podein Community Service Award (for the second year in a row).

Shortly after leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA Northeast Regional finals, Krause joined the Wheeling Nailers for the remainder of the 2014-15 East Coast Hockey League season and for the following two seasons did time with both the Nailers and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. This past winter, he took shifts in 46 games with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, generating three goals and five assists along the way.

“Number one, he’s a high-character person,” said Sandelin, who directed the Bulldogs to their second NCAA national championship in the last eight seasons in 2017-18. “He’s been a leader in our program, is a hard worker, and helped build our culture. He’s also an alumni — which is a big thing for me. I’m just excited to get him back. I know how he was as a person and a player when he was here, I think he’s going to have those same qualities now as coach.”

A two-time member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s Scholar-Athlete Team, Krause graduated from UMD in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in finance.

(INFORMATION COURTESY OF UMD ATHLETICS)

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Brant Nicklin, Goalie Coach
Volunteer Assistant Coach, UMD Men’s Hockey

​Brant Nicklin, who made a name for himself for his puckstopping prowess at University of Minnesota Duluth during the late 1990s, returned to the Bulldog men’s hockey program in 2014-15 as a volunteer assistant coach.
 
A native of Comox, British Columbia, Nicklin was the Bulldogs’ ace in the goal for four seasons and exited UMD in 2000 ranking first all-time in saves percentage (.895), shut outs (8) and appearances (137), second in saves (3,880) and goals against average (3.40) and third in wins (55). He still owns team records for games played (137), consecutive appearances (76) and consecutive starts (76, which at the time was a NCAA Division I mark). In 1996-97, Nicklin became just the second UMD freshman to play in every minute of his club’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association games and wound up landing a spot on that circuit’s All-Rookie Team. The following year, he posted a program-record five shutouts and a 21-16-2 overall mark while pacing the WCHA in saves for a second straight winter. Nicklin, the current WCHA record holder for consecutive league starts (80), was the recipient of the Bulldog Community Service Award as junior and the Goldie Wolfe Award (UMD’s Most Inspirational Player) in 1999-2000.
 
Nicklin went on to sign a free agent contract with the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins and participated in two of their training camps. In four years as a professional, he tended goal for the Central Hockey League’s Oklahoma City Blazers (2000-01) and San Angelo Saints (2003-04), the United Hockey Leagues’s Quad City Mallards (2001-02) and Rockford Ice Hogs (2002-03), the East Coast Hockey League’s Florida Everblades (2000-01) and the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals (2002-03).
 
Nicklin, who graduated from UMD in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in recreation, resides in Duluth with his wife, Kelly, and their two children -- Reese and Alex.

​(INFORMATION COURTESY OF UMD ATHLETICS)

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​Christian Koelling, Camp Director
Director of Hockey Operations, UMD Men’s Hockey

​Christian Koelling took over as the Bulldogs’ director of hockey operations in the summer of 2008. Among his battery of administrative duties, Koelling is in charge of all video-related endeavors, making team travel arrangements, coordinating community outreach projects, and overseeing ice scheduling, summer camps and budget management. He also assists with the program's media relations and marketing efforts.
 
The Bloomington, Minn., native has been heavily involved in the local hockey scene over the past decade or so, having spent three seasons as the head coach at the now-defunct Duluth Central High School (2005-08) and five more years coaching Duluth East youth teams. Koelling, the co-founder of the Duluth Area Special and Sled Hockey (DASH) association, former Coach-In-Chief for the Minnesota district of USA Hockey and is a past-president of the Duluth Amateur Hockey Association’s Board of Directors. In August 2012, he served on the coaching staff for U.S. Under-18 Team during its tour of the Czech Republic. He also is a member of the Northern Lights Foundation advisory board.
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A 2004 graduate of UMD (a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a coaching minor), Koelling played three years of varsity hockey for Bloomington Jefferson High School and paced the Jaguars in scoring as a senior while leading them to their second Minnesota State High School Class AA Tournament appearance in three years.
 
Koelling and his wife, Jennie, have one daughter (Charlotte) and twin sons (Carsten and Reed), and make their home in Duluth.

​(INFORMATION COURTESY OF UMD ATHLETICS)

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​Previous and Current Guest Coaches/Speakers

​Mike Snee, Executive Director - College Hockey Inc.
Bronwynn Pichetti - UMD Men's & Women's Hockey Skating Instructor
Pat Mikesch, Head Coach & General Manager - Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
Hans Skulstad, Licensed Therapist - MN Center for Sport & the Mind
​Laura Schnell, Athletics Academic Advisor - University of Minnesota Duluth
Brenden Kotyk, Head Coach - South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
​Trista Anderson, Yoga Instructor - University of Minnesota Duluth
Derek Plante, Assistant Coach - Chicago Blackhawks
Brett Larson, Head Coach - St. Cloud State University
Jason Herter, Associate Head Coach - Western Michigan University
Karson Kuhlman - Winnipeg Jets
Neal Pionk - Winnipeg Jets
Andy Welinski - New York Rangers
Kasimir Kaskisuo - Leksands IF
Wyatt Aamodt - Colorado Eagles
Scott Perunovich - St. Louis Blues
Kobe Roth - Florida Everblades
Jade Miller - Idaho Steelheads

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Staff members listed as part of the Bulldog Hockey Camp LLC may not work every session and may not work with every group.
Schedules are created based on individual coach availability.