St. Cloud State has tapped Nick Oliver as the next men’s hockey head coach. Oliver returns to his alma mater to become the fourth head coach of the D-I era (since 1987-88) and 19th overall in program history.
“I’m humbled and honored for the opportunity to be the next head coach of St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey,” said Oliver in a statement. “(I’m) excited to start the process of building relationships and connecting with our current and incoming players. We have tremendous alumni and supporters of the program that I look forward to speaking with. My family and I couldn’t be more excited to call St. Cloud home again.”
A former Husky captain, Oliver ascended the coaching rankings quickly, spending seven seasons in collegiate hockey and four in the United States Hockey League (USHL) while helping his teams reach two NCAA Frozen Fours as an assistant coach and a USHL regular season championship as a head coach. He is the only coach or player to be a part of both NCAA Frozen Fours in SCSU history, playing in the 2013 Frozen Four and serving as an assistant on the 2021 team that reached the national championship game. Oliver has played or coached in seven of nine NCAA Tournament wins for the Huskies and six of 17 NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.
Oliver returns to St. Cloud for the second time after spending the past three seasons at Wisconsin under SCSU alum Mike Hastings. The Badgers have reached the NCAA Tournament twice in Oliver’s three seasons on the bench, including a trip to the 2026 NCAA Frozen Four and NCAA championship game, which was the program’s first Frozen Four and national title game appearance since 2010.
Oliver spent four seasons (2018-22) on the bench for one of the most successful four-year runs of Husky Hockey, helping the Huskies to an 81-44-9 mark, three NCAA Tournaments, a NCHC regular season championship and a NCAA Frozen Four appearance.