Matt Loen
Matt Loen is an American ice hockey coach and former player who was the NCAA Division III coach of the year. Career
Loen attended the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire from 1991 and joined the ice hockey program. After his freshman campaign, he became one of the top scorers for the Blugolds and helped to lead the team in scoring as a senior. He earned a professional contract after graduating and continued his career the minor leagues. In 1997, a 100-point season helped promote him to the top level of the minor leagues. Loen stayed at the AAA level for half a season around 2000. Afterwards, he returned to the lower level and finished playing in 2003. A few years later, Loen returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach. He spent two years in the position before replacing Luke Strand as head coach. In his sixth season, Wisconsin–Eau Claire won 20 games for the first time in program history and reached the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in 36 years. The Blugolds stunned tournament favorite St. Norbert in the quarter final round and then won the National Championship. Loen was named as the national coach of the year for this turnaround. The following year, Wisconsin–Eau Claire was a founding member of the WIAC's ice hockey division. The Blugolds continued to perform well under Loen and recorded at least 15 wins in each of the next seven seasons. Despite a pair of conference titles, UWEC was unable to return to the national tournament until 2020. The championship was cancelled before a game could be played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Loen continued to coach the team and the Blugolds won a league title in 2022. Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Head coaching record

References

External links

1972 births
American ice hockey coaches
American men's ice hockey players
Living people
Ice hockey people from Minnesota
People from Coon Rapids, Minnesota
Sportspeople from Anoka County, Minnesota
Madison Monsters players
Milwaukee Admirals players
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks players
Kalamazoo Wings (UHL) players
Tacoma Sabercats players
Rockford IceHogs (UHL) players
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire faculty