on may 11, 2012, five days after firing coach hartzell, the new ownership group hired former university of north dakota assistant coach cary eades. eades previously spent 15 years over two stints with the program, earning four ncaa frozen four appearances and a national championship in 1987. he also spent two seasons as the head coach of the now defunct dubuque fighting saints (1980–2001), going 86–46–7 and winning a national tournament championship in 1992. in his first season as head coach in 2012–13, eades led the club to its best regular season performance finishing 45–17–2, six points shy of a second anderson cup title.