Article by Carl Goenner. Photo by the St. Cloud State Athletic Department.
Growing up in Warren, Mich., Brian Idalski wore a pair of skates at age five. He became interested in hockey after seeing a family friend’s son play the game. Soon, Idalski began learning how to skate, setting the groundwork for his hockey career.
“As soon as I stepped on the ice, I loved it and thought it was great,” said Idalski. “I don’t think I spent a lot of time upright, probably more on the ice, but for whatever reason, I thought it was super cool, and it’s kind of dominated my life ever since.”
Since Michigan did not have high school hockey at the time, Idalski played AAA hockey until he moved on to Junior hockey.
“I never really had that high-school experience of playing for your team and having the people at the high school recognize you for what you did,” said Idalski. “Nobody really knew that I played or that I was any good in high school because in AAA you’re traveling and playing all over the country.”
After High School, he continued to play hockey, joining the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings of the NAHL. Playing hockey in college was the next step after Juniors, as Idalski went to the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point. The first thing Idalski did after college was play professional roller hockey for the St. Louis Vipers in the Roller Hockey International. Soon after, he went back to ice hockey and played for the Madison Monsters in the United Hockey League, formerly known as the Colonial Hockey League.
Idalski was one of several players on that team who went on to become a head coach of a college hockey team. After that, he went to Columbus, Georgia, with five teammates to compete in the Central Hockey League. Together, they helped the Columbus Cottonmouths win a championship in 1998.
Discussing when he decided he wanted to be a coach, Idalski said, “At an earlier age it was brought up to me that I might be pretty good at that or that might be something I should examine and think about further in my career.”
After two years playing for the Cottonmouths Idalski started as a player assistant, and then an assistant coach. He returned to the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point to finish his degree and to coach as a graduate assistant. In 2001, Brian Idalski was hired as the head coach at the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point. He spent five years as head coach of the Pointers taking them to the national tournament and helping them win a conference title.
Coach Idalski then made his first stop at St. Cloud State, working as an assistant coach under Jeff Geisen. After one year there, Idalski was hired as the head coach at the University of North Dakota women’s hockey team.
“We took a club and an organization that had zero wins in conference to play in NCAA tournaments.” said Coach Idalski.
Unfortunately, the University of North Dakota cut their women’s hockey program and with one year left on his contract, Idalski went to work in the athletic department.
After a pit stop at Culver Academy, Coach Idalski found his way to China. He was hired as the head coach of the KRS Vanke Rays who competed in the Russian women’s hockey league. Idalski led the Rays to a championship in 2022.
Six months before the 2022 Winter Olympics, Idalski accepted an offer to coach the Chinese Olympic Team.
His experience coaching in China helped with his Olympic coaching Idalski said, “When I went over, the whole purpose of the professional Chinese team was to develop players. First Chinese national players for the Olympics but also Heritage players.”
The Covid-19 pandemic changed things for Idalski’s team and then the Ukraine war started. Idalski felt it was time to come home and looked for work in the U.S.
He was hired as the head coach of the St. Cloud State women’s hockey team in the spring of 2023.
“I’ve always felt that you could win here,” said coach Idalski when asked about his desire to coach at St. Cloud State.
When building his staff at St. Cloud State Idalski identified Assistant Coach Jinelle Siergiej as someone who would be a good addition to the staff. Siergiej was an assistant coach under the previous head coach of the team.
Idalski has known Jinelle since she was 14, where he coached her in various hockey camps. He also added Mira Jalosuo to his coaching staff when they reached out to him about the position. Jalosuo has since moved on to be an assistant coach for the Minnesota Frost of the PWHL.
Idalski’s current coaching staff is made up of himself, Jinelle Siergiej, Nora Raty, and Emily Ach. In just his first season as Head Coach of the Huskies, Idalski led the team to an 18-18-1 record tying a program record. The team also set a program record with 576 blocked shots, leading the NCAA.
In his second season as head coach of the Huskies, Idalski’s squad finished with a 17-17-2 record. That team earned notable wins against some of the top teams in the nation.
Coach Idalski has just wrapped up his third season with St. Cloud State, who finished with a record of 15-15-6. The team continued to show improvement and defeated the Minnesota Gophers at Ridder Arena for the first time ever.
With the Huskies national rankings remaining in the top 15, the team continues to grow. Brian Idalski doesn’t think about the ranking and continues to be focused on winning and building a successful program.
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