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The Minnesota women's hockey team will have to work through more coaching changes next season, as both assistant coaches will be new to the program.
Last week, assistant coach Laura Slominski decided to leave the Gophers to become the women's head coach at Edina High School.
Slominski's announcement came just more than a month after head coach Brad Frost named Jamie Wood assistant coach. It also came less than a year after Frost took over the head coaching position after Laura Halldorson resigned.
"The timing wasn't great, but it was something I felt I had to do," Slominski said.
Frost will be able to keep the team successful, she said.
Long term, Slominski said she wanted to be back at the high school and in the math room, teaching.
Edina had an opening, and the former Gophers hockey standout thought it was a great opportunity. She will take over as head coach this fall, and will teach at Valley View Middle School in Edina.
Frost said it's a big loss for the team, as Slominski was a "tremendous" coach, but he is confident they will find a suitable replacement. The University will now start looking for a third coach to join Frost and Wood.
One asset Slominski brought to the team was the fact that she was a former Gophers captain.
She played forward from 1998 to 2002, and helped the team win the national championship in 2000.
Slominski had been an assistant coach for the Gophers since the 2006-07 season. She came after one year coaching at St. Cloud State.
She coached forwards and helped with the power-play and penalty kill while with the Gophers.
Another important position Slominski's departure leaves open is the recruiting coordinator role, which the new coach will have to fill.
"That's one of the strengths I brought to the program, having played there and experienced what the team is," Slominski said.
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Womens Coach
Hi! My name is Corey Johnson
I am writing to you on behalf of my dad. He doesn't know that I'm writing, but I know he would be a great coach for the Gopher Womens Hockey Team. Just to tell you a little about him! He coached in Minnesota for around 25 years. He just recently aquired his coaching certificate in Wisconsin, since he moved to Hudson. He is recently retired and loves nothing more than the game of hockey. He grew up in Saint Paul on the west side and played hockey for Humboldt. He graduated with letters even though He was diagnosed with polio as a child and was told he would never walk or play sports if he lived. Well, he lived and he lettered and he also started coaching the game of hockey when I was younger. He coached or help coach my teams as a child and when I got into highschool he formed the league of Juvenile hockey! It was a team of high school students from all different schools that didn't play for their high school for one reason or another, but we joined together and played teams throughout MN. Our team had kids from Cretin, Henry Sibley, St. Thomas, South St. Paul, Cottage Grove, Inver Grove and where ever else my dad could recruit them from. He told us that hockey was a game of fun and we should all enjoy. He tought us the basics from catching and passing the puck to break out plays. I can remeber beating teams when we only had 6 players, just beacause we played position and new how to play the game. He always talked positive no matter the situation and helped us throughout the game. He made the game easy and understandable for us to follow. We weren't the best hockey players, but he got the best out of us. He knows how to find the best out of everyone. I promise you, that if my dad walks in and talks to a new recruit for the Gophers, he will make a positive impression. He LOVES and knows evrything about the game of hockey from the plays to the players. I know for a fact, if you talk to my dad, you would either higher him on the spot or you would pick his brain and try and get all the info. out of him that you could. He is such a great person, he would probably take the position with the Gophers for FREE! Please give him an interview! It will be the best the best decision you ever do! His name is Duane Johnson (DEWEWY) that's what all the players call him! Home # is 715-386-0701, cell # 651-497-6195 or e-mail me coreyj14@YAHOO.COM Thanks! Corey J.
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