Todd Woodcroft will be the next coach of the University of Vermont men’s hockey program, according to multiple sources. An introductory press conference is expected Thursday or Friday.
Woodcroft, 47, replaces Kevin Sneddon who announced his retirement in February after guiding the Catamounts for the past 17 seasons. Led by athletic director Jeff Schulman, Vermont conducted a national search for the fifth coach in program history.
Woodcroft ultimately beat out UMass associate head coach Ben Barr, who was assumed to be a frontrunner since the start of the search. The other finalist was Northeastern associate head coach Jerry Keefe before he withdrew his name earlier in the week.
Other candidates that were seriously considered were former Brown head coach and UVM assistant Roger Grillo, American International head coach Eric Lang, and Providence associate head coach Ron Rolston.
There were other qualified coaches whose names were tossed around, including New York Rangers assistant and former Boston College associate head coach Greg Brown; Binghamton Devils head coach and former Merrimack bench boss Mark Dennehy;Montreal Canadiens assistant and UVM alum Dom Ducharme; and Norwich head coach Cam Ellsworth.
Woodcroft comes to Burlington after spending the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets. A native of Toronto, Woodcroft doesn’t have any experience as a player or coach at the NCAA level.
His professional hockey résumé began in 2000 as a video coach for the Minnesota Wild. He spent five years with that organization before moving on to a similar position with the Washington Capitals for just one season. From there, he became an amateur scout with the Capitals for one season. In 2006-07, he was a pro scout with the Wild before becoming a European scout for the Los Angeles Kings for four seasons. He was director of scouting for the Calgary Flames from 2013 to 2016 before joining the Jets.
Schulman and the search committee at Vermont appear to have dropped the ball on this one. It’s a shame that they passed up plenty of qualified candidates with college hockey experience. Barr and Keefe were the best choices, but Lang, Dennehy and Rolston all should have been pursued strongly over Woodcroft.
While Woodcroft is well-respected in the pro game, it’s perplexing that the school would hire someone with no experience at the college level. One interesting note is Woodcroft spoke at last April’s American Hockey Coaches Association Convention in Naples, the annual meeting of college hockey coaches.
Talking to those around college hockey, most coaches were in agreement that Barr seemed like the best possible hire.
Woodcroft has his work cut out for him in returning the Catamounts to relevancy in college hockey. UVM has made two Frozen Four appearances in program history, those coming in 1996 and 2009. UVM hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2014 and the past four years have seen a steady decline in the team’s standing in Hockey East.
