Brian Idalski, a seasoned veteran in the collegiate, professional and Olympic coaching worlds, was named the sixth St. Cloud State women’s hockey head coach earlier this offseason.
In addition, Megan Van Beusekom-Sweerin is joining the staff as a volunteer goalie coach.
“I’m really excited to be back in St. Cloud and for the opportunity to lead the women’s hockey program,” said Idalski in a statement. “The WCHA is the best collegiate hockey conference in North America, and I look forward to building St. Cloud State into a winner. I’m thankful to Heather Weems and the search committee for entrusting me with this opportunity and can’t wait to get to work.”
Idalski comes to St. Cloud State after a successful three-year stint as the head coach of the KRS Vake Rays in Russia’s Women’s Hockey League, where he has guided the Rays to a 77-17 mark in three seasons with a playoff championship in 2019-20 and regular-season championships in 2020-21 and 2021-22. He was selected to coach in the league’s all-star game in 2019-20 and was named the league’s coach of the year for the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.
He was chosen to coach China’s Women’s Olympic team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, leading the team to two victories in pool play with the competition’s top-ranked penalty kill unit. He spent the 2018-19 season as the director of hockey activities at Culver Academy, leading the academy to its first USA Nationals bid.
Idalski is most known for his tenure as the head coach of the North Dakota women’s hockey program from 2007 to 2018, where he compiled five 20-win seasons while leading the Fighting Hawks to NCAA tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013. He inherited a team that went 3-31-2 prior to his arrival and propelled UND to national prominence, as his teams were consistently ranked in the nation’s top-10 and produced a record of 169-156-39 in 11 seasons.
Prior to UND, he was an assistant for St. Cloud State for the 2006-07 season where the Huskies went 12-18-7, one of only 10 seasons with 10-plus wins in the program’s 24-year history.
Idalski led the women’s program of his alma mater, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, from 2001 to 2006, guiding the Pointers to a 108-21-11 (.811) record while being a named a finalist for the AHCA national coach of the year four times.
As four-year letter-winner at UW-Stevens Point from 1991 to 95, Idalski was a two-time captain and a member of the Pointers’ NCAA Division-III runner-up team in 1992 and the 1993 NCAA D-III national championship team. In 97 career games as a defenseman, he tallied five goals and 20 assists.
Following his collegiate playing days, Idalski went on to play professional hockey for two years with the UHL’s Madison Monsters from 1995 to 1997 and the Columbus (Ga.) Cottonmouths of the Central Hockey league from 1997 to 1999. After professional playing days, he spent the 1999-00 season as a full-time assistant coach with the Cottonmouths.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in health promotion and wellness from UWSP in 2001.
Van Beusekom-Sweerin was a goalie at Princeton from 2000 to 2004 and graduated as the program’s all-time leader in wins (43) and save percentage (.921), second in GAA (2.24) and saves (2,072) and was a three-time all-Ivy League first team selection.
Van Beusekom-Sweerin also played for Team USA in the IIHF Women’s World Championships in 2005 and 2009, and also played 12 seasons professionally for the Minnesota Whitecaps before retiring in 2016.
