Selected to guide the Minnesota State men's hockey program in the summer of 2000,
Troy Jutting is recognized as one of the top college coaches in the nation.
A two-time recipient of the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Coach of the Year award (2002-03 and 2007-08), Jutting also garnered
USA Hockey's 2003 National Coach of the Year award after piloting the country's entry to the gold medal at the Under-18 World Cup.
When Jutting was named head coach of the Mavericks prior to the start of the 2000-01 season, he was somewhat of an unproven commodity. A fine college player, Jutting had served as an assistant coach at MSU for ten years prior to being selected as the third head coach in the history of the program. But head coaching experience at any level was one thing not on Jutting's resume at the time.
11 years later, any lingering doubts about Jutting's ability have been laid to rest. During the course of the past 11 campaigns, the Richfield, Minn., native has led the Mavericks to respectability while competing in arguably the toughest NCAA Division I men's hockey league in the nation.
Named head coach of the Mavericks in March of 2000, he led his squad to a winning record in his first year, with the Mavericks sporting a 19-18-11 mark for the 2000-01 campaign. The Mavericks then went 16-20-2 and finished sixth in the WCHA with an 11-15-2 mark in 2001-02. Ultimately Jutting's sophomore coaching year served as a precursor for an extremely successful 2002-03 campaign. The Mavericks owned a 20-11-10 record, put together a school-record 17-game unbeaten streak, earned a second-place finish in the WCHA standings, earned a first-round WCHA home playoff berth, claimed a pair of first-round playoff victories and gained MSU's first-ever bid to the NCAA Division I national tournament. MSU hit the 20-win mark for the 12th time in the program's history in 2003-04 and two players (forwards Grant Stevenson and Shane Joseph) were not only First Team All-WCHA, but also Jofa All-Americans. In recognition of his work, Jutting was named the
2002-03 WCHA Coach of the Year. The next four years will be characterized as part of the rebuilding phase that all programs go through, and in 2007-08 Jutting was again named
WCHA Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the
Spencer Penrose Award (nation's top coach) after the Mavericks posted a 19-16-4 mark and went 12-12-4 in league play to finish fourth in the regular-season standings.
Stability, wins, postseason appearances, strong recruiting classes and a national profile are program hallmarks and Jutting, along with assistant coaches
Darren Blue and
Todd Knott, have laid the foundation for continued success.
Since arriving on campus in 1982, Jutting's name has become synonymous with Minnesota State University Hockey. Jutting initially made his mark with the Mavericks as a player and since then worked his way up the ranks as a graduate assistant coach, a full-time assistant coach, and in the last 11 years, as MSU's head coach. All told, Jutting's association with the Maverick Hockey program stems a quarter of a century (four as a player, ten as an assistant coach and 11 years as a head coach) and includes 14 winning seasons.
Jutting played a role in the program's ascension from the NCAA Division II ranks to Division I and membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Mavericks went 21-14-4 in 1999-2000, finished fourth in the WCHA regular season standings with a 15-10-3 mark and following a first-round series win over Alaska-Anchorage, gained its first-ever berth in the WCHA Final Five.
The personable head coach, who has worked at numerous hockey camps throughout the country, has also been involved with USA Hockey, including serving as the head coach with the USA National Under-18 Team that travelled to the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the summer of 2003. With Jutting at the helm, the American squad claimed its first-ever championship at the Under-18 World Cup and he was named
USA Hockey's 2003 National Coach of the Year.
A 1987 graduate of MSU, Jutting played four seasons for the Mavericks (1982-86) and finished his career with 145 points in 136 games. He still ranks among the school's all-time leaders in career games played, goals, assists, points and single-season goals. In 1985-86, Jutting's senior year, he finished sixth in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association scoring race while earning all-conference honors. His efforts helped lead the Mavericks to the NCAA Division III Final Four. MSU also advanced to the NCAA tournament two other times during his career (1983 and 1985).
The 46-year old is one of three brothers to have played hockey for the Mavericks. He earned an undergraduate degree in business from Minnesota State and earned a master's degree in sports administration from MSU in 1996.
Jutting and his wife, Carol Ann, have two sons, Ryan and Tyler.
