Matt Loen

This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Matt Loen is an American ice hockey coach and former player who was the NCAA Division III coach of the year.^[1]

Loen attended the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire from 1991 and joined the ice hockey program. After his freshman campaign, he became one of the top scorers for the Blugolds and helped to lead the team in scoring as a senior. He earned a professional contract after graduating and continued his career in the minor leagues. In 1997, a 100-point season helped promote him to the top level of the minor leagues. Loen stayed at the AAA level for half a season around 2000. Afterwards, he returned to the lower level and finished playing in 2003.

A few years later, Loen returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach. He spent two years in the position before replacing Luke Strand as head coach.^[2] In his sixth season, Wisconsin–Eau Claire won 20 games for the first time in program history and reached the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in 36 years.^[3] The Blugolds stunned tournament favorite St. Norbert in the quarter final round and then won the National Championship. Loen was named as the national coach of the year for this turnaround.

The following year, Wisconsin–Eau Claire was a founding member of the WIAC's ice hockey division. The Blugolds continued to perform well under Loen and recorded at least 15 wins in each of the next seven seasons. Despite a pair of conference titles, UWEC was unable to return to the national tournament until 2020. The championship was cancelled before a game could be played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4] Loen continued to coach the team and the Blugolds won a league title in 2022.

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database