Brent Brekke

Brent Brekke
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	St. Lawrence
Conference	ECAC Hockey
Record	56–99–21 (.378)
Biographical details
Born	October 16, 1971 (age 53); Minot, ND, USA
Alma mater	Western Michigan
Playing career
1989–1990	Rochester Mustangs
1990–1994	Western Michigan
1994–1996	Cornwall Aces
1994–1996	Dayton Bombers
Position(s)	Defenseman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997–1999	Chicago Freeze (assistant)
1999–2008	Cornell (assistant)
2008–2018	Miami (associate)
2018–2019	Clarkson (assistant)
2019–present	St. Lawrence
Head coaching record
Overall	56–99–21 (.378)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	2021 ECAC Tournament Champion
Awards
	Terry Flanagan Award (2015)

Brent Brekke (born August 16, 1971) is an American former ice hockey player who currently the head coach at St. Lawrence.^[1]

Career

Playing

Brekke played his college hockey at Western Michigan for Bill Wilkinson. He played for years for the Broncos, serving as an alternate captain in his junior season. After being named team captain for his senior season, Brekke helped Western Michigan to a 24-win season, the third-highest win total in program history (as of 2019), and reach the NCAA Tournament for only the second time.^[2] After graduating with a degree in marketing^[3] Brekke embarked on a two-year professional career, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL affiliates of the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche, the team that had drafted him in 1991.^[4]

Coaching

After a year off from hockey, Brekke signed on as the Director of Player Personnel and assistant coach for the Chicago Freeze, a junior team in the NAHL. After two years with the Freeze Brekke returned to the college ranks as an assistant at Cornell for Mike Schafer. In nine years Brekke helped the Big Red reach the NCAA Tournament 4 times, including the Frozen Four in 2003, and helped build one of the toughest defensive corps in college hockey history. Brekke was lured away from Ithaca in 2008 by Miami and the RedHawks promptly reach the Championship Game, falling in overtime to Boston University. After two years he was promoted to associate head coach and continued to serve in that capacity for another 8 seasons.

In 2018, with the team stuck in the mire, Brekke and fellow assistant Nick Petraglia both agreed to part ways with the program.^[5] Brekke didn't remain jobless for long, accepting an offer from Clarkson to be an assistant under Casey Jones. In his only season with the Golden Knights Brekke helped Clarkson win its first conference tournament in over a decade.^[6]

Less than two months after St. Lawrence fired Mark Morris^[7] the Saints named Brekke the 15th head coach in program history.^[8]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
St. Lawrence Saints (ECAC Hockey) (2019–present)
2019–20	St. Lawrence	4–27–5	2–18–2	12th	ECAC First Round
2020–21	St. Lawrence	6–8–3	4–8–2	3rd	ECAC Champion*
2021–22	St. Lawrence	11–19–7	7–10–5	8th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2022–23	St. Lawrence	17–19–0	12–10–0	4th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2023–24	St. Lawrence	14–19–6	8–10–4	7th	ECAC Runner-Up
2024–25	St. Lawrence	4–7–0	0–2–0
St. Lawrence:		56–99–21 (.378)	33–58–14 (.381)
Total:		56–99–21 (.378)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

* St. Lawrence was forced to withdraw from the NCAA Tournament due to Brekke testing positive for COVID-19.^[9]

References

^ "Brent Brekke". St. Lawrence Saints. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ "Western Michigan Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ "Brent Brekke". Clarkson Golden knights. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ "Brent Brekke". Hockey DB. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ "Hockey Staff Announces Changes". Miami RedHawks. March 17, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ "Clarkson Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ "St. Lawrence Fires Mark Morris". College Hockey news. March 29, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
^ "Brent Brekke Named Head Coach for Men's Ice Hockey". St. Lawrence Saints. May 25, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ "St. Lawrence withdraws from NCAA men's hockey tournament after coach tests positive for COVID-19". ESPN. March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.

External links

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

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Bob Marshall	CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman 1993–94	Succeeded by Steve Halko

[1] "Brent Brekke". St. Lawrence Saints. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[2] "Western Michigan Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[3] "Brent Brekke". Clarkson Golden knights. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[4] "Brent Brekke". Hockey DB. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[5] "Hockey Staff Announces Changes". Miami RedHawks. March 17, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[6] "Clarkson Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[7] "St. Lawrence Fires Mark Morris". College Hockey news. March 29, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.

[8] "Brent Brekke Named Head Coach for Men's Ice Hockey". St. Lawrence Saints. May 25, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[9] "St. Lawrence withdraws from NCAA men's hockey tournament after coach tests positive for COVID-19". ESPN. March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.

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v t e St. Lawrence Saints men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Weeks Field Rink (1925–1929) Brewer Field Rink (1929–1930) Appleton Arena (1951–present)
Head coaches	D. F. McCarthy (1925–1926) Formoza Degre (1926–1928) James Mallon (1929–1930) Alfred Sheard (1938–1941) Jack Klemens (1946–1947) Paul Patten (1947–1950) Olav Kollevoll (1950–1955) George Menard (1955–1967, 1968–1971) Bernie McKinnon (1967–1968, 1971–1976) Leon Abbott (1976–1979) Dale Henwood (1979–1980) Mike McShane (1980–1985) Joe Marsh (1985–2012) Greg Carvel (2012–2016) Mark Morris (2016–2019) Brent Brekke (2019–present)
Seasons	1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1942–43 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	Tri-State League (1950–1972) ECAC Hockey (1961–present)
Rivalries	Clarkson Golden Knights
Culture & lore	North Country Thanksgiving Festival
All-time leaders	Pete Lappin (187 Points) Brian McFarlane (101 Goals) Bill Sloan (65 Wins)
Frozen Four appearances	1952 1955 1956 1959 1960 1961 1962 1988 2000
NCAA Tournament appearances	1952 1955 1956 1959 1960 1961 1962 1983 1987 1988 1989 1992 1999 2000 2001 2007 2021*
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC: 1962 1988 1989 1992 2000 2001 2021
St. Lawrence University Canton, NY