The Minnesota Mallards Announce Coaching Change

The Minnesota Mallards of the North American Hockey League are pleased to announce the hiring of Westin Michaud in the organization’s second year in the NAHL.

Michaud hails from the State of Hockey and is stepping into his second head coaching position. Last season, he served as the bench boss and General Manager for the Austin Ice Bats in the NA3HL. Under his leadership and guidance, the Ice Bats made their first postseason appearance and featured the organization’s best record of 32-13-1-1. 

The Minnesota native features a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of North Dakota and is looking to use his education and experience as he joins the Mallards organization. He shares his excitement to join the team.

“I am excited and grateful for the opportunity with the Minnesota Mallards organization. We are committed to focusing on each individual 'being' in the moment rather than doing. Our systems and standards will be built on attitude, effort, and discipline, as the best teams don't rise to their goals, they fall to their systems.”

Michaud is no fresh face to the NAHL, he is a former skater. Before joining the league, Michaud played Minnesota high school hockey in his hometown of Cloquet. He skated for Lumberjacks with Cloquet High and led his team in his final season with 26 goals and 57 total points. He trailed behind his brother, Beau Michaud, with 31 assists on the year. Following his high school days, he joined the Corpus Christi IceRays for two seasons from 2013-2015 and laced up for 116 games. His name is etched into IceRays record books, with the most goals (30), assists (43), and total points (73) in a single season. Michaud’s record-breaking season was done in his final year with Corpus Christi before he went on to play Division I college hockey. 

Michaud skated with Colorado College Tigers for four seasons, however, his first year ended early after suffering a season-ending injury.  He hit the ice in 114 games and delivered his best season in his final year as a Tiger. Michaud was one of the top scorers during the 2018-2019 season. In his 41 games played that year, he found the back of the net 13 times and produced 17 assists. He ranked second that year with his 13 goals and 30 total points while sitting at the top of his team with his +13 rating. 

Following his time with the Tigers, Michaud transferred to the University of North Dakota and was again one of the top scorers on the roster. He was tied first with 16 goals in 35 games and tied third with 28 total points. 

After his college days, Michaud skated professionally for four years. His professional experience ranges from playing stateside in the AHL and ECHL to overseas in Europe.