Bemidji State assistant coach Mike Gibbons talks about this weekend's series with SCSU, shares memories

By Mick Hatten, Eli Swanson and Kris Kerzman

October 27, 2022 at 7:14 AM

The two places that Mike Gibbons has spent the most time at in his playing and coaching career are Bemidji State and St. Cloud State. Gibbons played defense for the Beavers from 1975-79, was an assistant coach in 1981-82 and then the interim head coach for BSU in the 1982-83 season when Bob Peters was on sabbatical. Gibbons' coaching career also took him to the pro, junior and high school levels. He got back into college coaching as an assistant for Bob Motzko at SCSU and was with the Huskies from 2007-20. He retired from coaching ... for seven months.

But Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore needed to make an emergency hire for an assistant coach and called Gibbons, who has been back with the Beavers since the beginning of the 2020-21 season. The Huskies (6-0) and Beavers (2-1-1) play a home-and-home series this weekend. The teams play at 7 p.m. Friday (FloHockey) at the Sanford Center in Bemidji and at 6 p.m. Saturday (FOX 9+) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Gibbons discusses both teams and shares some SCSU memories with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.

TIME STAMPS

1:10 A look at where Bemidji State is at coming off a road win and shootout win last weekend at Michigan Tech

2:15 Heart of the Beavers is senior defensemen Will Zmolek, Elias Rosen and Kyle Looft and four freshmen

3:10 Mattias Sholl has played the majority of time in goal for BSU

4:00 The addition of forward transfers fifth-year Mitchell Martan (Canisius), junior Jackson Jutting (Colorado College) and fifth-year Kaden Pickering (St. Lawrence)

4:40 How the transfer portal has changed things in college hockey, how to keep players around

7:20 What it is like coming back to SCSU, where he was an assistant coach from 2007-20

8:20 Getting together with former teammates, singing Hall & Oates songs

10:00 What it is like watching someone you recruited play in the NHL, why D Nick Perbix is special on and off the ice

14:00 The personality of SCSU equipment manager Jeremiah Minkel, who is leaving the program for a new job

17:00 His relationship with SCSU head coach Brett Larson, who he was on staff with for two seasons

17:45 This season's Huskies team getting off to a 6-0 start

18:40 Key elements to the Beavers

19:45 He retired from hockey ... for seven months and why he is in his third season at BSU

READ MORE ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES COVERAGE:

By Mick Hatten

Mick Hatten is a reporter and editor for Forum News Service and helps manage TheRinkLive.com, a website dedicated to hockey. He began working for Forum Communications in November 2018 and has covered St. Cloud State University hockey since 2010. A graduate of St. Cloud State, he has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist and has been a youth hockey coach since 2014. mhatten@forumcomm.com

For more coverage of St. Cloud and the surrounding communities, check out St. Cloud Live.