Building the Blugolds: Strand Has Built UW-Eau Claire into a Winner
When Bloomington, Minnesota native Erik Strand took over as the second-ever head coach of the University of Eau Claire women’s hockey program in May of 2015, he recognized it would need to be an overhaul to find success.
The struggling Blugolds had gone just 1-10-1 the previous year, following a winless record in 2013-14.
“At that time, it was a program whose culture needed a different voice I think,” said Strand, a UW-EC men’s hockey alumnus and former Blugolds men’s assistant coach from 2005-2015 where they won an NCAA Division III national championship in 2013. “We had seen success on the men’s side, so I knew how to recruit, and I wanted to implement that into the women’s program.
“From Day 1, I just let them know that I’m a hockey coach, you’re hockey players, I’m going to hold you to the same kind of standard that we’re holding our players on the men’s side. And they instantaneously took to that. A light went off.
“The year before we had given up, I think 100 goals, and in my first season, we cut that down to 50. They wanted to have that success so bad.”
Now in his 10th season as head coach, Strand has led the women to be a top contender in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, including the first O’Brien Cup in program history in 2018, awarded to the conference regular-season winner.
We caught up with Strand to discuss the rise of the Blugolds program.
USA Hockey: What was that first year like?
Strand: They absolutely dug in. They were probably some of the hardest working kids I’ve ever coached. The first year, the 20 or 27 games were decided by a goal or less. It was just their passion for success that really helped springboard our program to the success that we’re still enjoying today.
USA Hockey: How has that success changed the program?
Strand: I think the toughest challenge right now is with that success comes the target on your back. You’re going to see everybody’s best game every single night. It doesn’t matter. You can look at the record and think it’s going to be a cake walk, but you will see the goalie’s best performance, or a career game from a forward or a hard-checking defenseman. They will do anything they can to close the gap between us and them, so every night in order to prepare our team for success, we have to know that nothing is going to just be given to us.
That’s been one of the biggest dangers we face every year is just getting everybody to understand that, yes, it’s great we’ve had all this success in the past, but that’s not the now. They’re success has made it more difficult. And we’re going to have to work that much harder because we’re the team to beat.
USA Hockey: How do you mentally prepare for that type of pressure that’s associated with such a winning culture?
Strand: It’s something we share from our first conversations during recruitment. We let them know that a lot of hard work is needed, and how competitive it is. I think true athletes really want that pressure. They want to be pushed like that. It’s not fun when you’re on the other side of winning, and there’s such a small difference between programs that will separate and eventual champions from the first team that goes home in the NCAA tournament. And in a season, you need the triumph and the heartache and all the other emotions to reach that pinnacle of a championship. And I’m excited because we go through that every year.
USA Hockey: How important have the leaders in your room been?
Strand: The leadership is how we empower players. This isn’t my program, it’s theirs. They’re writing their history. This is their team, and sure our job is to help and put the pieces together, but at the end of the day, the leadership in that room is on the players and I always want them to know that.
USA Hockey: And the best player on the stat sheet isn’t always the best leader, right?
Strand: Absolutely. We want players that are hungry from successful programs in high school, to maybe ones that weren’t as successful. Every person in that locker room and on the roster needs to play a role and we make sure to help our players find that. Together is the only way we’re going to find success.
USA Hockey: What are some of the key factors in creating a positive and winning culture?
Strand: We try to be as transparent as possible. Again, that goes back and starts with recruiting. We actually give everybody permission to not like each other. It’s something that sounds so counterintuitive, but we want them to know it’s ok to not be best friends with everyone, but you have to show up to work regardless every day. And we’ve found is by making it OK, the group looks forward to getting together and go to work every Friday and Saturday. We have one common goal and that’s to win a national championship, and that’s more than enough for us to come tougher when it comes to on the ice.
It's been very exciting to see the teams come together and grow closer each year. And I look forward to each new season to build on the years before while moving the program forward.
Source: usahockey.com