Augustana University Men’s Hockey hired its first-ever head coach Garrett Raboin in April of 2022 after four seasons with the University of Minnesota as an assistant coach.
In his third season behind the bench, Raboin guided Augustana to a 22-11-4 overall record and a 14-8-4 mark in CCHA play while leading the Vikings to a program-best 16 home wins and a berth in the CCHA Mason Cup Semifinals. Augustana finished third in the CCHA standings, secured the program’s first-ever Mason Cup Playoff series victory with a quarterfinal sweep of Bemidji State and compiled a dominant 16-2-3 record inside Midco Arena. Raboin coached one of the nation’s top defensive teams as Augustana finished the season allowing just 2.00 goals per game with a .938 team save percentage and a penalty kill operating at 88.2 percent. The Vikings also posted a +35 goal differential and scored 109 goals on the year. Under Raboin’s direction, Josh Kotai emerged as one of the nation’s elite goaltenders, earning Mike Richter Award Finalist honors while being named the CCHA Goaltender of the Year, CCHA Player of the Year and a Second Team CCM/AHCA All-American. Kotai finished the season with a 20-11-4 record, a 1.99 goals-against average, a .938 save percentage and five shutouts. Offensively, Leonid Bulgakov led the Vikings with 15 goals and was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team while Brett Meerman paced the team with 28 points and seven power-play goals. Colton Friesen added 27 points while Jacob Jastrzebski posted a team-best +16 rating. Away from the ice, 19 Vikings were named to the CCHA All-Academic Team as Augustana continued to excel both athletically and academically under Raboin’s leadership.
During his second season at the helm, Augustana compiled an impressive 18-13-4 overall record and a 9-5-2 conference record. The Vikings secured four nationally ranked wins and finished second in the CCHA regular season. Raboin’s team landed 17 on the CCHA All-Academic Team and had two CCHA Second-Team honorees in Luke Mobley ‘25 and Josh Kotai ‘27. Augustana had 10 players who garnered CCHA weekly honors, three CCHA monthly awards, and two national monthly awards. Netminder Josh Kotai was named a Mike Richter Award Finalist. Augustana finished second in the CCHA in penalty kill percentage (.837), second in goals against average (2.14), second in scoring margin (.63) and second in winning percentage (.571).
In the inaugural season with Augustana hockey, Raboin coached the Vikings to a 12-18-4 record that saw four Vikings sign professional contracts with ECHL teams. During the 2023-24 season, Augustana landed 15 Vikings on the CCHA All-Academic team and four on the CSC At-Large Academic All-District Team.
Raboin completed his final season with the Gophers with a trip to the NCAA Division I Frozen Four. The Gophers claimed the 2022 Big Ten regular season Championship and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship.
Raboin just completed his fourth season (at Minnesota under head coach Bob Motzko) with a trip to the NCAA Division I Frozen Four. The Gophers claimed the 2022 Big Ten regular season Championship and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship.
The 2021-22 season saw Raboin tutor Ben Meyers who was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given annually to the nation’s best hockey player. Meyers was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year. In addition, Colin Schmidt was named the NCAA Elite 90 award recipient for being the top student-athlete at the NCAA Championship.
In 2020-21, Minnesota led all of NCAA Division I with 24 wins and earned its first No. 1 national ranking in six years. The Gophers also claimed their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2014.
In his four years at Minnesota, Raboin mentored five AHCA All-America recipients while reaching the NCAA Postseason twice (with a third-year wiped out by COVID-19).
In the classroom, the Gopher Hockey Team posted its highest cumulative GPA in program history under the watchful eye of Raboin, while there were a program-record 19 Academic All-Big Ten selections in 2020-21.
Prior to joining head coach Bob Motzko at Minnesota, Raboin was assistant coach at St. Cloud State University.
In his six years with the Huskies, Raboin helped St. Cloud State to five NCAA tournament berths, including a Frozen Four appearance in 2013. The program also claimed three regular-season conference championships, including the 2017 NCHC Penrose Cup.
At SCSU, Raboin coached six All-Americans, including the 2013 Hobey Baker Award winner Drew LaBlanc.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Raboin has served on USA Hockey coaching staffs for a number of development camps.
Raboin is a 2010 graduate of St. Cloud State where he capped his college career as a Lowes Senior Class All-American. He was a three-year captain for SCSU and led the team to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He was a two-time All-WCHA selection. He concluded his career ranked fourth all-time at St. Cloud State in defensive scoring with 83 points (21 goals, 62 assists).
He earned his bachelor’s degree in special education and was a three-time WCHA All-Academic Team honoree.
Prior to his time at St. Cloud State, the Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, native skated with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL, then played professionally in Europe for two seasons before joining Motzko’s staff at St. Cloud State.
Garrett and his wife, Emily, have three kids, Louie, Malin and Lotta.
