Jason Herter, who helped guide the Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team to NCAA championships in 2018 and '19 as associate head coach, announced Thursday that he has left the program.

"As rumored in social media yesterday, I am currently pursuing new opportunities in the game of hockey,'' Herter said in a statement released by Minnesota Duluth. "I have been part of a great run for Bulldog hockey and I was proud to play a role in that. I look forward to the next stage of my hockey career. I will always be a Bulldog!''

Herter, 49, has been part of Scott Sandelin's coaching staff since the 2011-12 season, first as an assistant coach, then being promoted to associate head coach before the 2018-19 season when Brett Larson left to become St. Cloud State's head coach. Herter was on the staff of five NCAA tournament teams and a national runner-up in 2017, along with the back-to-back titles. The Bulldogs also won a pair of NCHC tournament titles under his watch.

"We thank Jason for his hard work over the last nine years and wish him and his family the very best,'' Sandelin said in a statement.

Herter, a Hafford, Saskatchewan, native who played college hockey at North Dakota, has experience in junior hockey. He was coach and general manager of the Fargo Force of the USHL in 2010-11 and had assistant coaching roles with both the Force and Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL.

A first-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in the 1989 NHL draft as a defenseman, Herter played one career NHL game, spent seven seasons in North American minor leagues and played four seasons in the German Elite League.