St. Cloud State hired Brett Larson, an assistant coach with national champion Minnesota Duluth, as its head hockey coach.

Larson takes over a program that was a national power under Bob Motzko, who last month took the top job at Minnesota.

Larson, a Duluth native, played for the Bulldogs and has been an assistant coach there since 2015. He also was an assistant during the school's 2011 NCAA championship season.

Stops in between included serving as associate head coach at Ohio State, and coach and general manager for Sioux City's U.S. Hockey League team.

SCSU was ranked the nation's No. 1 team for nine weeks and finished the 2017-18 season with a 25-9-6 record, 16-4-4 in the NCHC.

"I want to thank the St. Cloud State administration and hiring committee for this great opportunity," Larson said. "I also want to thank Coach Bob Motzko and his staff here at St. Cloud State. Because of their hard work and dedication this is one of the best coaching opportunities in college hockey."