Wilderness hire assistant coach

The Minnesota Wilderness have added former Bemidji State Beaver Kyle Brodie to its coaching staff.

A native of Northglenn, Colorado, Brodie comes to Cloquet after spending the last six seasons working with AAA programs in Wenatchee, Washington.

Brodie’s playing career ended in 2015-16, as he concluded with 51 games as a defenseman with the Columbus Cottonmouths. Brodie’s college career included two seasons with Bemidji State, where he earned NCAA All-Academic team honors both seasons. Brodie then transferred to University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for his final two years of college hockey.

Going to the Wilderness will be a homecoming of sorts for Brodie, as he’ll be returning to the league where he played his junior hockey. Brodie played two seasons in the North American Hockey League with the Wenatchee Wild back in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.

Brodie is excited for his new job.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to further my career and seems to be the right stepping-stone,” he said. “I’m excited to get the season going.”

Regarding coming back to the NAHL, Brodie added: “I’ve always known the league since playing there; it’s always been an awesome league. I’ve always wanted to be a part of that to help kids achieve the next level.”

Wilderness head coach and general manager Dave Boitz says he is eager to begin working with Brodie.

“We are really excited to welcome Kyle and his fiancee, Megan, to the Wilderness family,” Boitz said. “Kyle was an outstanding player as I coached against him when he was playing in Wenatchee. He has a very good hockey mind and is going to be a terrific coach.”

Brodie has some familiarity with the players coming in to play for the 2022-23 season, as he was in Cloquet for the team’s main tryout camp in June and assisted in selecting the roster for the upcoming training camp.

Training camp is slated to begin Aug. 29 at Northwoods Credit Union Arena with the season opener set for Sept. 9, at home vs. Fairbanks.

Brodie’s hiring is the first of what is expected to be two new coaches being added before the start of camp. The team is also planning to bring on a new associate head coach sometime in early August.