Kaia Anderson, online publishing coordinator

Zach Stephan was named the new men’s hockey coach in June 2026. He comes to Augsburg with eight years of hockey coaching experience, primarily with the North American Hockey League, a junior league that aims to move players into Division I college hockey. Stephan played Division I hockey at Minnesota State University, Mankato. At Augsburg, Stephan is revamping the men’s hockey program with new strategies on and off the ice, including updated hockey plays, expanded social media efforts and increased campus involvement.

Stephan said Augsburg reminds him of high school, where everyone knows each other. It is not too big and still has a community focus. One goal is to become more familiar with the campus and its students. He says he currently knows only the athletic community, but hopes his role as an academic adviser will help him further connect with faculty and students.

Winter sports began Oct. 15, allowing hockey to start practice. Stephan has been approaching practice very differently than the previous coach. “It’s been busy. The guys’ brains are in a blender because everything they’re doing is a complete 180 compared to what they had been doing,” he said. The main change is the spread of their formation on the rink. Stephan wants to utilize as much of the rink as possible, which comes with challenges, especially during puck battles. “When you try to play a spread, if there’s any sort of battle anywhere, you just want to help. There’s got to be some trust and patience that your guy is gonna win it […] if too many guys run over you’re gonna lose your spread.”

He also discussed building confidence within his players, “I don’t ream em’ every time they turn the puck over […] the only way to learn to execute playmaking is to get opportunities to do it without being scared,” he said. This philosophy is based on the idea that as players gain confidence, they will play better. If they are scared of making a mistake, they are going to hold back

Part of Stephan’s coaching style is based on his teaching experience. He tries to explain everything to his team in three ways: visually, auditorily and verbally. He knows that everyone learns differently and tries to ensure every player knows exactly what they are doing. He also does not mind being asked questions about plays. “Kids nowadays, or young men, ask a lot of questions. When I was growing up, you did what the coach said because the coach said it. Now kids ask questions. I am okay with the kids knowing why we do it because I fully believe the reason why we do it is what makes it work,” he said.

Stephan wants students to be more engaged with the team by coming to games. He plans to achieve this by making games more fun to watch, with higher scores. His main goal for the season, however, is to make it to the playoffs and “[do] a little damage.”