St. Thomas Academy coach Mike Randolph positioned to break Minnesota record for victories in boys hockey

St. Thomas Academy’s Mike Randolph will coach for a state record Friday night.

Randolph, in his third season with the Cadets, needs a victory over Cretin-Derham Hall in a section tournament final to become the state’s all-time leader among boys hockey coaches. He’s tied with Lorne Grosso, who had 707 victories in 49 seasons at Rochester Mayo. He recently passed Roy Nystrom, who had 705 victories in 44 seasons at Albert Lea.

Willard Ikola, who coached Edina and Edina East to 616 victories in 33 seasons, is fourth on the career victory list. Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner stands fifth at 612 victories.

Randolph piled up wins in 32 years as coach at Duluth East before joining the Cadets. He led the Greyhounds to the state tournament 18 times, winning the championship twice.

St. Thomas Academy (17-8-2) will play Cretin-Derham Hall (16-10-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Braemar Ice Arena in Edina for the Class 2A, Section 2 championship. They met in the regular season, St. Thomas Academy winning 4-3, and Cretin-Derham Hall ended St. Thomas Academy’s 2022-23 season with a 4-2 victory in the section final.

If the Cadets win, Randolph will make his 20th appearance at the state tournament.

Randolph was inducted into the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018. He also has coached at Duluth Cathedral and Duluth Denfeld and in college at Minnesota Duluth and St. Scholastica.