Last April, Todd Woodcroft made a big jump from Winnipeg Jets assistant coach to leading the University of Vermont hockey program.
Eight months later, his Catamounts team finally began a COVID-plagued season that ended with a 1-10-2 record and a last-place finish in the Hockey East conference.
It wasn’t a season that screamed success, but it was the starting point of a new era for a program that Woodcroft stresses will do anything—even the unconventional—to win. So far, that’s included recruiting players from countries where prospects typically don’t come to play NCAA hockey. In 2021-22, Woodcroft’s roster will include skaters from Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Finland, Russia, Germany, and Sweden—including Edmonton Oilers 2021 pick Luca Münzenberger and Nashville Predators 2019 pick Isak Walther.